This paper presents an empirical analysis of the Ontario-led strategic mandate agreement (SMA) planning exercise. Focusing on the self-generated strategic mandates of five universities (McMaster, Ottawa, Queen's, Toronto, and Western), we asked how universities responded to this exercise of strategic visioning? The answer to this question is…

Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, asserts that education is one of the most effective instruments that society can employ in the effort to adopt sustainable development. This paper is a first effort to explore the degree to which Canadian institutions of higher education, including colleges and universities, have embraced this…

Higher education institutions educate those who are the most talented and best able to secure the future for the next generation. This study examines an efficient strategy process in higher education and emphasises the importance of sufficient dialogue during the process. The study describes the strategy process of the Turku University of Applied…

"Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009" represents the seventh annual report on the state of online learning among higher education institutions in the United States. The study is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education. Based on responses from over…

Organizational analysts argue that formal environmental assessments should be integrated into strategic planning. Guidelines for establishing formal environmental assessment in educational institutions are presented, evaluated, and refined based on the experimental effort of the University of Minnesota. (Author/MLW)

The level of awareness, knowledge, and current practices regarding strategic marketing within institutional research (IR) offices were studied for colleges in the Rocky Mountain region. Of the 18 responding offices, 9 indicated that their institutions utilized a marketing approach to planning. Of these 9 offices, 56 percent reported formal…

Institutional researchers and planners are urged to adopt conceptual marketing tools to help them deal with situations where data are sparse and time is short. An easily used decision technique is described that can increase the likelihood of getting good answers to the question: How much information is enough? (Author/LBH)

In the interest of understanding the role of Chief Planning Officers (CPO) in gaining broad support for planning within an institution of higher education, this paper used a national survey of administrators to examine that role. This study, conducted by the National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance, involved a survey of 3,333…

Describes a study of the nature and extent of community colleges' involvement in needs assessment practices. Presents findings with respect to institutional characteristics and settings, extent of involvement, need assessment projects' characteristics and impacts, and the relationship between institutional characteristics and the extent of…

Based on a national survey of college administrators' (n=3,333) views of planning, this study investigated the relationship between having a chief planning officer to coordinate planning functions and perceptions of and attitudes toward campus planning. Results suggest the presence of a planner increased perceptions of more rational and…

The report summarizes the preliminary findings from the Institutional Self-Study Follow-Up Survey of the faculty, administrators, staff, and students at South Texas Community College (STCC). The follow-up study was intended to address areas that were found to be of sufficient concern in the committee reports of the original Self-Study Survey as to…

A pilot survey of institutional research and planning (IR/P) functions at 78 U.S. colleges and universities yielded data on common and diverse tasks, products, and services; broad staffing and related operating expense requirements for these tasks, products, and services; and specific staff "person days" required to perform/achieve each…

A centralized, university-wide approach to collecting alumni information was established. The centralized approach provided information with greater potential for utilization, permitted comparisons among university units, and generated information on trends in alumni outcomes from year to year. All alumni in a given class are surveyed in order to…

The history of the present allocation model of a Dutch university is evaluated. This model was widely accepted at the start. As budget decreases continued, the model was increasingly criticized. At present it is no longer accepted as an instrument for policy decisions. The details of the model itself have become issues of political interest and…

Describes a survey of two-year colleges in the southern United States to assess the colleges' involvement in practices that improve institutional effectiveness. Components of effectiveness included purpose and goals, evaluation, planning, institutional research, and organizational involvement. Practices were compared with perceptions of the…