Learning Resources

Promoting Engagement in Strategic Planning

Southeast Community College Used FAST Goals to Capture Stakeholder Interest

By: Paul Illich and Shawna Herwick

Creating a positive, reflective, inclusive, and transparent institutional climate facilitated improved engagement in and ownership of strategic and departmental planning. The process of using FAST goals (frequently discussed, ambitious, specifically measured, and transparent) produced constructive outcomes.

From Volume 48 Number 3 | April–June 2020

Abstract: Southeast Community College (SCC) transformed its departmental planning by embedding a cultural goal within its strategic plan. The goal focused on creating a positive, reflective, inclusive, and transparent institutional climate—through the implementation of departmental FAST goals. That goal type refers to those that are frequently discussed, ambitious, specifically measured, and transparent, which represents an alternative to the commonly used SMART goal-setting approach. This article describes how a change of climate at SCC set the stage for the conversion to FAST goals—and improved engagement in and ownership of strategic and departmental planning.

Institutions Mentioned: Southeast Community College
Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Tags: Community College, Organizational Culture, Planning Processes

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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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Conference Presentations

Published
March 8, 2020

2020 North Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2020

Two Community Colleges With Differing but Similar Survival Paths

By: Robert Hicks, Senior Project Manager, Stantec | James Mabry, President, Middlesex Community College | Anthony Benoit, President, Benjamin Franklin Institute

This session will explore how two community colleges are making both similar and different strategic choices in order to thrive during a very uncertain period in higher education.

Abstract: In this period of declining enrollment, decreasing resources, increasing competition, changing demands, and changing technologies, colleges must be both entrepreneurial and careful in their strategic planning. This session will explore how two community colleges are making both similar and different strategic choices in order to thrive during a very uncertain period in higher education. We will explore how planning processes have produced divergent strategies for navigating the very uncertain waters facing all of higher education, particularly in this region.

Institutions Mentioned: Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, Middlesex Community College-Massachusetts
Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Tags: Community College, SCUP 2020 North Atlantic Regional Conference

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A Guide for Optimizing Resource Allocation

Link Assessment, Strategic Planning, and Budgeting to Achieve Institutional Effectiveness

By: Dania Salem, Hiba Itani, Ali El-Hajj

By connecting assessment, strategic planning, and budgeting processes, the real needs and priorities of an institution are revealed. Colleges and universities can adapt the provided, step-by-step framework to their own institutional structure and methods.

From Volume 48 Number 2 | January–March 2020

Abstract: The article presents a framework for integrating assessment, strategic planning, and resource allocation at all levels of an institution. For that purpose, data are collected from academic departments and non-academic units. They are then integrated with strategic planning metrics into an assessment report that identifies the resources that need to be allocated, and to evaluate progress toward developing a strategic plan. The framework can be applied at the departmental or unit level, as well as at the institutional level. It provides valuable input for the budget process and can be used for updates in strategic planning.