Learning Resources

Abstract: Succeeding at integrated planning at colleges and universities is a challenge. Many planning models do not work in higher education because they are not designed for higher education. Planning processes designed for corporations or non-profits do not account for the complex environment of higher education nor its unique challenges.

Many institutions struggle to leverage planning into lasting change because they create plans in a vacuum. They do not grasp the institution’s strategic issues or create a sound value proposition. They are not prepared for good planning.

To provide guidance on where to prioritize efforts, SCUP partnered with the Baker Strategy Group in 2015 to conduct a study with more than 2,200 leaders who plan at colleges and universities, and ran quantitative analysis on their responses. Several themes emerged around planning challenges and how to respond, which are explored in this report.

Abstract: College students have changed dramatically, and the skills needed for productive employment have changed as well. But colleges and universities have been slow to respond, often innovating in only small ways while leaving the core practices of undergraduate education the same. This article examines the barriers to transformational change in higher education in five categories: structure, information, incentives, finance, and culture. It suggests that the initial approach to overcoming these barriers involves generating better information in the form of feedback concerning student learning processes and outcomes.