What Is Integrated Planning?
Integrated planning is a sustainable approach to planning that builds relationships, aligns the organization, and emphasizes preparedness for change.
Source: Integrated Planning Glossary
There are so many promising ideas and intentions in colleges and universities . . . and so many barriers to making them a reality. Bottlenecks and bureaucracy. Politics and resistance. Integrated planning can help you navigate those barriers and move mission-critical change and initiatives forward.
Learn more about what integrated planning is (and isn’t) and how it can help you work more effectively.
Unlock the Power of Integrated Planning
A Flexible, Mission-Driven Framework
Integrated planning is not a specific planning process. Rather, it’s a flexible framework or philosophy that can be applied to any type of planning or change initiative, whether it’s launching a new academic program or developing a campus master plan.
When integrated planning is adopted across a college or university, it builds the organization’s capacity to transform itself. It fosters a culture and infrastructure that aligns resources, processes, and people toward realizing the institution’s mission and vision.
Explore the Spectrum of Integrated Planning Maturity
You don’t have to try to implement an integrated planning approach across your entire institution at the start. Institutions (or even departments within institutions) will lie somewhere on a spectrum of integrated planning maturity:
Integrated Planning Maturity Model
Source: SCUP Planning Institute
“Optimized” institutions have an integrated planning culture. It’s how they approach planning, day-to-day work, and everything between. This culture is driven by mission, informed by data, and focused on student success. Underpinning this integrated planning culture is an infrastructure that aligns institutional processes and leverages governance structures to collaborate across campus and coordinate efforts. All sectors of the academy—academic affairs, student affairs, business and finance, campus planning, IT, communications, development, etc.—work together toward a common vision.
Most integrated planning journeys start small, using the approach for a single planning process, like strategic planning or campus planning. Early successes build momentum, generate organizational buy-in, and provide a blueprint for broader change. Through consistent, purposeful practice, they progress from “Chaotic” toward “Optimized.”
Starting Where You Are
There’s no need to wait for your institution’s next strategic plan. You can apply an integrated planning approach at any level. Whether crafting your department’s operational plan, launching a special initiative, or developing a new program, an integrated planning approach will help you achieve better outcomes and drive meaningful change.
Continue learning about integrated planning by
exploring the hallmarks of the approach.
Ready to take action?
Step up your skills with SCUP’s Planning Institute workshops. You’ll dig into planning scenarios that reflect pressing issues in the current higher education environment and walk away with real-world strategies and tools.
Need support right away? SCUP Coaching will connect you with a planning expert who can help you troubleshoot the challenges you’re facing at your institution.
SCUP Membership
Become part of a dynamic community that empowers higher education professionals to drive collaborative excellence, transform challenges into opportunities, and build resilient institutions through integrated, forward-thinking planning strategies.
