Learning Resources

Quickly Building a Bridge

Use an Institutional Effectiveness Planning Model to Drive Strategic Planning

By: Jason Nicholas, MS, Daniel Cullen, PhD, and Ellen Koski, MPH

Executive leadership changes at Northern Michigan University led the interim president, interim provost, and Board of Trustees to call for a bridge plan to clearly articulate strategic work happening throughout campus. This article describes how the university was able to develop an interim strategic plan with broad campus engagement in less than half a year.

From Volume 51 Number 3 | April–June 2023

Institutions Mentioned: Northern Michigan University
Planning Types: Strategic Planning, Institutional Effectiveness Planning
Tags: Alignment, Assessment / Analytics, Bridge Planning, Engaging Stakeholders, Institutional Effectiveness, Institutional Planning, Institutional Research, Metrics, Planning Processes, Presidential Leadership, Response Planning, Selecting Metrics, Student Engagement

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Example Plans

Published
May 17, 2023

Bridge Plan

Public Associate’s College (Arizona, United States)

From April 2020, the institution’s president led faculty and staff in a rigorous planning and exploration process to ensure that the college remained accessible and thriving through the pandemic and beyond. This bridge plan document details the action steps resulting from that process.

Planning Types: Continuity Planning
Resource Types: Bridge Plan
Tags: Bridge Planning, Community College, COVID-19, Goals, Hybrid Learning, Leadership Attitude Toward Planning, Online Learning, Operational Planning, Organizational Culture, Response Planning, Scenario Planning, Strategies and Tactics, Student Experience, Teaching and Learning

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Institutions Can Say They Encourage Staff DEI Professional Development . . .

. . . But the Individual Chooses to Embrace It

By: Jeffery L. Wilson, PhD, and Fred Tugas, EdD

This study examined professional development strategies for higher education professionals in the context of the post-George Floyd-era.

From Volume 51 Number 1 | October–December 2022

Abstract: The death of George Floyd in 2020 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have renewed the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), particularly in higher education planning. As a result of this attention, higher education has reexamined its commitment to DEI. A student voice survey found that college students were underwhelmed by actions taken by their institutions to address DEI on campus (Inside Higher Education 2021). Institutional units across higher education require coordinated, integrated planning to meet student expectations. This article highlights the results of a study that examined professional development strategies for higher education professionals in the context of the post-George Floyd–era.

Planning Types: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Higher Ed Trends, Original Research, Professional Development, Racial Equity, Response Planning

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Smart Building, Smart Campus

By: Angela Foss, Autodesk (previously of Southern New Hampshire University)

This is a SCUP Fellow Research Project Final Report for the 2019–2020 program. This report explores the hypothesis that user-centered design would better address STEM student needs and could increase the likelihood of a broader adoption of remote labs.

Abstract: “Will innovative environments like a smart building expand STEM education and reach more underrepresented groups? If technology can support remote work, then why haven’t the previous proofs of concept become fully adopted?” The author pursued these questions through her SCUP Fellows research, exploring the hypothesis that user-centered design would better address STEM student needs and could increase the likelihood of a broader adoption of remote labs. Although the COVID-19 pandemic required a hard pivot in her research plan, she was able to leverage the world's new focus on remote activities and work with students to design a prototype mobile application for a digital, interactive twin of a STEM building on campus.

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Book Review: Higher Education Systems Redesigned

From Perpetuation to Innovation to Student Success

By: Terry Brown, PhD

From Volume 51 Number 1 | October–December 2022

Abstract: Higher Education Systems Redesigned: From Perpetuation to Innovation to Student Success
Edited by Jonathan S. Gagliardi and Jason E. Lane
SUNY Press: Albany, New York: 2022
ISBN: 9781438487670
252 Pages

Institutions Mentioned: California State University-Chancellors Office, University System of Georgia, Tennessee Board of Regents, The University of Texas System Office, University System of Maryland, Austin Peay State University
Planning Types: Academic Planning
Tags: Assessment / Analytics, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Innovation, Student Success, Student Support Services, System of Colleges or Universities, Teaching and Learning

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Example Plans

Published
September 6, 2022

Strategic Plan, Strategic Planning Website

Public Doctoral/Research University (North Carolina, United States)

The university’s detailed strategic plan, which includes goals focused on student success, diversity and equity, and increasing its presence as a research center.

Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Resource Types: Strategic Plan, Strategic Planning Website
Tags: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Experiential Learning, Goals, Graduate Degree Program, Mission / Vision / Identity, Strategies and Tactics, Student Success, Teaching and Learning, Workforce Development

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Example Plans

Published
May 31, 2022

Academic Plan

Multiple Locations

This academic plan document enumerates the institution’s academic goals and strategies, with special focus on generating or enhancing interdisciplinary connections between the primary academic themes.

Planning Types: Academic Planning
Resource Types: Academic Plan
Tags: Academic Planning, Canada, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Goals, Health and Wellness, Hybrid Learning, Interdisciplinary, Online Learning, Racial Equity, Science / Engineering, Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), Strategies and Tactics, Sustainability (Environmental), Teaching and Learning

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Scaling Active Learning Classrooms

Adopt 11 Best Practices to Transform Existing Spaces to Support Student Success

By: Sharon Beaudry, JD, SPHR

A large-scale study uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of active learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.

From Volume 50 Number 3 | April–June 2022

Abstract: Active learning has been a growing trend in higher education for decades based on its positive impact on student learning and success. Colleges and universities have invested resources into expanding this teaching approach by using active learning classrooms (ALCs). But why have some institutions been successful at rapidly growing their ALCs and learning spaces, while others have struggled? This article, focusing on the higher education arena, summarizes the best practices from a large-scale study that uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.

Institutions Mentioned: Oregon Institute of Technology
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, Alignment, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Laboratory Facility, Learning Environments, Original Research, Science / Engineering Facility, Teaching and Learning

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Book Review: Stories from the Educational Underground

The New Frontier for Learning and Work

By: Jeffery L. Wilson, PhD, Reginald L. Stroble, EdD, and Gerron Scott, M.Ed

From Volume 50 Number 2 | January–March 2022

Abstract: Stories from the Educational Underground: The New Frontier for Learning and Work
by Peter Smith
Kendall Hunt Publishing: Dubuque, Iowa: 2021
148 pages
ISBN 978-1792472930

Planning Types: Academic Planning
Tags: Student Experience, Student Life / Student Affairs, Teaching and Learning, Underserved Students

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Partnerships Promote Inclusion

A university and a secondary school collaborate to decrease dropout rates and increase college enrollment

By: Vibhavari Jani, MA, and Tim Murrell, EdD

Intentional planning and a competency-based, personalized learning model empowers graduate students from the architecture discipline to assist secondary students in becoming knowledge seekers and design professionals.

From Volume 50 Number 2 | January–March 2022

Abstract: American industries, professional organizations, individual companies, and higher education institutions continue to struggle to attract employees from underrepresented populations. Future-forward thinking is required to ensure a multicultural workforce. The authors, a design educator at a predominantly white, Midwestern university, and a high school principal at a multicultural urban school district, developed an intentional collaboration—partnerships between secondary and postsecondary institutions—to bridge the gap. In this article, they share strategies they developed for recruiting and retaining underrepresented students through intentional planning and design of competency-based, personalized learning models.

Institutions Mentioned: Kansas State University
Planning Types: Academic Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Active Learning, Attracting and Retaining Underrepresented Students, Collaborative Design, Design Thinking, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Experiential Learning, External Collaboration / Partnerships, Fine and Performing Arts Education, K–12, Student Success, Teaching and Learning, Workforce Development

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Planning Types

Challenges