Learning Resources

Abstract: Semester conversion. New academic year calendar. New capital plan. New facilities delivery. Just one of these events can present a campus with challenges. But when they all occur basically at the same time, the potential for disaster looms large. When it faced these changes within a two-year period, 1999–2001, LaGrange College needed “triage.” This article addresses how the college organized, planned, and implemented these changes. It also addresses the errors that occurred and the ways the errors were corrected.

Abstract: Critics of strategic planning question whether it is a useful tool or a counterproductive management fad. This article reviews the experience of a university that has one of higher education’s longest continuous experiences with a strategic planning process and places it in the context of the literature on higher education planning. The article concludes that a long-term commitment to strategic planning—clearly defined in its broad parameters but flexible and adaptive in its details—can be productive.

Abstract: Information technology strategic planning is a top priority for higher education throughout the United States. Associated with IT planning are many concerns that cause institutions to struggle with planning, ranging from selecting participants to alignment with institutional goals. However, before these concerns can be fully addressed, a fundamental question must be answered. Differences, advantages, and risks are explored between an approach that begins with infrastructure and applications versus a broader planning approach that focuses on what the institution wants to do with technology. In addition, five critical success factors for and eight benefits of using a strategic macro-level approach are identified.

Abstract: Educational technology units must continually monitor their strategic plans to ensure that they are aligned with the evolving realities of their institutions. Strategic dissonance occurs when previously successful strategies are no longer achieving the same results. This article uses the Virtual Retina project as an example of strategic dissonance for the Academic Technologies for Learning at the University of Alberta. A number of methods for analyzing the strategies used by educational technology units are presented. These methods provide a means for units within institutions of higher education to conduct the ongoing task of renewing their strategic plans.

Abstract: Performance reporting is now the preferred approach to state accountability for public higher education. This article analyzes the performance indicators used in 29 states; categorizes the 158 generic indicators by type, concern, policy value, and model of excellence; compares them to the measures used in performance funding; and notes where the reporting indicators track or trail current state policy issues. The authors suggest that indicators used in the statewide, system, and institutional performance reports are often uncoordinated and recommend that campus planners ensure that institutional reports include relevant data on department results that contribute to campus, system, and state success on critical indicators.

Abstract: This article discusses significant changes in a management model within a university with an extensive, distributed campus system and multiple community college partnerships. These changes created stronger linkages between branch campus faculty and their disciplinary counterparts on the main university campus. They were based on a model analogous to a faculty member holding a joint appointment between colleges of a university and include collaborative decision making, hiring decisions, and evaluation by faculty and administrators of the branch and main campuses. Also included in the article is a description of the working relationship between the university and one of its significant community college partners.