SCUP
Learning Resources

Higher Ed in Society

Webinar Recordings

5 Questions About the Future of Higher Education

 Join Jim Downey, vice president of planning and institutional effectiveness at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Nick Santilli, SCUP’s senior director of learning, as they use SCUP’s Fall 2020 Trends for Higher Education report to explore “What If?” questions in a practical format that will allow your team to pinpoint areas for institutional advancement.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

A National Economic Case Statement for Community Colleges

 Now more than ever the role of postsecondary education is to cultivate the nation’s human capital.
Trends for Higher Education

Are You Prepared for Tomorrow’s Students? | Spring 2016
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Book Review: Higher Education Business Models Under Stress
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Book Review: Peak Higher Ed
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Book Review: Research Universities and the Public Good

 This book offers a good look inside the way research faculty view their role in the university. The perspectives shared are broadly applicable for all planners at post-secondary institutions, especially in their considering complex organizations that have both unlimited potential and finite resources.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Book Review: The State Must Provide
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Community Colleges

 This is a reprint of a paper originally published on the Fulton-Montgomery Community College website in August 2013.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Data Collection as a Means for Integrated Higher Education Change

 Six institutions measured the community impact of their anchor mission efforts along several social and economic dimensions using the Anchor Dashboard data tool.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Essentially There

 There is a call for higher education institutions to think of ways that knowledge can be created and shared between people— credentialed and noncredentialed—more readily so that society can better handle adversities.
Trends for Higher Education

Evolution of Higher Education | Spring 2017
Trends for Higher Education

Evolution of Higher Education | Spring 2018

 This edition focuses broadly on change in higher education.
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Fighting Fire With Fire

 Might academia co-opt the concepts and language of the corporate world, repurposing them to meet the actual (and traditional) ends of our higher education institutions?
Conference Recordings

Higher Education’s Financial Trajectory

 Moody's will discuss the financial outlook for the higher education sector over the next two years and beyond.
Trends for Higher Education

Implications From the External Environment | Fall 2017
Trends for Higher Education

Implications From the Internal Environment | Spring 2019

 This edition focuses primarily on forces of change from inside academe that may drive further evolution in colleges and universities.
Trends for Higher Education

Implications of the External Environment | Fall 2018

 We look through an array of lenses outside the world of higher education to gain some perspective on issues and opportunities that appear to be on the horizon—or at our doors.
Webinar Recordings

Insights from SCUP’s Spring 2023 Trends in Higher Education Report

 Join Nick Santilli and Randy Simon for a conversation that will highlight the SCUP Spring Trends Report.
Conference Recordings

Keynote | Going Deeper: Reimagining and Reinvigorating the Meaning of Higher Ed

 For many years, the focus in higher education has been higher, more, and better. Higher rankings.
Trends for Higher Education

Looking at the External Environment | Fall 2015
Blog Post

Planning for Parenting Student Success

 To gain insight into how cross-functional planning can support parenting students’ success, we turned to Brianne Dávila, PhD, associate dean for academic programs and student success and professor of sociology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and Giselle Navarro-Cruz, PhD, associate professor, early childhood studies, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Conference Presentations

Planning with Purpose

 In this session, we will broaden our view into the future and explore higher education's role over the long term as a critical agent of social progress.
Conference Recordings

SCUP Fellow Presentation | Naming Issues on Campus

 In this session, we’ll describe the trends, challenges, and opportunities related to re-naming and de-naming on campus.
Blog Post

Seven Values for a Stronger Future

 In this heartfelt reflection on the SCUP 2025 Annual Conference, keynote speaker Alapaki Nahale-a shares seven guiding values that can transform higher education planning—calling on the SCUP community to lead with purpose, connection, and collective responsibility.
Blog Post

The Campus Planner in a Time of Turmoil

 A founding member of SCUP shares some of his experiences and thoughts on how to deal with the challenges and turmoil facing higher education.
Trends for Higher Education

The Future of Learning | Fall 2016
Conference Recordings

The Higher Education Federal Policy Landscape

 As we approach the first six months of a new administration and Congress, Terry Hartle, Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs at the American Council on Education, will provide perspective on the impact so far of the changes to the political landscape from the 2020 elections and the potential public policy road ahead for higher education and accreditation.
Conference Recordings

The Paradigm Shift for Higher Education

 Join us to discuss the postsecondary education paradigm shift and its potential impact on our educational infrastructure, ecosystem, and role.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends for Higher Education | Canada Edition 2020

 This special issue of Trends focuses on the forces and events affecting Canadian higher education. Our guest editors contributed observations, trends, and insights based on their work within Canadian colleges and universities.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends for Higher Education | The Student Voices Edition

 This special issue of Trends describes student perspectives on four trends featured in recent issues of Trends for Higher Education: AI, personal finances, enrollment and attrition, and international students. Learn more about the opinions, reactions, and perspectives students have about these critical topics, preparing your institution to engage with your students in a more informed way.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside and Outside Higher Education | Fall 2019

 How is the world changing outside of higher education, and how is higher education responding to change? This report focuses on trends both inside and outside higher education.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2020

 The pace of change keeps speeding up. This issue focuses on forces and changes directly impacting higher education, now and in the future.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2021

 Within the world of higher education, what are some of today’s key trends—and what are some implications for institutions of higher learning? While the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn much of our focus for a year now, we continue to keep our eyes on other trends and forces. This issue broadly explores trends inside higher education.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2022

 Within the world of higher education, what are some of today’s key trends—and what are some implications for institutions of higher learning?
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2023

 Within the world of higher education, what are some of today’s key trends—and what are some implications for institutions of higher learning?
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2024

 What are key movements and trends within higher education? From addressing pandemic learning loss to grappling with generative AI in the classroom, learn the forces and changes directly impacting higher education, now and in the future.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2025

 What are key movements and trends within higher education? From addressing pandemic learning loss to grappling with generative AI in the classroom, learn the forces and changes directly impacting higher education, now and in the future.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Inside Higher Education | Spring 2026

 What are key movements and trends within higher education? From agentic AI to restructuring initiatives, learn the forces and changes directly impacting higher education, now and in the future.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2020

 How is the world outside your institution changing? While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every aspect of our lives, other trends and forces are worth watching. This issue broadly explores trends outside higher education.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2021

 From the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic to the impacts of climate change, colleges and universities continue to face an environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—VUCA. Learn the key trends and movements that might become our “new normal.” This issue broadly explores trends outside of higher education.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2022

 This edition focuses primarily on forces outside academe that may drive change in colleges and universities.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2023

 Outside the world of higher education, what are some of today’s key trends—and what are some implications for institutions of higher learning?
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2024

 How is the world outside your institution changing? From the growth of microschools to the decline of digital platforms and services, colleges and universities continue to face an environment that is uncertain and rapidly changing. Learn the key trends and movements that might impact your institution.
Trends for Higher Education

Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2025

 How is the world outside your institution changing? From the growth of microschools to the decline of digital platforms and services, colleges and universities continue to face an environment that is uncertain and rapidly changing. Learn the key trends and movements that might impact your institution.
Webinar Recordings

Trends that Impact Higher Education Planning Fall 2025

 Join Jason Nicholas and Tina Dee for a dynamic conversation exploring the external forces shaping higher education in 2025. Drawing from SCUP’s upcoming Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2025 report, they’ll offer their perspective on what these trends really mean for your institution—and how to act on them.
Webinar Recordings

Trends that Impact Higher Education Planning: Insights from SCUP’s Fall Trends in Higher Education Report

 Join Dr. Lynn Akey and Salvador Aceves, Ed. D. for a conversation highlighting insights from SCUP’s Fall Trends in Higher Education Report.
Webinar Recordings

Trends that Impact Higher Education Planning: Spring 2024

 Join Dale Braun and Jim Downey for a conversation highlighting insights from SCUP’s Spring Trends in Higher Education Report
Blog Post

We’re All in Labor

 To gain insight into relationships between higher education institutions and labor unions, we turned to Gregory Mantsios, the founding dean of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Labor and Urban Studies and director of the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies.
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.
Webinar Recordings

What If?

 Two SCUP leaders use SCUP’s Trends for Higher Education report to explore five “What If?” questions, breaking down big trends and exploring how these trends might impact higher education.