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Published
October 2, 2020

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An Integrated Approach to Scenario Planning

Recovery Planning in a Volatile Environment

By: Nicholas R. Santilli, PhD, SCUP | Sadie Wutka, SCUP

No one can predict the future. That doesn’t mean it needs to be a total surprise. This toolkit will walk you step-by-step through scenario planning with instructions, examples, and worksheets that you can use to start scenario planning at your institution immediately.
Abstract: The pace of change is getting faster, and it’s getting harder to anticipate what the future holds—and how your institution can prepare. Scenario planning can help your institution plan for a volatile and uncertain future. Scenario planning uses today’s forces and trends to imagine probable futures and what they could mean for your institution. It’s a flexible process that can inform your institution’s regular planning processes or be used as part of recovery planning in response to disruptions or catastrophic events.

An Integrated Approach to Scenario Planning is a toolkit that will walk you step-by-step through scenario planning. It includes instructions, examples, and blank worksheets that you can use to start scenario planning at your institution immediately. Don’t let your college or university get blindsided. Download your copy and prepare for the future.

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Webinar Recordings

Published
October 1, 2020

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From Academic Program Decisions to Results

Building and Managing a Robust Program Portfolio

By: Antoinette Farmer-Thompson, Deputy Vice President, Educational Outreach & Student Services, ASU University; Design Institute Expert in Residence; Former Dean and Senior Vice President, Institutional Effectiveness (Moderator) | William Massy, Professor Emeritus and Former CFO, Stanford University; Former President, The Jackson Hole Higher Education Group, Inc. | Steve Probst, Senior Partner, Gray Associates, Inc. | Nicholas Santilli, Senior Director for Learning Strategy, Society for College and University Planning (SCUP); Professor Emeritus of Psychology, John Carroll University

The decision-making process is only the beginning—how do you build a robust program portfolio in a way that ensures educational quality, financial sustainability, and meets the needs of your students? We will provide real-world examples of ways to effectively build quality online programs and courses that improve student access and retention, including performance metrics and faculty engagement.

This is part three of a three-part program series, “Integrated Planning to Build a Thriving Academic Program Portfolio.”

Abstract: This is part three of a three-part program series, “Integrated Planning to Build a Thriving Academic Program Portfolio.” These discussions will help you build a strategic and sustainable program portfolio that is mission-centered, data-informed, student-centered, and focused on growth opportunities.

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Webinar Recordings

Published
September 15, 2020

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Instructional Economics

Making Finance-Informed Academic Decisions

By: William Massy, Professor Emeritus and Former CFO, Stanford University; Former President, The Jackson Hole Higher Education Group, Inc. (Moderator) | Antoinette Farmer-Thompson, Deputy Vice President, Educational Outreach & Student Services, ASU University; Design Institute Expert in Residence; Former Dean and Senior Vice President, Institutional Effectiveness | Nicholas Santilli, Senior Director for Learning Strategy, Society for College and University Planning (SCUP); Professor Emeritus of Psychology, John Carroll University | Steve Probst, Senior Partner, Gray Associates, Inc.

All program decisions have financial consequences—and some may surprise you. We will share a methodology for analyzing instructional economics and strategies for incorporating this data into the program decision-making process for long-term financial health.

This is part two of a three-part program series, “Integrated Planning to Build a Thriving Academic Program Portfolio.”

Abstract: All program decisions have financial consequences—and some may surprise you. We will share a methodology for analyzing instructional economics and strategies for incorporating this data into the program decision-making process for long-term financial health. Understanding the economics of your programs and courses can help you focus resources on the programs and courses most critical to your mission and free up funds for strategic growth.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 17, 2020

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Academic Deans Reveal Their Leadership Styles

Annual Budgeting Becomes an Exercise in How Authority is Enacted

By: Nathan Harris

Academic deans adopt one of three approaches when developing the annual budget report for their colleges: distributed authorship, delegated authorship, or dominated authorship. Depending on the approach they select, deans can include and collaborate with their senior teams—or exclude, ignore, and alienate them. Their choice demonstrates how they lead.

From Volume 48 Number 4 | July–September 2020

Abstract: Few studies have investigated how academic deans enact their authority in Responsibility Center Budgeting (RCB), despite its widespread adoption. In this article I explore findings from a study that investigated how deans crafted a confidential annual budget report at an American university. Ultimately, deans adopted one of three approaches to crafting the report: delegating, distributing, or dominating authorship. Deans who distributed authorship collaborated with their senior teams to establish a shared sense of priorities for their colleges. In contrast deans who delegated and dominated authorship ignored and alienated members of their senior team during the budget review, engendering confusion and frustration.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
May 15, 2020

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Reduce Curriculum Costs While Increasing Student Enrollment

Optimizing Academic Balance Analyses Let Kentucky Institutions Stay Competitive

By: Kenneth L. Hoyt

Results of the study supplied evidence needed to support tough institutional decisions. The 13 Kentucky colleges and universities that participated in the research now have critically important data to use in making choices about how they best serve their students, maximize scarce resources, and sustain financial stability.

From Volume 48 Number 3 | April–June 2020

Abstract: An Optimizing Academic Balance (OAB) analysis provides colleges and universities with effective tools to use in making strategic academic decisions needed to stay competitive in the context of institutional mission, program quality, market potential, cost, and revenue. The Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities recently completed a three-year statewide OAB project with the participation of 13 higher education institutions. The results supported the colleges and universities in making tough decisions.


A Follow-Up

An introduction to the Optimizing Academic Balance process and early results of the research were published in the 2015 Planning for Higher Education article, “Reshaping Your Curriculum to Grow the Bottom Line,”. The current article, with final research data, represents the study’s wrap-up report.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
April 16, 2020

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Can You Trust Your Eyes?

Learn How to Minimize Misinterpretation of Data Reports and Visualizations

By: Karen L. Webber

Volumes of data are available to administrators to support decision-making. But that doesn’t mean that what’s been presented is accurate. When data are misused or misconstrued, senior leaders at higher education institutions may make the wrong conclusions, ineffective policies may be enacted, and students may not be successful in completing their academic goals.

From Volume 48 Number 2 | January–March 2020

Abstract: Data analytics related to student and institutional performance have evolved quite rapidly—and continue to advance—as the field of data science captures more attention across the higher education sector. And while data-informed decisions can help institutional leaders achieve their goals, there are increasing examples of analyses or visualizations that, when presented without the proper framework, result in misinterpretation and inaccurate conclusions. Context is critical, and erroneous deductions may lead to decisions that adversely affect student performance, program development, and policy changes.

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Report

Published
April 8, 2020

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Fostering Innovation on Ohio’s Co-Located Campuses Through Collaborative Planning

By: Jeremy W. Webster, PhD, Ohio University-Zanesville

This is a SCUP Fellow Research Project Final Report for the 2018–2019 program. This research project investigates whether co-located institutions, specifically, and competing institutions of higher education, more generally, could use the concept of “collaborative planning” to achieve mutual success.
Abstract: This research project investigates whether co-located institutions, specifically, and competing institutions of higher education, more generally, could use the concept of “collaborative planning” to achieve mutual success. Collaborative planning is a conceptual framework from urban planning that emphasizes “partnership,stakeholder involvement, collaboration, and consensus-oriented decision-making” as core principles of planning (Vandenbussche, Edelenbos, and Eshuis 2017). It is an effective tool for transcending competition, negotiating disagreements, and achieving increased institutional collaboration and innovation.

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Partner Content

Published
January 11, 2020

The Traveling Mother

Navigating, visualizing and utilizing lactation spaces in US airports

By: Joyce S. Lee, Aidan Ganzert, Christina Jackson

An analysis of lactation spaces in US airports, led by one of the authors of the SCUP–Penn Nursing joint study of lactation policy and facilities in higher education. Originally published by Building and Environment journal.
Abstract: Breastfeeding has well-known health, economic and social benefits. As mothers continue to work, play, learn, travel and live their lives in all environments, the need for breastfeeding spaces continues to expand. However, a key detriment to engaging in safe and private breastfeeding is the lack of dedicated lactation space. While there have been regulatory strides to support nursing mothers, businesses and employers are not required to create a permanent and dedicated space for breastfeeding mothers. Little research has examined the essential building specifications of these spaces.

Airports are one of many environments that have been overlooked for requiring a lactation space. A total of 130 US airports, categorized by hub size and region, were analyzed for the following features: website source, photos, amenities description, and location/access. Findings conclude that while many airports are addressing the issue of mothers and breastfeeding, more could be done to provide quality accommodations.

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Report

Published
December 19, 2019

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Using Alumni Surveys to Assess the Impacts of Active Learning Spaces on Development of Collaboration Skills

By: Jeffrey Ashley, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University

This is a SCUP Fellow Research Project Final Report for the 2018–2019 program. The goal of this research was to evaluate the gains, if any, in the collaboration skill development of students who experienced part of their undergraduate or graduate learning within active learning spaces at Thomas Jefferson University, and to attempt to pinpoint the factors contributing to that.
Abstract: There is a growing interest in examining the relationship between active learning spaces and development of soft skills. The overall goal of this research was to evaluate the gains, if any, in the collaboration skill development of students who experienced part of their undergraduate or graduate learning within active learning spaces at Thomas Jefferson University, and to attempt to pinpoint the factors contributing to that.

To meet the goal, the researcher designed a study to assess perceived impact of use of active learning spaces, targeting alumni. Although many such studies rely on reflections from current students during or shortly after their use of learning spaces, the unique contribution of this research is that it gathered impact perceptions of learning spaces from persons after they experienced collaborative work activities in their career settings beyond academia.

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Partner Content

Published
October 1, 2019

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Designing for Remembrance, Learning, and Healing

How campuses memorialize tragic events

By: Mahauganee Shaw Bonds, PhD, Researcher and Educator, 2017–2018 SCUP Fellow

Abstract: After a campus tragedy, the first steps for the community toward settling into the new normal often entail working through the gravity of recent events. This work includes a need for internal reflection, external processing, and collective healing. Campus communities engaged in this process often find a way to memorialize the events that have shaken them and to honor the lives of any community members lost to tragedy. This research project focuses on physical memorials that are the result of a tragic moment in institutional history.

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