Disruption is an inevitable factor in business and society, while inability to mitigate and manage risk can cause irreparable damage to business, the economy, and our ways of life. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened interest in standards-based strategies for risk management and crisis preparedness to enhance organizational and societal…

At its annual joint board and commission meeting (Washington, DC, November 10-11, 2010), American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) focused attention on college completion by presenting two panel discussions on the completion agenda, followed by breakout sessions in which participants were assigned to focus groups tasked with providing…

In this testimony, the author talks briefly about how the District of Columbia Appleseed and her organization, Greater Washington Research at Brookings, came to sponsor the community college feasibility study they have released. In 2008, both Brookings and DC Appleseed published papers highlighting the importance of providing opportunities for DC…

This paper, from Mount Hood Community College (MHCC) in Oregon, describes the complex process of preparing an educational master plan. The paper reflects on how this process involved a number of consultants and a very active strategic planning council within the institution. It discusses three approaches to master planning: (1) not preparing a…

While various paradigms exist for planning in two-year colleges, from master planning to quality circles, three major elements invariably appear in planning activities: strategic or formal planning, operational planning, and effectiveness measures. Strategic planning attempts to systematically assess an institution's relationship with its external…

Statewide community college planning processes in Connecticut seek to solve the inherent conflict between accountability and institutional autonomy by splitting the responsibility for plan development between state agencies and the colleges. To ensure that the state plan intersected with the college's plans, a three-step process was used: (1)…

The model for long-range planning described in this report was instituted at Western Piedmont Community College (WPCC) in 1982. Introductory material outlines the elements of WPCC's planning process, i.e., the clarification of issues, the establishment of priorities, the achievement of consensus on courses of action, and the allocation of…

In an effort to achieve a successful accreditation team visit from the North Central Association (NCA), Des Moines Area Community College, in Iowa, developed a team visit plan based on effective and thoughtful logistics planning and a strong, cooperative working relationship between the institution and the NCA consultant. In general, to prepare…

In 1981, South Central Community College received funding to develop a long-range planning process. The process was to be modeled on the 3-year planning cycle developed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and to use the college's existing organizational structure. Since November 1981, the planning process at the college…

The radical restructuring of Alaska's public higher education system, brought on by Alaska's 1986 economic collapse, is described. It is significant because it is the most dramatic general funding reduction to an entire state public higher education system since World War II. Six sections discuss the following: (1) introduction to the University…

Elements of strategic planning are discussed in terms of their relevance for occupational education. Introductory remarks focus on the educational implications of the transformation from an industrial society to a technological society based on information. Two facets of strategic planning are discussed next: external assessment, which involves…

Atlantic Community College (New Jersey) undertook to track the educational needs of adult students in its region. There were three purposes: (1) to improve and expand existing educational programs and services; (2) to gear potential new programs and services to specific community educational needs; and (3) to base all institutional plans on an…

In September of 1986, a joint articulation conference was held between the Open Campus of Valencia Community College (VCC) and the University of Central Florida (UCF). The conference brought together administrators, faculty, and staff from the two colleges to review current areas of cooperation, examine common concerns, and explore new…

Through an understanding of the historical forces that raised the community college to prominence during the past decades and that are now threatening this position, the community college trustee can contribute to the process of securing a base for future progress. The period from 1961 to 1980 saw a tripling of the number of two-year colleges and…

Vocational and technical education planners need to be aware of and utilize four commonly used types of articulation: interinstitutional articulation (that which takes place between institutions), intra-institutional articulation (coordination that occurs within an institution), horizontal articulation (cooperative planning involving one level of…