Report

In this SCUP fellowship project, Lisa Jasinski applies strategic foresight methods to explore what university planning could look like in 2040—and how we can better prepare for it today.

Informed by environmental scanning, futures thinking, and stakeholder engagement with SCUP members and campus leaders, she developed four plausible scenarios grounded in current trends such as AI, climate change, political polarization, and declining public trust. These scenarios aren’t predictions; they are planning tools that help teams and organizations stress-test strategies, surface assumptions, and engage in meaningful future-focused conversations.

Rather than predicting what’s to come, strategic foresight helps planners cultivate resilience and creativity by preparing for a range of possible futures. The project includes practical tools—such as discussion prompts and facilitation techniques—that can be used to engage campus stakeholders in long-range futures thinking. Jasinski makes the case that foresight should be part of every planner’s toolkit: not only to anticipate change, but to strengthen the capacity of colleges and universities to adapt—and shape—what comes next.

Author:

Lisa Jasinski, Ph.D.

President, Associated Colleges of the Midwest
2023-2024 Fellow

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