Learning Resources

Abstract: Scenario planning generates multiple well-crafted contradictory narratives about the future to anticipate possible outcomes of environmental forces with the potential to impact an institution. It is important to note that scenario planning does not seek to predict an uncertain future. Instead, engaging in scenario planning provides an institution with the capacity to plan for potential outcomes that may interrupt institutional progress.

Abstract: “Smart change” requires an understanding of when and how to employ routine, strategic, and transformative change. Amid COVID-19, we face an existential threat that demands institutions reimagine higher education as more inclusive, affordable, relevant, and successful. To do so, planners/leaders must emphasize the well-being and success of student/faculty/staff; develop scenarios for sustainable business models; design, develop, deliver, and train instructors to teach across and with all modalities; build collaborative networks within and across institutions; and connect with local, state, and regional businesses and industry.

Abstract: Jim Downey, VP for planning and institutional effectiveness at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Chris McCord, acting executive VP and provost, Northern Illinois University, moderated this Coffee Chat on Scenario Planning.

Abstract: There is no doubt that the present environment for higher education has become significantly more complex. What makes the current circumstances more difficult is COVID-19 has intensified the impact of the range of forces already pressing on higher education.

For many institutions, institutional viability and constituents’ health and wellbeing are the most pressing concerns—strategic plans are no longer top of mind. How to move forward? SCUP suggests that the principles of good planning serve as a blueprint for responding to COVID-19.

Abstract: With climate change bringing dramatic demographic, economic, and weather changes, universities and colleges must be prepared for risks to the campus's buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure that could disrupt operations. This session explores the intertwined concepts of risk management and resilience planning. You will learn about best practices in campus resilience planning, and try a simple resilience assessment tool for identifying, prioritizing, and planning for potential risks. You can take this useful Excel-based tool back to your institution to identify the top risks that should be prioritized in campus planning efforts.

Abstract: Learn the things you need to do to get ready and stay ready! Numerous recent campus disruptions, outages, and disasters have highlighted the importance of investing in the proactive risk management solution known as academic continuity planning. Go beyond theory and concepts to the actual integrated mechanics and step-by-step methodology for developing and maintaining operational-level continuity plans. Cultivate integration with a service designed specifically to support the need for higher education institutions to be prepared. Is your campus ready?

Abstract: The contemporary university operates within a global context characterized by ever-increasing uncertainty and complexity. Strategic planning must, therefore, be cognizant of future trends and how those trends will affect the university by creating both threats and opportunities. Our hypothesis is that an approach we refer to as “strategic foresight” can provide us with the tools, methodology, and process to creatively address uncertainty and complexity in our working environment. Dublin City University has taken the lead in Ireland in terms of its emphasis on strategic planning. Its 2005–2008 strategic plan, Leadership Through Foresight, was part of an ambitious foresight exercise that was aimed at informing subsequent strategic cycles. This article reports on this process in the context of the wider literature examining the value of foresight/futures thinking as applied to universities. The article commences with a review of current uncertainties and complexities in the current operating environment. It broadly outlines foresight/futures thinking and then examines universities specifically. It continues by focusing on Dublin City University’s foresight exercise as an example of how foresight operates in practice. Finally, the article concludes by exploring what a strategic foresight approach to planning might look like based on that experience.

Abstract: Large-scale crisis such as natural disasters and acts of terrorism can have a paralyzing effect on the campus community and business continuity. Campus officials in these situations face significant challenges that go beyond the immediate response including re-building the physical plant, restoring campus infrastructure, retaining displaced matriculated students and recruiting future generations of students to remain financially and academically viable. This article provides a framework to assist senior leadership to critically evaluate their institutional commitment to emergency planning functions in their respective communities. It also outlines a new “scheme” in how institutions can resolve the emerging changes in higher education in a collaborative, cost-sharing environment.

Abstract: Using a case study, this article describes a method by which higher education institutions construct and use multiple future scenarios and simulations to plan strategically: to create visions of their futures, chart broad directions (mission and goals), and select learning and delivery strategies so as to achieve those broad directions. The four scenarios described in this article are written by combining two assumed “external” sets of future trends and conditions with two “internal” sets of institutional policies. Simulation of future college enrollment under each scenario enables planners not only to mitigate uncertainty and explore implications of different numbers of students but also to analyze the characteristics of these students to design educational content and delivery that is learning centered and, therefore, likely to be effective. The simulations also frame fiscal issues for a broad range of future conditions, thereby alerting planners to long-range strategies and options such as distance learning, partnering, and differential pricing, among others, that might not otherwise have been pursued.