SCUP
Learning Resources

Alignment

Example Plans

2022 Interim Strategic Plan

 In the face of executive leadership changes, this university was able to develop this interim strategic plan, or “bridge plan,” with broad campus engagement in less than half a year.
Example Plans

2030 Strategic Plan
Blog Post

6 Integrated Planning Strategies and Tips We Learned at SCUP 2023

 Every year at SCUP’s annual conference, over 1,000 of higher education’s leaders and innovators gather to share how they are advancing integrated planning at their college or university. Out of the wealth of tools, strategies, and tips shared at SCUP 2023, which took place earlier this month in Cleveland, here are six that stood out.
ebook

A Practical Guide to Strategic Planning in Higher Education

 A resource for anyone engaged in college or university strategic planning, and an excellent primer for planning committees. This second edition also contains new strategies for using an institution’s strategic plan during times of institutional upheaval, and additional techniques for jump-starting various parts of the planning process.
Conference Presentations

A Successful Model for Integrated Strategic Planning and Implementation

 This session will delve into the creation of a strategic plan at The Ohio State University (OSU) and its academic medical center. The plan leverages program development and integration of enrollment as well as DEI plans to advance goals and meet workforce needs.
Conference Presentations

A Unique, Integrated Approach to Strategy Execution

 The pandemic has underscored the importance of building systems, cultures, and tactical infrastructure that allow organizations to adapt, challenging us to rethink our priorities.
Conference Recordings

A University’s Successful Campus Relocation Using Integrated Planning

 This session will discuss how the University of Western States used integrated planning and data-informed decision making to design, build, and relocate to a new campus over a two-year period.
Conference Recordings

Actionable Data

 This session will share how Binghamton University has established an integrated data collection and tracking process and the ways in which the pandemic has affected this process and shifted institutional priorities.
Report

Aligning the Strategic Campus Plan With the Institutional Mission in 2030

 This study reviews the scholarly literature and the expert views of practitioners in campus planning (both virtual and physical) to forecast how campuses might evolve between now and 2030.
Example Plans

Annual Planning Guide for Academic Affairs Offices/Programs

 This document provides an overview of the annual academic planning process at the college, with guidance on how to contribute.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Beyond Vision

 Recurring leadership observations led the authors to develop the Executive Alignment Framework. It emerged from years of studying how organizational culture, accountability systems, planning processes, resource allocation, incentives, and decision-making structures interact within higher education institutions.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Book Review: How to Implement Your Campus Strategic Plan
Blog Post

Bringing Communities Together: Welcome to True Integrated Planning

 When everyone on campus understands the combined mission, everyone can move in concert.
Example Plans

Build the Future

 Campus master plan document for a STEM-focused institution, deeply aligned with its strategic plan.
Example Plans

Calendar to Develop Annual Plans & Budgets for the 2022–23 Academic Year

 The college recently redesigned its planning and budgeting process to strengthen alignment and improve communications. This calendar depicts the timeline for that process.
Example Plans

Campus Strategic Sustainability Plan
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Can the ‘Iron Triangle’ Be Bent?

 This article explores the implementation and sustainability of long-term (10+ years) tuition freezes at two large public flagship research universities: Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Collaborating, ‘Speed Dating,’ Celebrating, and More

 University colleagues share techniques and tools they find effective in their strategic planning process—and in fostering participation and intentional conversations.
Conference Presentations

Collaboration in Strategic Resource Alignment

 A codified planning and resource alignment process can elevate institutional planning culture and help ensure the alignment of resources to the strategic plan. We'll show how planning and resource alignment are part of a systematic, data-informed, and integrated approach to achieving an institution's mission and vision.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Collaborative Planning Deepens Town-Gown Relationships

 Implementing a four-quadrant assessment of purposeful communication, participatory engagement, collaborative planning, and shared resources produced actionable, impactful, and relevant improvement recommendations for the urban university.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Coordinating Complexity

 The authors replaced a costly, time-intensive model with a SharePoint-based system to transform sprawling processes into responsive systems for growth.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Democratizing Data to Close Equity Gaps

 Kean University strategically reframed and visualized student data, merged planning processes, and harnessed analytics to dismantle impediments to bridging equity gaps in higher education.
Webinar Recordings

Destination 2030
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Disruptive Transition to an Integrated Organizational Planning and Resource Allocation Model

 This is the story of how Glendale Community College in Arizona took intentional steps to integrate its strategic and operational plans with resources and assessment to develop a holistic approach to planning and implementation.
Conference Recordings

Don’t Get Me Started

 This session will address the university's setbacks, challenges, opportunities, and solutions in launching a shoestring integrated planning process amidst multiple crises.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Educational Innovation and Space Management
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Effective Use of Resources: SCUP–11 in Retrospect
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Effective Use of Resources: SCUP–11 in Retrospect
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Engaging Faculty Senates in the Budget Planning Process

 The opinions of faculty may add to the development of productive strategies during tough economic times.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Expediting a ‘Mini’-Master Plan

 Collaborative planning for a residential housing transformation at Texas Wesleyan University ensured that the institution and its partners were responsive to the needs and aspirations of its stakeholders.
Webinar Recordings

Facilities Planning for Community Colleges

 The planning team for Portland Community College will discuss lessons learned while practicing equity to create an inclusive Facilities Plan for Oregon’s largest higher education institution on thresholds of global, local, and institutional shifts.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Financial Planning for Central Utility Plant Decarbonization

 Vital stakeholder feedback and consensus from various university departments reveal the proper approach to building issues. Institutions such as the University of North Dakota used technical planning to produce well-informed financial modeling and right-sized financial plans.
Conference Presentations

Flossing

 This session shares how one institution efficiently integrated and aligned planning and assessment activities with accreditation standards and cycles.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

From Awareness to Acceptance to Action

 Through its strategic plan, Triton College built support for and overcame barriers to institution-wide neurodiversity efforts.
Blog Post

From Promise to Progress: Join the Inter-association Well-being Collaborative (IWC)

 SCUP is participating in the the Inter-association Well-being Collaborative (IWC)—a new, unified movement to transform well-being in higher education from siloed efforts to systemic impact. You're invited to share your stories and examples of how your institution is taking systems-level approaches to support campus well-being.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Good Academic Planning Is What Happens . . .

 The division of Academic Affairs at the University of West Georgia worked with SCUP to integrate academic planning with facilities, accreditation, budget, student affairs, and student success.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Grappling with Strategic Dissonance

 Educational technology units must continually monitor their strategic plans to ensure that they are aligned with the evolving realities of their institutions.
Blog Post

How Strategic Is Your Strategic Plan?

 Today, strategic planning in colleges and universities is more crucial than ever. Yet many strategic plans in higher education lack a clear strategy, instead resembling a long-range plan.
Blog Post

Integrated Planning at Nicolet College

 During “Horizons 2025: Integrated Planning at Nicolet College,” presented at SCUP North Central 2023 Regional Conference, presenters Christin Van Kauwenberg, director of business intelligence, and Erika Warning-Meyer, chief of staff, described how the community college implemented integrated planning. Two conference attendees share the insights and ideas that resonated with them.
Tool

Integrated Planning Competencies

 This toolkit details the competencies—knowledge, dispositions, and skills—an individual needs to perform integrated planning in higher education.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Integrating Board, System, and University Planning and Performance During a Period of Rapidly Declining State Funding Commitment

 Even in the most difficult financial times, integrating planning and budgeting throughout the organization creates opportunities for success.
Conference Recordings

Integrating Planning at the Organizational, Unit, and Individual Level

 This session will demonstrate how our Integrated Performance Excellence Framework (IPEF) guides planning at multiple levels of the institution, all of which are tied to our strategic policy, plan, and processes.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

It Takes a (Virtual) Village

 This large community college successfully embraced virtual communication platforms and moved forward with a viable 10-year plan during a global health crisis, economic turbulence, and technological change.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Juggling Chainsaws

 The numerous benefits of these processes can be realized only when the institution recognizes and plans for the different, sometimes conflicting perspectives they bring to high-stakes discussions.
Conference Presentations

Keep Focus: Improve Outcomes and Engagement With a Communications Calendar

 Focusing on a specific goal each month increases strategic plan success.
Conference Recordings

Keynote: Amidst Converging Storms | Part Two

 In the second of two keynotes focusing on higher education’s “perfect storm”—the confluence of a global pandemic, financial crisis, shifting demographics, and a changing culture—a cross-disciplinary panel will discuss their integrated planning strategies for moving from a state of triage to transformation.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Linking Strategic Planning and Graduate Education
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Managing Change from the Murky Middle

 Middle managers are often blamed for change failure and portrayed as change resisters or saboteurs. However, what looks like obstructionist behavior could actually be the observable effects of role ambiguity.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Maximizing Impact

 Only when diversity is purposefully included in a strategic plan can true diversity strategic planning take place.
Blog Post

Navigating Student Success

 To gain insight into how integrated planning to support student success can be a game changer, we turned to Paula Stossel, strategic advisor to the president for student success, and Amber Racchini, vice provost for student academic success, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. They graciously accepted our invitation to address questions about their cross-functional effort to ensure a student-centered approach to delivery of support services at IUP.
Webinar Recordings

No Man is an Island

 This session will describe how South Texas College restructured its integrated planning processes through the development of two planning bodies—which became instrumental in dismantling silos, aligning stakeholders, and amplifying diverse voices across multiple campuses.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

No-Brainer or Brain-Twister?

 While there is no one right way to link planning and budgeting, there is good practice: what works to influence behavior in the direction of institutional goals, supported by strong leadership.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Planning and Academic Program Review
Conference Presentations

Planning and Budget Alignment
Conference Presentations

Planning and Leading Through Positive Turbulence: Kean’s Pursuit of R2 Status

 In order to meet the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education's requirements for an R2 Research Institution designation, Kean University created the University Planning Council (UPC), an inclusive university-wide body with representatives from every constituency within the university community.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Planning the Online Pivot

 A regional public university intentionally designed and enacted academic planning to support enrollment stability during the transition to a fully online graduate program.
Conference Recordings

President’s Panel

 In this session, three college and university presidents from the United States, Canada, and Europe will reflect on how we can transform and reimagine higher education for the future.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Quickly Building a Bridge

 Executive leadership changes at Northern Michigan University led the interim president, interim provost, and Board of Trustees to call for a bridge plan to clearly articulate strategic work happening throughout campus. This article describes how the university was able to develop an interim strategic plan with broad campus engagement in less than half a year.
Example Plans

Realizing “Envision TRU”

 This green paper (a preliminary report of proposals published to stimulate discussion) introduces the primary concepts and advantages of integrated planning, designating it as the approach that will frame the institution’s upcoming strategic planning process.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Scaling Active Learning Classrooms

 A large-scale study uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of active learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.
Conference Recordings

SCUP Fellow Presentation | Designing and Developing Mature, Mission-aligned Online Academic Courses

 In this session, we’ll: 1) explain how process maturity and instructional design interact, 2) review basic elements of institutional missions, and 3) consider ways that mission statements get translated into instructional strategies.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Singapore and Mexico Are Inventing the 21st-Century Campus

 At leading universities in Mexico and Singapore, bold shifts in pedagogy and planning are reimagining the very core of the college experience.
Blog Post

Slight Differences and Lots of Similarities
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Social Equity and the Modern Campus

 Campus framework plans for Oregon State University and Bellevue College fully integrate social equity with engagement processes and physical solutions to improve the sense of welcome and inclusion.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Stakeholder Engagement Paves the Journey from Learning to Employment

 Planners for West Coast University connected with stakeholders to solicit input and gain consensus on decisions. The result is a technology-rich building and academic program that helps nursing students achieve their objectives
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Strategic Alignment for Degree Completion

 By coordinating cross-functional teams, employing real-time data, and strengthening communication systems, a university bolstered student retention and completion without requiring new funding or staff.
Conference Presentations

Strategic Planning at the Division Level
Example Plans

Strategic Priorities 2014–2019

 A high-level document enumerating the institution’s five strategic goals and strategies for achieving each goal.
Example Plans

Strategic Realignment of Resources Initiative

 Website for a resource alignment initiative aligned with the institution’s strategic plan.
Conference Presentations

Strategic Restructuring: Creating an Office of Strategy, Planning, and Analysis

 Institutions require accurate data to support decision making and planning, so they can and should carefully consider how this data is organized.
Example Plans

Ten for One

 The research university’s 2023 strategic plan.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

The Future of Planning is . . .

 IE professionals are both translators and integrators—and universities need these people who know how to interpret the data. Within the context of an IIE office, they assist in developing data-informed strategic plans, financial forecasts, enrollment plans, and other assessments of institutional efficacy.
Blog Post

The Grand Challenges in Assessment Project Supports Progress in Integrated Planning

 In recognition of the important role assessment plays in integrated planning, SCUP is an endorsing organization of the Grand Challenge in Assessment Project. In this blog post, we discuss the project and explore how it can help advance integrated planning in higher education.
Conference Presentations

The Greater College Park Initiative

 The “Greater College Park Initiative” is a signature multi-year effort in President Wallace Loh’s leadership and administration to continue positive town/gown relations with development that enhances both the university campus and surrounding communities.
Webinar Recordings

The Indispensable Planner

 Learn more about how planners can play a new, indispensable role—transformation architect—in helping their institutions transform to meet current challenges. The authors of the new book, Transforming for Turbulent Times: An Action Agenda for Higher Education Leaders, describe this transformative role, why planners are obvious candidates for the role, and the new mindset, behaviors, knowledge, and skills they will need to fulfill it.
Conference Recordings

The Spectrum of Space and Capital Planning in Florida and Georgia

 The Florida State and Georgia University Systems employ varied approaches to their space standards, planning, and capital programs. We’ll compare these approaches and discuss best practices for determining the effectiveness of space use and the planning process.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

The Value of Promising Failures and Partial Successes

 The Grand Challenges Project provides a comprehensive framework for institutions to overcome barriers, promote equity, and advance continuous improvement in higher education evaluation practices.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Transforming Data into Meaningful Information

 Leaders in two different accreditation regions share best practices and lessons learned from their integrated planning evolution and its impact on operational efficiency and student learning.
Webinar Recordings

Voices from the Field: Episode #1

 William Knight, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Miami University, addresses how his team has developed data dashboards for administration and faculty to provide insight into Learning Management System (LMS) use, enrollment projections, and overall student access and success.
Conference Recordings

Weaving Planning and Accreditation Together for Action

 Join us for an intimate discussion with Jamienne Studley, president of WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), former college president, and deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education (2013–2016).
Planning for Higher Education Journal

What Constitutes Tribal College and University Sustainability?

 Historical successes and challenges join missions, visions, and strategic plans for a glimpse of what TCU institutions are emphasizing, today and in the future.
Blog Post

Who Are Our Planners—and What Do They Read?

 October 2021 marked Planning for Higher Education’s 50th issue! To celebrate, we’re looking back at earlier articles in Planning to reflect on how things change (and, sometimes, how they don’t). Planning is an essential resource for all higher education administrators, planning analysts, and theorists from many disciplines. In this post, the author describes each group of planners and identifies the types of information each group can glean from the journal articles.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Why Strategic Plans Aren’t Working in Uncertain Times

 The author’s approach to his research-based Strategic Planning in Uncertain Times Fieldbook began with a sampling review of 50 strategic plans. What emerged was the development of an organizational learning cycle used as a template to assess the effectiveness of strategic plans on more than 250 college and university websites.
Conference Presentations

Your Resources

 This session focuses on the need to employ a coordinated and aligned approach to planning, resource allocation, and assessment.