Learning Resources

Abstract: Have you been keeping up with the trends outside higher education?

No problem! We’ve pulled together the latest trends along with questions you can use for planning and decision-making in SCUP’s fall 2022 Trends for Higher Education report (released September 2022).

What next? Let’s dig a little deeper. Join your community as Nick Santilli and Salvador Aceves share in a conversation that will highlight some of the trends and how you can use the report to help your strategic planning, scenario planning, and contingency planning activities.

Abstract: We’ve organized Trends using STEEP: Social, Technology, Economic, Environmental, and Political. Each trend includes a brief trend summary, a footnoted source, and discussion questions to help you analyze and act on the trend.

Abstract: What do strategic plans do? Who are they for? What does it mean to be “strategic”? These are among the questions addressed in a recent year-long study of 108 active college and university strategic plans (and the basis of the 2021 book What Makes a Strategic Plan Strategic). Hear directly from the researchers as they highlight a few important insights they discovered during their analysis, like how to avoid the many pitfalls of strategic planning and ensure a process focused on strategy and outcomes.

Abstract: A Practical Guide to Strategic Planning in Higher Education is a resource for anyone engaged in college or university strategic planning; it is also an excellent primer for planning committees. Using clear definitions, practical tips, and examples drawn from actual situations, this short book acts as a manual for both experienced planners and those who are new to the process. This second edition also contains new strategies for using an institution’s strategic plan during times of institutional upheaval, and additional techniques for jump-starting various parts of the planning process.

Abstract: The State Must Provide: Why America’s Colleges Have Always Been Unequal—and How to Set Them Right
by Adam Harris
Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers: New York: 2021
259 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-297648-2

Abstract: “In 2013 TRU established ‘increasing sustainability’ as one of its five strategic priorities for 2014-2019. This Strategic Sustainability Plan (SSP) is aligned with the university’s strategic plan, and provides a focus for TRU’s efforts toward sustainability over the same period. The SSP is comprehensive in nature, and includes more than 130 recommended strategies across four key focus areas: Operations & Planning, Advocacy & Engagement, Learning, and Administration. The SSP is intended to provide a framework for each TRU department and operational unit to incorporate sustainability initiatives into their own planning processes (the structure of the plan is illustrated on the opposing page). . . . Unlike some strategic documents, the plan takes a comprehensive approach of documenting strategies over the next 5 years. These strategies are not all the responsibility of one department or office, but rather are shared among many. This comprehensive approach will allow each office or department to see where and how it can play a role in TRU’s sustainability journey.”

Abstract: There are a multitude of internal and external forces that impact higher education, but how can you be intentional about examining and understanding these trends? From finding your way post-pandemic, to demographic shifts and political changes, to social movements and the evolving economy and technology, regular environmental scanning will inform decisions around your strategic plan development or plan implementation.

Join Jim Downey, senior strategy consultant, and Nick Santilli, SCUP’s senior director of learning strategy, as they use SCUP’s Spring 2022 Trends for Higher Education report to explore “What If?” questions in a practical format that will allow your team to pinpoint areas for institutional advancement.

This webinar is a must for anyone serving in a planning capacity in higher education, be it academic, institutional research, institutional effectiveness, campus planning, student affairs, etc.

Abstract: Higher Education Business Models Under Stress: Achieving Graceful Transitions in the Academy
by Melody Rose and Larry D. Large
AGP: Washington, DC: 2021
140 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-951635-12-1

Abstract: We’ve organized Trends using STEEP: Social, Technology, Economic, Environmental, and Political. Each trend includes a brief trend summary, a footnoted source, and discussion questions to help you analyze and act on the trend.