The environmental scanning system at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education uses a technique developed in the corporate world to systematically gather and evaluate information from the external environment for decision-making within the institution. It is designed to reduce the randomness of information flowing into the…

The origin and continuation of the futures research seminar at the School of Education of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are discussed. The continuing research seminar takes place throughout the calendar year for students who wish to use futures research methods in their dissertations. One of the major projects of the seminar is…

Describes an ED QUEST (Quick Environmental Scanning Technique) workshop demonstrating the links between an environmental scanning/forecasting process and formulation of institutional strategy. Explains ED QUEST's use in identifying and analyzing critical trends and events, and identifying the nature of the organization; developing alternative…

The Strategic Planning Committee at the Graduate School of Management, Wake Forest University, identified what issues, trends, and possible events might affect the school in the future. The implementation of the ED QUEST planning model is described. (MLW)

The graduate-level course on the two-year college described in this paper focuses on having students create a hypothetical college, Orange County Community College (OCCC), and apply futures research techniques in the strategic planning process. Following introductory comments, course objectives are enumerated; i.e., develop a perspective of the…

An environmental scanning system was developed by the admissions office of a graduate school of management in a small southeastern university. The school's strategic planning committee felt that it would be beneficial to acquire information concerning issues, trends, and possible events that might impact upon the school in the future and to…

Administrators and scholars from 10 countries attended a global change seminar at St. Andrews University in Scotland. The purpose was to introduce a systematic and rigorous planning methodology to enhance success in moving forward into a complex, turbulent, and uncertain future. The focus of the methodology was the identification, analysis, and…

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a seminar on planning and policy analysis is offered for doctoral students who wish to conduct planning and forecasting studies for their doctoral dissertations or who simply wish to learn such techniques. One of the major projects of the seminar is the development of an environmental scanning…