Discusses the nature and implications of two different models for societal planning: (1) the problem-solving process approach based on Karl Popper; and (2) the goal-setting "blueprint" approach based on Karl Marx. (DC)

The technological advances that have occurred in recent decades have resulted in substantial changes in the nature and structure of occupations and industries. Career development is now being recognized as a lifelong process. Individualized career plans (ICPs) or personal plans of action are becoming important instruments for counselors and others…

The concepts of long-range planning and strategic planning are explained, and a planning model is proposed. Attention is directed to an environmental scanning model that is congruent with the concept of strategic planning and that emerges from one portion of the futures research community, issues management. A third planning model, the strategic…

Today's unprecedented rate of change requires that decision-makers use effective procedures to deal with the increasing complexity and uncertainty regarding the future results of their decisions. Strategic planning is a middle- and long-range method that fills this need. Its holistic, general-systems orientation is the only way to handle the…

Individual schools should have committees to help establish long- and short-range school improvement plans utilizing information supplied by the school principal. Identification and achievement of specific objectives are the goals. (MLF)

This document presents the long-range (5-year) plan of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The plan is organized around two key elements; first, a new paradigm of disability that sees disability as a product of the interaction between individual characteristics and the environment, and second, an emerging…

Many universities are implementing comprehensive long-range planning to help them make decisions today that are consistent with the institution's ambitions for tomorrow. What planning is, why planning should be done, and what a good plan includes are explored. A model for long-range planning is proposed. (MLW)

A framework for strategic planning within academic departments is outlined. Elements include analyzing the strategic situation of all constituencies (department, institution, competitors, students, student employers), development of mission statement and departmental objectives, development of strategic market-target and curriculum options,…

This book presents six papers focusing on the application of the strategic assessment model (SAM) to the management of higher education facilities. The papers are part of an ongoing effort by the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers to provide comparative cost and staffing information and to develop a benchmarking process. The…

Understanding the link between futures research and strategic planning is crucial to effective long-range planning and administration. Current trends and the latest developments in the methodology of futures research are discussed. (MLW)

Several types of models or schemes for strategic planning used by large business organizations are described and their usefulness for colleges and universities is evaluated. "Goals and targets" approach, long-path planning, short-period planning, business-portfolio strategy model, contingency-uncertainty approach, and the case of…

Argues that, as institutions of higher education make the transition from the initial planning of technological infrastructures to the stage of forming linkages between information technology and academic goals, the chief information officer becomes responsible for forming strategic relationships that integrate the goals of the institutions's…

Mothers (n=235), ages 58 to 96, caring for adult offspring with mental retardation were interviewed. Four variables influenced their stage of permanency planning: (1) use of services for offspring, (2) non-use of avoidance coping, (3) self-perception of age-related changes, and (4) help from offspring without mental retardation. (Author/DB)

Evaluated systematic empirical evidence of how postsecondary institutions support and promote the use of student assessment information in academic decision making using linear regression techniques. Found that student assessment data has only a marginal influence on academic decision making, with slightly more influence on educationally related…

Using a case study, this article describes a method by which higher education institutions construct and use multiple future scenarios and simulations to plan strategically: to create visions of their futures, chart broad directions (mission and goals), and select learning and delivery strategies so as to achieve those broad directions. The…