importance of strategic planning in higher education

5 Steps To Highly Effective Strategic Planning In Higher Education (FREE template)

A crystal clear strategic plan can be the big difference between becoming the leading university… VERSUS ending up at the bottom. You know - where you struggle to attract students, the right staff members or even funds to support your institution.

So, in order to achieve your university’s goals, you need to learn how to build an effective strategic plan. 

In this blog post, we will reveal:

• The #1 reason university strategies fail
• The overlooked role of a strategic plan for higher ed
• The 5-step process you can follow to build a plan with your team

What is strategic planning in higher education? 

Strategic planning is the process an institution follows to realize its vision of its ideal future state. It’s a roadmap for getting there. Your vision becomes a reality through the process that defines specific goals, needs, and actions. It helps you to structure and contextualize information leading to important decisions. 

Sounds obvious, right? 

So, the question is:

Why do so many universities fail at strategic planning?

Because they forgot what the main role of a strategic plan is.

Most universities and colleges work on some form of strategic planning, but they usually come out as a 28-page PDF. They create an impressive presentation with shiny headings, upload it to their website and consider themselves successful. 

The end result is a ‘strategic plan’ that serves more as a marketing brochure and less like a roadmap to success.

What’s wrong with this usual approach?

Most vice-chancellors and vice presidents are not even aware of what they are losing. Staff members and faculty members work in silos with no focus on the big picture. Departmental plans are unaligned with the overall strategic plan. This leads to inefficiency, wasted resources, and things getting missed.

Clearly, this approach lacks the organization and accountability necessary for success. As a result, some institutions are losing their reputation, while others are losing program accreditation, experiencing declining student success, or having fewer funds available.

Sometimes all of the above. 

Strategic planning goes beyond ambitious and attractive presentations that describe the organization’s state in the next 5, 10 or more years.

Now let's take a closer look...

What is the real purpose of the strategic plan in higher education?

Your first and foremost goal should be to stay true to the promises you made to your stakeholders.

Think of your strategic plan as the foundation to achieve your long-term goals.

It’s supposed to help you translate high-level ambitions into tangible actions at a departmental level. Furthermore, it organizes everyone so that they can do those actions and report on them in a systematic and transparent manner. 

It serves as a guiding light for your staff, allowing them to focus on the things that drive real progress towards the university's strategic goals. 

On top of that, it’s an important resource for planning your yearly budget allocation. Even in the most difficult financial times, integrating strategic planning and budgeting throughout the organization creates opportunities for success.

It's obvious, isn't it? You need to stop treating your strategic plan as merely a glorified marketing document.

What are the 5 steps in the strategic planning process?

This five-step process will help you to craft a strategic plan that goes beyond marketing and delivers on promised results.

1. Understand your current situation

An effective planning process starts with a thorough understanding of your current situation. 

You can start by asking these questions: 

• What are our core competencies?
• Which important KPIs are trending over the last few years upwards? 
• Where do we notice a drop in performance? What led to this drop?
• Where do we want to be in 5 or 10 years?
• Do we need to develop new programs?
• How do we get there? 
• What external factors can impact us in the future?

Search for answers and go deep into every department and aspect of your institution. From financial health and university rankings to student enrollment, retention rates, and placement rates.

Next, understand the expectations and needs of your internal and external stakeholders.

Remember, top-down approach doesn’t work for universities. Higher education institutions are highly interconnected with their community and shouldn’t neglect its interest when making strategic decisions.

Collect feedback from every stakeholder group whose expectations affect your performance:

• Alumni members
• Faculty members & campus community
• Community groups
• Senior administrators
• External partnerships

Include their input into planning and translate it into the institution’s major goals. Embrace this collaborative approach and prevent too many unexpected "buts" in the future.

Don’t forget that you’re only collecting information at this stage, not brainstorming solutions or action plans. 

‍ Cascade tip:

The SWOT analysis framework  is still one of the most effective methods for evaluating internal operations and the external environment. Be honest and thorough in your evaluation. You can use it numerous times through strategic planning but you should start early in the planning process.

2. Lead with vision and values

Your university's vision is a part of its identity and a powerful latent tool.

Higher ed institutions of any size can utilize it, but they usually don’t. They don’t believe that people care about the big picture or that it affects the university's daily operations.

However, a clear and unique vision statement will set you apart from the competition and make you more memorable to potential students. They will know exactly what to expect from studying at your university and why they should come. 

At the same time, it gives a strong sense of pride and belonging to current students, faculty, and alumni. It becomes an emblem that attracts the right students, staff members, and funding opportunities. 

Here’s  an example  of a vision statement for the university: 

We will work as one Oxford bringing together our staff, students and alumni, our colleges, faculties, departments and divisions to provide world-class research and education.

- University of Oxford

You can take it one step further and include your institutional mission statement. 

And don’t forget about the values. They define your university’s culture. They determine how people act, which behaviors are praised and which are condemned. 

When you build a culture intentionally, then everyone inside and outside your school knows what you stand for, reinforcing all the benefits of a harnessed vision.

Cascade tip:

One of the biggest blockers to the successful execution of a strategic plan is the attempt to accomplish too much at once.  Creating a Vision Statement  will help you to avoid that trap right from the start. It becomes your north star guiding your strategy. It will be easier for you to identify what is relevant and worthy of your attention versus what isn't.

3. Concentrate your strategic planning efforts on key areas

There's a problem most presidents and strategic planning committees face: they don't define the real focus of their plans. 

You see, you can’t achieve everything, everywhere, all at once.

Your resources are limited, and you should prioritize accordingly. 

I’m glad you followed the first two steps. Now you have all the information you need to identify the biggest and most urgent challenges your university faces.

Clarifying the obstacles ahead of time helps you prioritize your strategic goals and develop focused efforts to achieve them.

For example, let’s say you’re creating a 5-year strategic plan. Here are some key focus groups you might want to focus on: 

• Provide superb undergraduate experience 
• Ensure graduate education and lifetime learning 
• Increase community engagement 
• Increase research excellence 
• Optimize financial resources

Focus areas help you decide what falls outside the university's priorities and prioritize your strategic planning efforts. 

We usually suggest creating between 3 to 5 Focus Areas. Any fewer and they will probably be too vague. Any more, and well..... you lose your focus. Dive deeper into focus areas with this  guide . 

4. Translate plan into tangible actions

This is the part that turns your strategic plan into reality. 

If you ever want to achieve your goals, you need to break down the plan into smaller, granular pieces specific to each department. Start by adding strategic objectives to your focus areas. 

The secret to  writing great strategic objectives  is simplicity and specificity. Avoid jargon and use a verb to indicate action. Accompany it with a deadline and preferably an owner (or two).

Here is an example:

Increase citations per faculty by 5% by May 2024, owned by Jane Doe.

The next step is to migrate from goal-setting to action-planning with projects. Projects describe what you’ll do to accomplish your objectives.

Projects  articulate a set of actions within a certain timeline. They include specific tasks, milestones, dependencies and dates (deadlines). Every objective should include at least one project or action-like event. Otherwise, you’ll never achieve any progress towards it.

Of course, nothing is so linear, but this process forces you to come up with action plans to support every strategic initiative and allocate funds and your staff’s time appropriately.

One of the most important steps in the planning process is to take the high-level plan and break it down into tangible actions at the departmental level. 

Cascade  helps you to achieve that with  planning models completely customizable  to your strategic planning approach. 

You can create a university-wide strategic plan and then break it down into  portfolio or departmental plans.  Clarify their goals, projects and key metrics. Collaborate with your teams to build multiple inter-connected plans and tie them back to the overall plan.

You get complete  visibility into how different plans or projects are connected  and contribute to the overall strategic plan. 

5. Don’t forget to measure progress

There is no perfect strategic planning for higher education (or anywhere for that matter). 

Every plan can be derailed by events beyond our control (such as a pandemic, change in public policy, or an unstable economic environment on a global scale). There is, however, disciplined execution through regular reviewing habits. The secret lies in the way you measure your progress and the frequency of reviewing it.

Determine the indexes that you want to improve and then  set key performance indicators (KPIs)  to drive and measure your performance against set targets. 

Here are some examples of KPIs you might want to keep track of:

• University ranking
• Post-graduation placement rate
• Number of students involved in undergraduate research
• Fundraising ROI

Establish the KPIs you will be reporting on in advance, and always end your reviews with a "next steps" discussion.

Create dashboards to measure progress in real-time.  Cascade’s customizable dashboards  help you to quickly identify areas that are underperforming and act before it’s too late.

Zoom your screen in on the screenshot below to check out Cascade's beautiful dashboards!

Extra tip:  Use Cascade reports to help you demonstrate your success in a transparent way and attract more investments in the key areas of your university. 

What’s next for your university?

Most university’s failure to reach their strategic goals isn’t because of bad strategy, but because strategy is constrained by PowerPoint. Kept miles from those who can make it happen. The best in Advancement, the finest HR, the most profound ideas - they’re all framed in slides rather than shaping every day’s activities for everyone across the university.

Remember, a strategic plan isn’t just a glossy presentation to attract new students or to get that accreditation approval for your academic program. It’s a manifesto for every employee to embrace and enact in whatever they do at your university. 

So, the next step is to transform your strategy from an intellectual exercise to an executable plan. It’s just a matter of shifting your approach and using the right tools. 

And once you make that shift, you’ll be able to create  an organized and aligned approach  to make your strategic goals happen.

Do that and get your plan to everyone, and your competition will be choking in your dust.

Are you ready to create your plan and start executing it? Turn your strategic plan into a competitive advantage with our 100% free, battle-tested strategic plan template , built for teams in higher education. 

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Disruption. The new normal. VUCA. Whatever you call it, the truth is the same: The pace of change is rapid and constant. The world that higher education serves today is vastly different than 10 or 20 years ago. “Business as usual” is a luxury few can afford; higher education institutions are asked to prove their worth, redefine their purpose, and respond more quickly to society’s needs.

In this new normal, higher education strategic planning is no longer an empty exercise or a leadership vanity project. It is imperative for each institution to survive . . . and thrive.

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a deliberate, disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an institution is, what it does, and why it does it.

The college or university strategic plan provides guidance for institutional decisions, both long-term and day-to-day, and makes sure that decisions and operations:

• Carry out the institution’s mission, vision, and values
• Comply with mandates and regulations of government, accrediting bodies, etc.
• Keep the institution operationally and fiscally healthy, now and in the future

5 Components of Strategic Planning in Higher Education

The components of every strategic plan will vary according to an institution’s culture and needs but generally include:

• Explanation of the planning process
• Foundational information (an institution’s mission, vision, values)
• What your institution wants to achieve (goals, strategic issues, objectives, etc.)
• How your institution will achieve its goals (strategies, tactics, actions, etc.)
• How your institution will measure success (metrics, KPIs)

Why do strategic planning?

Higher education strategic planning helps an institution focus on its future success. How is the world changing, and how do we need to respond? What opportunities do we have to make a difference? What changes do we need to make today so we’re ready for tomorrow?

It gives an institution an opportunity to reflect on its performance. Is the institution achieving its vision? Living by its mission? Serving students in the ways they need? What should we start doing? Keep doing? Change? Stop doing?

Why is integrated planning important for strategic planning?

Higher education institutions are complex. The success of any initiative—from improving graduation rates to creating a more inclusive environment—requires expertise, time, and work from multiple units. At the same time, each unit has its own activities and work that it’s focusing on. By building relationships across departments, integrated strategic planning prevents duplicate activities (or worse, initiatives that work against each other), creates opportunities for collaboration, and makes sure that time and effort are spent on initiatives that realize the mission. Integrated strategic planning saves an institution’s resources while improving its work.

Integrated planning also helps with a strategic plan’s implementation. An integrated university or college strategic plan reflects the beliefs and experiences of the institution’s stakeholders, motivating people to change and experiment. It’s linked to the budget, so there are resources to implement plan strategies. It’s informed by assessment, so the strategic plan can adapt and stay relevant.

Who does strategic planning?

Strategic planning should involve the input and participation of the entire campus community—both internal stakeholders (faculty, administration, staff, students, alumni) and external stakeholders (community members, employers).

The planning committee or team leads the process. Since strategic planning can be a long, complex process, there may also be additional committees or task forces to tackle different topics or parts of the process.

Planning Committee

• Chair: president, senior-level administrator, or faculty member (depends on the institution)
• Representatives of key stakeholder groups
• Top-level decision makers (provost, VPs/directors of key campus divisions and departments)

When is strategic planning done?

Most strategic plans are cyclical. As one strategic plan nears the end of its horizon (the length of time a plan covers), a new planning process begins for the next strategic plan.

A plan’s horizon depends on the institution and its needs. Most strategic plans cover five to 10 years, but some may cover as few as three and others as long as 20.

If a new president assumes leadership of the institution, the new president will often conduct a new planning process that reflects the president’s priorities.

How is strategic planning done?

The strategic planning process needs to be adapted to an institution’s culture and operations. For example, a tightly controlled top-down process may face challenges in a highly decentralized institution.

Strategic planning processes need to include the following activities and characteristics:

• Communicate the process, purpose, who is involved, and how decisions will be made
• Seek and use feedback from as many stakeholders as possible, both on and off campus
• Scan externally and internally to identify strengths, areas to improve, opportunities, and potential threats
• Prioritize what the institution wants to accomplish
• Outline how the institution will invest its resources (including time and people) to accomplish those goals
• Align resources, day-to-day work, and initiatives across the institution with the plan
• Measure, monitor, and modify the plan as needed

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Strategic planning in higher education: Providing equitable access to experiences and building strong career pathways

Lewis Carrol once said, 'If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.' But educators and institutional leaders know better. They know the power of planning and work diligently to build strategic plans that improve educational outcomes.

Strategic planning can be both a reflective and proactive process, one that respects the rich traditions of academic institutions while boldly embracing the challenges and opportunities of the future. 

This article will explore the importance of strategic planning for higher educational institutions and how it can be used to address evolving student expectations, highlighting the importance of aligning educational pathways with real-world applications and equitable access. 

We will examine how institutions can leverage technology and collaborative platforms like Riipen, not just for academic purposes, but also to meet the needs for employability and practical skill development.

{{key-takeaways}}

Laying the foundations: a basic guide to the strategic planning process.

Strategic planning in higher educational institutions is a complex process, involving committees and teams, that’s not undertaken annually. Typically, it’s a three- to five-year initiative that lays out the way the university or college intends to serve its students and its communities.

The goal is to align the institution's actions with the needs and aspirations of its learners, ensuring that the strategic plan reflects the institution's commitment to its core values and objectives.

As such, no two strategic plans will look alike. Depending on the size of the institution, funding, the type of programs offered, location, etc., each institution will have a different way to approach and implement its strategic plan.

That being said, there are some components that are commonly seen in strategic plans , such as:

• Mission and vision: A modern strategic plan begins with clear, concise mission and vision statements that define the institution's primary purpose and its long-term goals.
• Environmental scan: This involves a thorough analysis of internal and external environments using tools like SWOT analysis, which is crucial for shaping a strategic plan according to the current landscape.
• Goals and objectives: Every plan will have clearly defined goals and objectives. Typically, they follow SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) guidelines, and objectives should provide overarching direction. Timing of goals and objectives is key, with adjustments made over different time frames.
• Strategies and tactics: Strategies outline the broader approach to achieving goals, while tactics are specific action steps. For example, enhancing student employability could be a strategy, implemented through tactics like industry-relevant training and business partnerships.
• Implementation and action plans: This involves executing the strategies and tactics through detailed planning, resource allocation, and setting timelines.
• Monitoring and evaluation: Strategic plans require ongoing evaluation to assess progress and make necessary adjustments. This ensures continuous alignment with the institution's mission and vision.

Emerging approaches to strategic planning in higher education

As technology continues to advance and student expectations shift, modern strategic plans have adopted more innovative and data-centric methods to tackle the intricate challenges that educational bodies face.

Some key emerging strategies in this realm include:

• Data-informed strategy: More and more educational institutions are harnessing the power of data to shape their strategic decisions. A prime example is Green River College in Washington , which has adopted a data-centric approach to promote equity, focusing on detailed data to drive grassroots changes.
• Cultivating a unified vision and values: The focus of strategic planning is increasingly shifting towards cultivating a common vision for the future and aligning steps to fulfill this vision. This strategy underscores the significance of guiding with clearly defined visions and values.
• Holistic planning methodology: This approach to strategic planning considers the broader picture, centering on the institution's mission and encompassing its faculty, staff, and students. It emphasizes outcome-based measurements and aims to reduce resistance to change.
• Performance measurement: A key best practice in strategic planning involves clarity on the objectives being measured and the reasons behind them. It's vital to have a concrete understanding of what constitutes success and to pinpoint the key areas for action. ‍

These evolving strategies illustrate a shift towards more inclusive, sustainable, and student-centric development in higher education. 

How to address student expectations with strategic planning

One of the key strengths of strategic plans is their ability to articulate the institution's thematic focus in a manner that's both loud and clear. Today, strategic plans within higher education institutions often clearly state that employability and workplace training are fundamental to their ethos. 

This emphasis resonates deeply with the aspirations of today's students, who are eager to see a direct connection between their academic pursuits and their practical implications in the real world. In fact, more than 80% of students express a desire to see more real-world, company-led projects in their coursework.

By embedding this focus in their ethos, institutions can use this to attract different kinds of students as well as to communicate their value for ROI . On top of that, a significant component of strategic planning is its emphasis on equity and the need to create access for all learners. 

It's not just about making sure everyone has access but ensuring that this access translates into real-world readiness and skills development. 

This demonstrates a commitment to student success and the overall student experience. This is key because student success is closely tied to how students engage with their education, including their retention and persistence .

By focusing on these areas, institutions are directly responding to the evolving expectations of students. This dynamic process not only sets goals but also forges pathways leading to tangible outcomes for students.

Ways to communicate employability and career readiness in strategic plans

While there are multiple ways to communicate employability and career readiness in your strategic plans, here are a few you could try:

• Clearly outline the specific skills and competencies that are in demand and how they are integrated into the curriculum. 
• Establish strong relationships with employers and industry leaders to bolster course offerings and provide real-world experience and networking opportunities for learners.
• Develop robust career services that offer guidance, resume building, interview preparation, and job search assistance. 
• Bring attention to the importance of lifelong learning and the availability of continuous education opportunities
• Use data and metrics to demonstrate success in employability and career readiness, including graduation rates, employment rates, success stories, and other relevant outcomes.
• Emphasize interpersonal skill development, such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability, which are increasingly valued by employers.

What are some best practices shaping today's robust strat plans?

Creating a strategic plan isn't a one-and-done type of project. Like any great plan, it's a cyclical, iterative process that necessitates regular revision, careful planning, and ongoing evaluation to navigate the continually evolving realms of academia and societal needs effectively. 

Whether you're drafting a new plan or making adjustments to the current one, here are some things you should consider. ‍

Recognizing and prioritizing employability in the strategic plan

Developing a strategic plan that prioritizes employability and workplace training is vital for institutions looking to foster a vibrant learning environment directly connected to real-world applications.

This focus not only boosts student attraction and underscores a clear ROI but also guides the recruitment of dedicated educators and administrators, ensuring a cohesive understanding and application across all institutional members.  ‍

Emphasizing equity and access

Equity and access consistently find their place within institutional strategic commitments, addressing the imperative to serve all, especially the underserved. 

It's not merely about ensuring everyone gets an education; it's about ensuring everyone gets equal access to all experiences and opportunities that make them job-ready.  ‍

Understanding and nurturing the relationship between student success and experience

Student success isn't just about grades; it's about engagement, persistence, and retention. It's about providing students with the experiences they crave and aligning the curriculum to include the skills they need to succeed. This could include providing more hands-on activities or incorporating more real-world scenarios. 

Therefore, strategic planning becomes crucial to communicate and actualize an institution's commitment to fulfilling these expectations, ensuring students are educated and comprehensively prepared for the professional world ahead. ‍

Addressing evolving student expectations

There's an ever-growing sentiment among students today: they want real-world experience and skills that will prepare them for life outside the classroom . It's no longer just about academic prowess; it's about career readiness and employability.

It's crucial for institutions to recognize and adapt to these expectations, equipping students with modern technology, tools, and real-world connections, ensuring they are both academically sound and career-ready. ‍

Anticipating challenges and devising solutions

Every change comes with challenges. For higher education institutions, this could include issues like resistance to change, budgetary constraints, and balancing academic freedom. Even though these aspects are important and valuable, institutions need to be flexible in their strategic planning and execution.

The ultimate goal is to navigate through these obstacles in a manner that preserves the integrity of academic pursuits while progressively adapting to the multifaceted demands of the educational landscape. ‍

Committing to the holistic student experience in all facets

A comprehensive student experience extends beyond the academic realm, encapsulating mental health services, dorm facilities, food availability, and more, each integral to a student's overall well-being. 

An institution's role in this is monumental—ensuring that a student's overall experience is positive and supportive and that they emerge job-ready, armed with skills and knowledge in tandem with market demands.

Crafting strategic plans with the modern student in mind

As institutions work to create strategies that address students' needs and expectations, they often spend a lot of time thinking about how equity, employability, student success, and student experience will be integrated into their strategic plans. They need to carefully balance: 

• Student engagement, retention, and enrollment
• Course and experience relevancy
• Relationships with industry partners

The goal is to provide impactful student experiences without diluting the quality, accessibility, or relevance of their offerings. Many seek out innovative, robust solutions, like Riipen, to turn strategic planning into tangible student experiences and outcomes. 

With Riipen, institutions gain access to: 

• A global network of over 31,000 industry partners and their current projects
• A collaborative learning tool that lets students work on authentic, real-world projects 
• A platform that enables equitable access to essential industry experiences for all student

By adopting Riipen, institutions give their strategic plans a tangible, actionable ally, making sure students get market-relevant skills, industry networks, and practical experience that's not just aspirational but achievable.

Umair Shah, an educator from the University of Waterloo, had this to say about the transformative power of Riipen in the educational journey:

"Riipen was presented as an alternative to case studies, and I jumped on it right away. I still remember that experience. It gave me both learning and networking opportunities, and I knew this would be good for my students…The biggest outcome was that the students could connect what they're learning in every module to the real world."

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Key takeaways

• Strategic plans provide a thorough architecture where educational pathways, resources, and institutional efforts converge to prepare students for the professional world.
• Educational institutions are tasked with performing a balancing act – ensuring traditional academic pursuits are honored, while simultaneously adapting to the evolving expectations of students, especially in terms of employability and practical skill development.
• By incorporating technology and platforms such as Riipen, academic learning can be made more practical and real-world applicable through collaborations and partnerships.

If you're curious about how Riipen can seamlessly integrate into your strategic plan and enhance employability outcomes for your students, schedule a demo . 

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Strategic Planning in Higher Education – Best Practices and Benchmarking

• July 16, 2014
• Topic: Higher Education
• Resource type: Insights Blog

Executive Summary and Key Findings

Introduction.

This report examines best practices in strategic planning at higher education institutions and profiles the strategic plans and planning processes in place at five specific institutions. The discussion has been informed by three areas of concern common to many higher education institutions: the need to manage changing funding models, the need to seek more sustainable support from key constituents, and the need to improve student recruitment and retention.

The report comprises the following two sections:

• Section 1 examines best practices in strategic planning for higher education institutions. We discuss common pitfalls and guiding principles for gaining buy‐in, implementing the plan, and financial planning. In addition, we profile two successful strategic planning processes, including the timeline, participants, procedures, and lessons learned.
• Section 2 profiles the strategic plans of five specific institutions and identifies common trends among them. We examine these institutions’ strategic planning processes and strategic goals and initiatives, as well as implementation and monitoring methods.

Key Findings

Planning process.

• Strategic planning involves 1) formulating goals, objectives, and action steps, and 2) monitoring implementation, tracking progress, and revising the plan . During the initial planning process, conducting comprehensive institutional research is crucial to determine appropriate goals and objectives.
• Involving stakeholders in the planning process can help build broad support among diverse constituents . In particular, the planning committee benefits from members that represent a variety of institutional roles, demographic groups, and campus units. In addition to building buy‐in, a diverse committee helps to anticipate the future cross‐unit coordination necessary to carry out goals and objectives.
• At Morgan State University, listening sessions, town hall meetings, and a regularly updated website promoted involvement from a wide swath of the campus community.
• The profiled institutions have strategic plan cycles that range from five to 11 years , based on planning processes that lasted eight to 16 months . Some consultants note that short plan cycles can better address unforeseen challenges. For instance, each year, the College of William & Mary (W&M) revises its five‐year strategic framework, produces a budget that reflects strategic priorities, and outlines implementation steps for the coming year.
•  A short plan cycle may also mitigate the tendency to front‐load or back‐load goals during the planning process. These pitfalls can lead to unrealistic timelines and/or a loss of momentum.
• Aligning the budget with the strategic plan helps increase the plan’s impact . For instance, redesigning an institution’s budget request form to include strategic importance can ensure that key initiatives are implemented. W&M provides an example of such a budget process. By building wide‐ranging support, establishing institutional priorities, and setting evidence‐based metrics, the strategic planning process can also help support fundraising campaigns.

Goals and Initiatives

• Ensuring students’ academic success, diversifying financial resources, improving infrastructure and operations, promoting community engagement, and developing institutional branding emerged as common strategic goals among the five profiled institutions. Related initiatives include increasing enrollment and retention, improving alumni engagement, building sustainable facilities, establishing relationships with community organizations, and creating a marketing strategy.
• The strategic plans contain five to six goals, with 19 to 31 associated initiatives . The number of initiatives corresponding to each goal varies widely, from one to 11, depending on the scope of the goal. Additional initiatives include projects related to the internationalization of curricular offerings, campus safety, and experiential learning.

Implementation and Monitoring

• The plan should answer the question “How will we know if we reach this goal, and how will we prove it?” A comprehensive implementation plan describes, for each objective, action steps, anticipated outcomes, criteria of success, a timeline, benchmark indicator(s), assessment method, necessary resources, and the person or office accountable. Linking strategic accomplishments to administrators’ performance evaluations may also help to incentivize implementation.
• Reporting annually on the institution’s progress can sustain momentum after the plan has been approved . Indiana State University holds an annual stakeholders conference for this purpose. W&M and North Carolina A&T State University use annual scorecards to report performance on 20‐26 key metrics. Including a mix of short‐, middle‐, and long‐term objectives in the plan also improves motivation by creating opportunities for measured success early on.
• Benchmark indicators vary widely depending on the specific outcome desired . The majority of benchmark indicators are items such as retention rates, number of students accessing services, U.S. News rankings, or the dollar amount of research grants. Additional assessment methods may involve reviewing policies and procedures, or analyzing the results of surveys and focus groups. In these cases, the indicators may be revised internal documents or improved survey ratings.
• In addition to tracking institutional progress on benchmark indicators, it can be useful to monitor the status of individual implementation steps . For instance, W&M groups all implementation steps into one of four possible categories: “not yet started, underway, completed, [or] adopted into continuing practice.” This method guarantees that no steps get “lost” in the implementation process.

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• The European Centre For Expertise, Networking & Resources In The Internationalisation Of Higher Education

The importance of strategic planning in higher education

As internationalisation becomes increasingly integral to university operations, it raises the question of institutional capacity and whether the university is in fact able to respond to the new challenges it is facing. Strategic planning is often proposed as a key tool for a more rational and systematic approach to bringing about the necessary changes for greater internationalisation in institutional direction and daily operations.

However, in my experience, many people in universities are cynical about the value of strategic planning in higher education, believing that it does not fit with academic cultures and traditions. I would argue that when an appropriate model is adopted, it not only aligns with the specific needs and behaviours of universities, but also has the potential to turn what is often rhetoric into reality.  

While it is true that the practice of strategic planning has been imported from the business world (which had adapted it from the original military model), it is essential to take the specific nature and modes of operation of a university into consideration if strategic planning is to be accepted and embraced both as a concept and a system that can provide direction and facilitate progress.  

There are two fundamental differences. One is that universities have value systems guided by principles of long-term investment in educating people and creating and disseminating knowledge, unlike the typically short-term focus on financial results in the business world. Although it could be argued that universities are increasingly required to generate diverse income sources and demonstrate quality and sustainability of their operations to their “stakeholders”, so even this difference might be less prominent in some countries nowadays. Nevertheless, it is clear that a strategic plan that is strongly linked to academic innovation rather than simply financial sustainability will have a better chance of finding support within the university.  

The second difference is that a business might choose to take a strong top down approach to driving through decisions and directions, but the nature of shared governance in universities means that it is key to build consensus from the start to ensure involvement and commitment across the various faculties, schools and departments. So while commitment will start at the top with the institutional head indicating direction and articulating the desired future, it will be essential to bring the academic community on board from the very start. It takes much more time and energy to design a process that is both transparent and inclusive, but it is one that is more likely to succeed.  

There is a much greater chance that the academic community will identify with – and be willing to implement – the strategic plan if they are involved in the process right from the start, if there is flexibility for them to establish their own contribution and goals within the broader framework. This is a two-way process. While the leadership should provide space for diversity and distinctiveness, the faculties and departments should also recognise the need for vertical and horizontal interdependence within the institution.  

If strategic planning in higher education is designed carefully, it creates a space for collaborative implementation and becomes the glue that holds the internationalisation process together. In other words, it can act to strengthen the culture and enable the university to become the institution it wants to be.  

By Fiona Hunter, Higher Education Consultant and EAIE Past President  

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The Importance of Strategic Planning in Education

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Strategic planning is a method used in various industries to deliberately guide decision-making. In education, strategic planning provides leaders with guidance to keep the institution operating, carry out its missions and comply with regulations. Educational strategic planning focuses on the future of a college or university, providing an intentional way to reflect on performance and determine where to implement initiatives to make positive changes for the future.

To create effective university strategic plans, administrators and stakeholders must understand the ins and outs of how they work and how they can apply them.

In This Article

• Lack of Ownership
• Poor Strategic Alignment
• Poor Communication
• Slow Plan Adoption
• Improve Efficiency
• Engage Stakeholders and the Community
• Form a Focus
• Plan a Future
• Test Your Hypotheses
• Use Specific Language
• Make Implementation a Priority
• Hold Team Members Accountable

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The challenges of strategic planning in education.

Universities and colleges face several pressures and challenges that can complicate strategic planning in educational environments. Understanding some of these challenges can help you overcome them to create an impactful approach.

1. Lack of Ownership

While strategic plans involve feedback and participation from all of your institution’s departments and entities, you should limit ownership of the plan and documentation to one person. Without explicit ownership over the strategic plan, initiatives are more likely to be lost, forgotten or overlooked. With one person in charge, your school is more likely to achieve success.

2. Poor Strategic Alignment

Alignment and representation across your university are crucial to success. Universities and colleges often experience a lack of strategic alignment because the church and state divisions typically have different goals for schools. These clashing perspectives lead to poor strategic alignment and a stand-still in decision-making.

3. Poor Communication

Many educational institutions also struggle with strategic planning due to poor organizational communication. Effectively implementing a strategic plan requires institutional-wide teamwork. Poor communication significantly increases the difficulty of agreeing upon and executing effective solutions and setting attainable goals.

4. Slow Plan Adoption

With a significant focus on innovation and growth, universities may make numerous changes in a year. Constant changes often lead to low motivation to adopt new plans. The longer your teams take to implement a strategic plan, the more likely it is to become outdated. When this situation happens, the plan becomes irrelevant to your current processes.

Why Education Institutions Need Strategic Planning

Despite the inherent challenges, educational strategic planning is necessary for a successful institution operation. A strategic plan can help you improve several aspects of your educational institution through intentional goal-setting and initiative implementation. Strategic planning for colleges and universities helps students, staff and the community progress toward a better future.

Here are a few reasons you should use strategic planning in education:

1. Improve Efficiency

One of the biggest reasons to begin strategic planning is the opportunity for improved efficiency in numerous areas of your organization. The challenges of educational planning often lead to a lack of efficiency. Strategic planning for schools allows leaders to determine more effective ways to streamline processes.

For example, your decision-making teams may take significant time to agree on new policies or procedures. Strategic planning helps your institution use time more efficiently because it allows you to form decision-making strategies.

Improved efficiency also results in better cost-effectiveness. The less time is wasted, the more money you’ll save, especially over time.

2. Engage Stakeholders and the Community

Strategic planning involves more people than only the primary decision-makers — your planning should involve your community and stakeholders. Feedback from these entities can help you develop a more beneficial and strategically targeted plan based on what these entities want or need from you. Engaging the stakeholders and community also shows you value their input and want to create an environment where they want to be.

3. Form a Focus

Determining a focus for the school year ahead can be challenging without clear objectives. Without focus, your institution will struggle to grow and attract students and staff. For example, you may have vague expectations for the upcoming school year, which prevents decisions and progress from being made. A strategic plan allows you to determine your goals and focus for the upcoming year and beyond while also helping you track your progress.

4. Plan a Future

Strategic planning is ideal for planning a successful future for your institution. Developing a plan for your future helps ensure your school can grow and continue benefiting from its offerings. Rather than being unprepared for the next year and future school years, you can effectively strategize to make the most of your school year.

Strategic Planning Tips for Education Institutions

While every school’s strategic plan will look different depending on its goals and resources, the strategic planning process is often similar for colleges and universities. Explore a few tips for educational strategic planning to help you get started:

1. Test Your Hypotheses

You’re ultimately hypothesizing the outcome when you set initiatives in your strategic plan. These hypotheses are often based on assumptions, though it’s typically best to experiment to determine what would work and what may not. For example, if you ask your faculty to begin submitting weekly reports, conduct a quick test to ensure they can do so and have time to do so.

2. Use Specific Language

Using vague or wordy language increases the risk of confusion and the possibility of initiatives being misunderstood and ignored. Swapping out complicated words for simpler, more specific words can help ensure everyone understands your plan. It can help to have someone review the language you use to ensure nothing is confusing and everyone is on the same page.

3. Make Implementation a Priority

Because schools involve numerous departments and divisions, implementing a plan can be difficult without prioritization . Make your plan a priority to ensure it’s properly implemented. Doing so is often easiest when leaders promote and require implementation.

4. Hold Team Members Accountable

Another way to make university strategic plans stick is by holding team members accountable. School performance management software allows you to track reports and other strategy-related information to determine who’s completing their duties so you can keep them accountable.

Educational institutions require significant planning to ensure a successful school year. Strategic planning software for higher education can help you focus your strategy despite your institution’s challenges. Software like AchieveIt has features that help your team turn ideas into actions.

A few things you can do with our software include:

• Solve common implementation challenges: AchieveIt makes connecting members of your team and various initiatives easy. You can track projects, keep everyone on the same page and quickly send updates.
• Gain comprehensive visibility: Our platform lets you see every initiative in real time, providing comprehensive visibility over progress.
• Consult with our experts: Our strategic plan experts help you execute your plan effectively. Draw on our expertise for inspiration or customize one of our templates to create your plan.

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Meet the Author   Chelsea Damon

Chelsea Damon is the Content Strategist at AchieveIt. When she's not publishing content about strategy execution, you'll likely find her outside or baking bread.

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Stop Planning!

By  Peter Eckel and Cathy Trower

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Certainly, strategic plans are important to academic institutions. Colleges and universities invest a tremendous amount of time and effort (holding many meetings with various constituent groups on and off campus to gain input) -- and sometimes also money (for consultants) -- in their strategic plans. Once finished, there is great fanfare and publicity, often around the plan’s creative name and new, bold priorities. Plans appear in highly visible places on websites. Institutions hold retreats, often over many days, to talk about plan implementation and progress. They design and put in place new data systems to track progress and create elaborate metrics and key performance indicators. And all the while, those who lead the planning process can be heard saying, “This plan will not sit on the shelf (this time).”

Yet despite all this investment of time and resources, few strategic plans enjoy strong consensus that they are meaningful and have a real impact on the trajectory of the college or university.

Too often strategic plans fall short of serving as a guiding light for the future. Some are triumphs of form (or wordsmithing) over substance. Their key points often are expected, and they share much in common with those of similar, but also dissimilar, institutions. “Educate students for the global 21st century,” anyone? How about “Produce cutting-edge research?”

So if the results are less than impactful, then why do we invest so much in strategic planning? Trustees and faculty members wonder what all the fuss was about, why the process was so time-consuming and arduous and why, in the end, the work seems to have had so little real impact.

The solution, tried and tried again, on most campuses is to improve planning efforts to create better strategic plans. Involve more people, develop new metrics, hire different consultants, have leaders say earlier in the process that “this plan will not sit on the shelf.” But what if improving planning is the wrong focus? Maybe institutions would be better served by focusing on the other half of strategic planning: the strategy.

Why Strategy, Not Planning

A concentration on strategy might help institutions operate more efficiently, make smarter choices among competing priorities and set the course for a sustainable future. During a recent workshop on strategy (and not planning), the following exchange occurred between an experienced administrator and one of us. “I’ve been involved in three different strategic planning efforts at my institution. And with each one we get better,” she said. “Great,” we said, “but better at what? Better as an institution or better at planning?” Her reply, sheepishly: “Ah, better at planning.”

As she realized during this exchange, the real objective shouldn’t be to improve planning, but rather to improve the institution and position it for success in the long run. Given the demands on campuses and the complexities that academic leaders face, might institutions be better served by looking at the future through some new lenses rather than reinvesting in yet another round of similar work? Thus, we have the title of this essay (which is an intentional overstatement, as we will explain below).

Strategy, as a concept, sits between mission and operational plans. And historically in higher education, it has been overlooked in conversations about each. An institutional mission statement says why a college or university exists; it’s the purpose. The better ones convey particular actions with respect to target audiences, as well as articulate outcomes. Strategy is the pathway to deliver on that mission. It is the game plan that contains answers to key questions, such as in what arenas will you engage (undergraduate, graduate; health care, humanities; liberal arts, professional; local, national, global; adult, traditional age, etc.) and how will you succeed? Operations are the steps to implement strategy and therefore deliver on the mission. Too many university strategic plans are mostly outcomes or ideals (or unfunded “wish lists”), without an articulation of strategy.

Strategy has numerous definitions, and those people who work on strategy in other settings like health care or the corporate sector often disagree on its meaning. But what is clear across many competing definitions is that strategy: 1) is the link between mission and the realities of the external, competitive marketplace, 2) is about choices associated with organizational direction and 3) differs from operations. The problem with many college and university strategic plans is that they do not articulate choices; they are internally, not externally focused, and are muddied by operations. While important operational priorities are frequently advanced in traditional strategic plans -- such as creating a financially sustainable business model, leveraging technology or growing enrollments -- they are not strategy. Strategy is the purpose for which you will be taking these operational steps. Operations address how to do things right, whereas strategy is about the right things to do.

Articulating the right things to do is difficult work. Roger Martin, former dean of the business school at the University of Toronto, has a wonderful test about plans versus strategy. He argues that you do not have an effective strategy if you and your competitors are doing the same things. Strategy exists if some competitors choose different, if not opposite, paths. Therefore, if the opposite of your strategic choices looks stupid, then all competitors are going to have pretty much the same strategy as you, doing you little good.

For example, the opposite of “performing high-impact research”? Perform low-impact research. The opposite of “provide all students with a transformational learning experience”? Provide some students with a transformative experience or provide all students with a less than transformative experience. While each opposite may occur in practice, rarely are they stated as institutional goals. How well do the strategic choices in your institution’s plan pass this opposites test? (Most do not, but they generate a pretty good laugh.)

Furthermore, we in higher education seem quite enamored with five-year plans. Yet unlike operational priorities, strategy is not time bound. Most strategic plans tend to adopt an artificial focus of five years (the bold ones aim for 10 years or more). What is magical about 60 months? Why should time matter more than other variables that might define strategy and its direction? (For some, the answer is simply five years of reprieve before they have to go through the planning process again.)

The environment for most universities is volatile and variable, not static and predicable; it is challenge dependent and not time dependent. Yet, most plans are time bound. Therefore, institutions either: 1) revise their plans and priorities as the world evolves during that five-year window or 2) ignore some (or most) of what is in their plans as they respond to new challenges and pursue emergent opportunities. It’s also common to hear someone say, “Culture eats strategy for lunch (or breakfast),” which is fine. But the more substantive the strategy meal, the better, yes?

The result for most institutions is that faculty members, administrators, trustees, alumni and others spend a lot of time and energy developing documents that give incomplete directions. As the roads and conditions keep changing, colleges and universities may be better served by keeping an eye on the horizon rather than trying to follow turn-by-turn signs. Think compass, not map.

What might happen if rather than developing and arguing over objectives, goals, timelines and key performance indicators, administrators, faculty members and trustees spent the time framing and asking a limited number of strategy-related questions? And once answering those, developing a series of operational plans to deliver on strategy, such as linking budgets with priorities for the next two years? Separate products to serve distinct purposes.

A caveat: strategy questions, as the right-things-to-do questions, are difficult to frame and to frame well. If strategy were easy, every organization would have a well-articulated and impactful one.

New Approaches, Different Questions, Novel Outcomes

Strategy as a field may have a lot to offer colleges and universities. Drawing again on the work of a range of strategy thinkers, examples of potentially impactful questions include:

• What key objectives will best ensure that we fulfill our mission in the foreseeable future?
• Who are our key audiences and how are their needs and aspirations changing?
• How is the environment evolving and what does that mean for our competitive advantage?
• Who are our competitors -- both traditional and nontraditional -- and in what ways are they competing differently? How might we respond?
• What do we not do or consider not doing? What are the boundaries of our efforts? What criteria is used to demarcate what is inside and outside those boundaries?

In the end, as Martin and his colleagues suggest, strategy is fundamentally about answering two key questions: 1) Where to play and 2) how to succeed. How well do higher education strategic plans provide answers to those deceptively simple questions?

Strategy Meets Shared Governance

Strategy is set and advanced by a collaborative effort. It is not the sole undertaking of faculty members, administrators or the board. The strategy that is pursued comes through collective and intentional efforts as well as through emergent activities by colleges, departments and even individual faculty members. Strategy is what we say we will do, but it also is about the cumulative effect of what we have done.

For intentional strategy formation, involving key stakeholders is important, if not essential. Strategy is a primary example of that “inescapable interdependence” the AAUP’s 1966 Statement on Government artfully framed over 50 years ago. Framing the right questions can help craft strategy, as those questions can energize the collective will and creative good thinking across campus that is needed to address today’s pressing challenges.

For example, the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Services brought together faculty members, administrators and staff members to articulate its strategy. That included adopting a system to address problems in education, human development, counseling and social work; focusing on the people, places and history of Vermont (the Vermont Distinction); and prioritizing its impact on a diverse, globalized society. Those elements answer the college’s “where to play” question.

But other strategy emerges from the work on campuses, particularly among the faculty. Institutions should recognize that strategy can be created from consistencies and synergies across efforts, and need not always come from a formal strategy-development process. At the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, the suite of executive programs is a key strategy. They were not created through a committee or market analysis. Rather, they came about because a few savvy faculty members saw the need to offer a doctoral program in a new format in higher education management (the where-to-play decision). Once the program in higher education took root, others saw the potential for similarly structured programs in school administration, education entrepreneurship, medical education and for chief learning officers. Now they matter a good deal to the institution.

To conclude, the title of this essay is a gross overstatement. Institutions still need plans. They need plans to operationalize their strategies. A strategy without a plan may simply be a wish.

But plans are not strategies. Institutions would be better served to first start by articulating statements of strategy and then creating operational plans to deliver on those statements (see the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Services pathways in its planning document ). These operational plans can decouple operations from strategy, develop a short-term (12- to 18-month) road map, and ensure greater agility and responsiveness as needs arise and conditions change.

As we have said here, strategy is not planning. A focus on strategy is intended to help institutions experiment and take initiative, to ask questions and create synergies, and to move institutions ahead in often unknown and unknowable environments. By framing different types of conversations as part of strategic planning efforts, our hope is that we can generate different, and more beneficial, outcomes from those processes.

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Strategic Planning

3 exceptional examples of strategic planning in higher education.

By Mary King

25 october 2023.

• 1 Strategic Plan Example 1: Data-Driven Strategy for Equity with Green River College, WA
• 2 Strategic Plan Example 2: Strategic Innovations in Accessibility with Gallaudet University, DC
• 3 Strategic Plan Example 3: Best Practices Measuring Performance with NEOMED University, OH
• 4 Get the Guide↓

The landscape of higher education is one of rapid change and innovation. Institutions are constantly challenged to adapt and plan strategically to ensure that they stay relevant, on-mission, and competitive. While current and prospective students are critical stakeholders for higher-education institutions, there is also a board of governors, a complex internal employee system of both educators and administrators, and the broader local community. All of these entities interact and form an ecosystem of needs, hopes, ambitions, and goals: balancing so many differing entities and groups (sometimes with competing interests) is where strategic planning in higher education comes in.

An educational institution’s strategic plan plays a pivotal role in guiding positive, sustainable, inclusive, and student-focused growth. From embracing strategic planning software for education and nuanced data to support ground-up change, to improving overall accessibility and work opportunities, let’s explore three examples of strategic planning in higher education that have set benchmarks and best practices for other higher education institutions—whether they are universities or colleges—to follow.

Strategic Plan Example 1: Data-Driven Strategy for Equity with Green River College, WA

In the spring of 2020, Green River College initiated an Equity-Centered Strategic Visioning and Planning process . The primary objective was to create a comprehensive equity-centered strategic plan that would serve as a guiding light for the college’s future endeavors. This plan aimed to articulate a vision, mission, and core values that would shape the college’s path, emphasizing the importance of building a more equitable community. To ensure the inclusivity of all stakeholders invested in the college’s success, a meticulous 10-month community engagement process was conducted. They collected data as part of an Environmental Scan initiative, which offered a thorough overview of both external and internal trends, and provided valuable insights, suggestions, and points of interest from both Green River College and community stakeholders. All of this input played a crucial role in shaping the college’s Equity-Centered Strategic Plan .

The resulting strategic plan stands as a blueprint guiding the entire college forward over the next five years. It delineates clear goals for this period, shows areas for improvement, and details the ways the strategic plan can remain agile and evolve in tandem with the college’s growth and aspirations.

The six strategic pillars of focus (and their success metrics) are:

1. Success for All Students: Green River College has specific KPIs and deadlines to measure the progress made towards this strategic pillar. By 2026, Green River College will have established an extensive student onboarding procedure, ensuring that all students develop educational, financial, and career transition plans within their first two quarters of enrollment. Green River also aims to diminish or eradicate opportunity gaps in students’ retention, progression, and completion by 2026. Finally, they’re aiming to raise the student completion rate from 38% to 43% in that same time period.

2. Excellence in Teaching and Learning: By 2026, every faculty and staff member will have undergone training in anti-racist, equity-focused, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles. The objective is to reduce or eradicate instructional opportunity gaps associated with race, gender, economic status, and other demographic factors.

3. Responsive Educational Programs and Support Services: There is a targeted goal to increase the percentage of students who experience a “sense of belonging” at Green River by five percentage points annually. The college is measuring this through student surveys, to help them determine whether or not this objective is being met.

4. Integrated and Effective Organizational Structure, Systems, and Processes: By 2026, Green River College is aiming to have established an equity-focused approach for employee recruitment, hiring, and onboarding. They’re also working towards implementing a comprehensive organizational framework, which employs equity-centered principles in shared governance, planning, resource allocation, assessment, and policy development. Included under this strategic pillar is also an effort to increase the representation of faculty and staff of color, aiming to match or surpass the levels in neighboring colleges by 2026.

5. Accessible and Responsive Facilities and Technology​​: One of the success metrics for this pillar is the goal that by 2026, they will have implemented a Facilities Master Plan and a Technology Plan designed to promote accessibility and equity-centered teaching and learning.

6. Impactful Community Connections : By 2026, Green River will be the foremost institution of higher education in the region; one of the ways they are doing this is by building strategic community connections. They are making inroads with the local food bank, strengthening connections with veteran services, visiting and volunteering at local high schools (in fact, all educational institutions—from K-12), establishing artist and speaker series’, and uplifting partnerships with the City of Kent, and South King County, Washington.

Strategic Plan Example 2: Strategic Innovations in Accessibility with Gallaudet University, DC

Located in Washington, D.C., Gallaudet is the world’s only university that specifically caters to Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Deaf-Disabled, and Deaf Blind people, of all backgrounds and identities.

Gallaudet’s strategic plan spans an impressive 10 year vision that will situate them as a “beacon” for the community’s values and vision for their student community. This vision will offer improved opportunities for work, career advancement, and an accessible student experience that affirms the value of their diverse student body. In their “Gallaudet Promise,” they aim to uplift the “lives and experiences of all Deaf people of different intersectional identities, wherever they are.”

The “Gallaudet Promise” is the university’s strategic focus built around five action areas:

• 1. Transformational Accelerators
• 2. Anti-Racism
• 3. Bilingual Mission
• 4. Academic Reimagining
• 5. Creativity Way, Including the Memorial Project

Watch an explanation of Gallaudet’s new Envisio-powered public dashboard in ASL! Click “CC” on the video player for closed captioning.

Gallaudet’s strategic plan has made a particular effort to embrace innovation as a tool across all of their pillars. This makes sense: accessibility and innovation go hand in hand. Assistive technology, as well as improved online access and tools, are a component of the first action item, but relates to the other areas as well.

In general, when it comes to higher education strategy and accessibility, higher education institutions are a great place to implement changes around accessibility. They are (typically) moving to be more welcoming to assistive technology, and may even be involved in the development of innovative approaches to education, accessibility justice, and the role technology can play. All students with all sorts of access needs attend universities or colleges—ensuring accessibility to higher education is critical for those with disabilities to be prepared for the workforce and (ideally) achieve a better degree of upward economic mobility and access.

A strategic plan in higher education related to accessibility should include a comprehensive needs assessment. It should also work carefully to ensure a budget that allocates adequate resources to the students, while providing training and raising awareness among faculty and staff, ensuring physical and digital accessibility, offering tailored academic support services, collaborating with disability support organizations, and implementing a feedback mechanism, so they can evaluate and improve their services on an on-going basis.

Gallaudet University is working on all of these areas. They are measuring progress by establishing new customer service operating models, establishing an online platform to disseminate research, lectures, films, and other content produced by The Center for Black Deaf Studies , and restructuring entire sections of the university learning management systems that are able to accommodate a truly bilingual (ASL and English) experience, to better create opportunities for their students and help other sign language economies grow.

Strategic Plan Example 3: Best Practices Measuring Performance with NEOMED University, OH

Best practices for strategic planning in higher education include getting very clear on what objectives are being measured, and why. Understanding the definition of success and identifying priority areas for action are crucial. Without a clear understanding of the problems to be addressed, it’s challenging to initiate a strategic action plan in higher education. As we see across the public sector, higher education strategic objectives can often involve a mix of the more abstract, impact-oriented metrics (measuring a “sense of belonging”), and tangible, output-focused goals (“Increase number of mobile clinics in low-income areas by 15%”). As a best practice, it’s good to be granular and specific about what kind of performance measurement program you’re using, sharing how success is measured, and making sure your goals are all SMART : S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R elevant, and T ime-Bound.

At Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) in Portage County, Ohio, they do exactly that!

At NEOMED, success is measured across six pillars through forty-two strategic initiatives. Their strategic plan emphasizes promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion among students, staff, and employees. Given NEOMED’s role as a leading medical research institution training future medical professionals, these values are also very practical metrics. For instance, the university tracks performance measures such as gender demographics and specific actions aimed at reducing disability stigma as outlined in their Strategic Plan: Creating Transformational Leaders Dashboard. Whether it’s a broad, impact-focused goal like fostering a more inclusive environment or a specific, output-oriented objective like establishing a low-cost tutoring center in the library, a well-structured strategic plan provides the necessary steps to initiate and maintain progress toward these goals.

For instance, we can see with regards to their financial aid banner optimization, they are measuring the performance of this project against data regarding financial aid and tuition. Financial aid is a pressing matter for NEOMED–they want to ensure people from diverse backgrounds, including economically disadvantaged backgrounds, are able to attend medical school. They want to become experts in financial aid content, utilizing their expertise to educate NEOMED faculty, staff, and students about the available student aid policies and possible funding opportunities. Tracking data over time—such as seeing how many scholarships have been awarded over time—demonstrates how often these resources are being used, and can indicate how accessible they are.

It’s important for higher education institutions to strategize effectively to maintain their relevance and competitiveness. Embracing progressive, innovative processes and being meticulous with data is a great way to lay down a strategic plan that also balances the complex network of relationships of internal educators, students, administrators, and the wider communities served. A higher education institution’s strategic plan plays a pivotal role in the growth of the institution and the wellbeing of students! We love to see these strategic plans that embrace data to drive equity, make changes around accessibility, and push for better, more meaningful performance measures.

“All of the metrics related to our strategic plan live in Envisio, and we have assigned the ownership and agency of those data points to certain people. It’s helped us develop a common lexicon, and it is the tool in which we demonstrate our progress. Oftentimes, the focus of it is really to celebrate all of the people who contribute to our strategic plan. All of those contributors, the 90 plus folks that are in Envisio, deserve to be recognized and congratulated and to see the impact of the work that they’re doing. It’s important to show the collective impact on driving the mission forward.” — Lacey Madison, VP Strategy and Transformation, NEOMED.

Get the Guide↓

So you’ve got your plan, but how can you go from strategy to operationalization? What about aligning your budget with your strategy? Our free, comprehensive guide From Strategy to Action: A Guide to Operational Planning for Local Governments & Public Sector Organizations , contains insights gathered from the experiences of over 150 public sector organizations, including higher education institutions.

Download now for practical guidance on operational planning now!

Mary King is a professional writer and researcher based in Toronto. She comes to Envisio with a Masters Degree, where she researched the relationship between the disappearance of urban public spaces, and high level decision-making processes in local governments. For nearly a decade, Mary has worked as a community organizer, promoter, and supportive researcher in a variety of nonprofits and think-tanks, and her favorite area of focus was in connecting local artists with marginalized youth. Since 2017, her writings and research on policy, local governance, and its relationship to public art and public space has been presented at conferences internationally. She has also served as both a conference chair and lead facilitator on professional and academic conferences across Canada on how to better bridge academic research with local change-agents, policy makers, artists, and community members. Envisio’s mission of excellence and trust in the public sector maps onto Mary's interest in local government and community mobilization. She loves working at Envisio because she cares about having well organized, strategic, and transparent public organizations and local governments. Mary is also a creative writer and musician and has been supported in her practice by the Canada Council for the Arts. Her stories can be found in literary journals across Canada.

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Strategic Planning in Higher Education

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Strategic planning in higher education institutions: what are the stakeholders’ roles in the process?

• Published: 13 November 2019
• Volume 79 , pages 1039–1056, ( 2020 )

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• Júnia Maria Zandonade Falqueto   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0074-941X 1 ,
• Valmir Emil Hoffmann 1 ,
• Ricardo Corrêa Gomes 1 &
• Silvia Satiko Onoyama Mori 1 , 2  

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This article classifies and assigns degrees of influence to the stakeholders involved in the implementation of strategic planning at a Brazilian higher education institution. In order to test the stakeholder influence theory, we carried out a case study of a Brazilian university based on qualitative methods. The models of Frooman ( Academy of Management Review , 24 (2), 191–205, 1999 ) and Mitchell et al. ( Academy of Management Review , 22 (4), 853–886, 1997 ) served as the theoretical basis for assessing the stakeholders’ identification and management. Findings indicate that higher education institutions focus on the internal and external stakeholders that have the power to control them. In practice, this study provides insight into the stakeholder influences that have an effect on the implementation of strategic planning in a university. Based on the findings, university managers will be able to think more strategically about the institution’s objectives, taking into account the degree of influence that stakeholders have on the institution’s objectives.

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Falqueto, J.M.Z., Hoffmann, V.E., Gomes, R.C. et al. Strategic planning in higher education institutions: what are the stakeholders’ roles in the process?. High Educ 79 , 1039–1056 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00455-8

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Published : 13 November 2019

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