DOCUMENT RESUME HE 026 843 ED 363 232 Norris, Donald M.; Poulton, Nick L. AUTHOR A Guide for New Planners. TITLE Society for Coll. and Univ. Planning, Ann Arbor, INSTITUTION Mich. PUB DATE 91 NOTE 109p. AVAILABLE FROM Society for College and University Planning, 2026M School of Education Bldg, 610 East University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259 ($20 members; $30 nonmembers). Non-Classroom Use (055) PUB TYPE Books (010) Guides MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS *College Planning; Educational Facilities Planning; Educational Planning; Higher Education; Long Range Planning; Planning; Program Implementation; Strategic Planning ABSTRACT This guide for individuals or groups charged with designing and implementing a planning process for a college or university begins by describing certain characteristics and components of planning that the planner must understand and by recommending that new planners avoid some actions until they have analyzed the situation and determined what initiatives are appropriate. Chapters 2-4 suggest a framework that the planner should utilize in analyzing the new planning environment, the potentials of the planner's role, the particular institutional needs, and the type of planning activities which are appropriate. An analysis of how planning has changed over the years and how the planner must reinterpret the literature and theory of planning based on emerging issues, new challenges, and new techniques is provided in chapter 5. Chapter 6, a planning bibliography, contains nearly 300 references and critical resources in each of several topical areas that are critical to developing understanding and to broadening competence for the new planner. A brief final chapter provides a list of 12 sources of information and 8 professional organizations. (JB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. A GUIDE FOR NEW PLANNERS 1991 Edition Donald M. Norris and Nick L. Poulton U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS M Office or Educational Research and Impf0vernent MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Coehis document has been reproduced as \')\4 received from the Person or organizalion onginating n 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality Points OItew 0,00Irsons Stated In thts00Cu TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES rnent 00 not neCessanly represent official OERI position or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" -11.1.1-14 L Ii III The Society for College and University Planning BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 ,- v. A GUIDE FOR NEW PLANNERS 1991 Edition Donald M. Norris and Nick L. Poulton Published by The Society for College and University Planning 2026M School of Education Building The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1239 Copyright 7 1991 by The Society for College and University Planning 2026M School of Education Building Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259 (313) 763-4776 All rights are reserved. 3 About the Authors Donald M. Norris is president of Strategic Initiatives, Inc., a man- agement consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, strategic marketing, and organizational assessment. The firm's clients include colleges and universities, major American and multinational corporations, associations, other nonprofit organizations, and gov- ernment agencies. Prior to founding Strategic Initiatives, Inc., Dr. Norris was vice president and director of the Washington Office of the M&H Group, Inc. He previously was director of policy and management services at Advanced Technology, Inc., a Washington- area consulting firm. Dr. Norris served as a planner and institutional researcher in institutions of higher education for over twelve years, as director of planning and policy analysis at the University of HoustonUniversity Park and in a variety of administrative posts at the University of Texas at Austin, the Universtiy of Michigan, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is a well- known author on a variety of topics relating to strategic planning, new university models in metropolitan areas, and enrollment man- agement. Most recently, he authored Market Driven Mazagement: Lessons Learned from Twenty Successful Associations. Dr. Norris holds a B. S. in Engineering Mechanics, an M. B. A. from Virginia Poly- technic Institute and State University, and a Ph. D. from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Michigan. Nick L. Poulton is a senior consultant with Strategic Initia- tives, Inc. He is chief administrative officer for a US AID-funded project running the Midwest University Consortium for International Education (MUCIE) in Pakistan. Dr. Poulton has served with a variety of consulting firms in the Washington area specializing in information resource management and strategic planning. Prior to that, he was director of planning and development at the University of the South Pacific, where he was responsible for planning and negotiating resources from over twenty government and international agencies. Dr. Poulton's twenty-five years experience in higher education also includes university planning at Western Michigan University, aca- demic planning and analysis at the University of Michigan, and engi- neering technology education at Purdue University, both in the United States and in Afghanistan with a U.S.-funded engineering program. He holds a B. S. and M. S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a Ph. D. from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Michigan. 4 Acknowledgements Any work such as this owes a special debt to the many authors in the field of planning whose works are summarized and annotated in A Guide for New Planners. Culminating in this third edition, A Guide for New Planners has benefited from helpful comments from Michael Dolence, Marvin Peterson, George Keller, Reynolds Ferrante,. David Dill, R. Sue Mims, Frank Schmidtlein, and Edward Delaney, to whom we express our appreciation. Reccommendations on short lists of key current references in the tactical planning areas were provided by Frank Schmidtlein, Larry Leslie, Robert Barak, Bernie Sheehan, Ray Zammuto, and Kim Cameron. 0. Robert Simha pro- vided some useful citations and ideas in the area of facilities plan- ning. Finally, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the membership of the Society for College and University Planning, who, by requesting an up-to-date guide for planners, have made this revised edition possible. The authors wish to express special thanks to the Publica- tions Committee headed by Haskin Pounds, the Board of the Soci- ety for College and University Planning for their support in commis- sioning this document, and to Joanne MacRae and Connie Taylor for their assistance and suggestions. Table of Contents Introduction to Planning: Getting Started Chapter 1 1 So You Have Been Asked to Plan? Understand the Characteristics of Planning and of Successful Planners Understand the Different Types of Planning Linking Strategic and Organizational Planning Appreciate the Importance of All Components of Planning Avoid the Deadly Sins of Refiexive Planning Behavior Moving Forward: Analyze, Act, and Analyze Some More Chapter 2 23 Think About Planning Think About Your Planning Environment Move Into Action: Launching Initial Activities Analyze Some More Conclusions on Your Chances for Success Keep Moving Forward and Looking Back Chapter 3 37 Conceptual Frameworks, Analytic Tools, and Worksheets Chapter 4 to Help the Planner 39 A Roadmap of the Literature of Planning Chapter 5 43 The Evolution of Planning in Higher Education How Literature and Research Have Kept Pace With the Field A Short List of References Chapter 6 Bibliography of Planning 63 Nature and History of Planning Planning Context Critique of Planning Strategic Planning/Strategic Management Tactical Planning Decision Support for Planning New Directions in Planning Chapter 7 Sources of Information and Professional Organizations 101 Specialized Associations of Interest Publications List of Exhibits The Characteristics of Planning and Successful Planners Exhibit 1: Distinguishing Between Strategic Planning and Other Types of Exhibit 2: Organizational Planning Linking Strategic Thinking and Organization Planning Exhibit 3: Different Information for Different Types of Planning and Decision Exhibit 4: Making Avoid the Deadly Sins of Reflexive Planning Exhibit 5: Understanding and Responding to Institutional Planning History Exhibit 6: and Potential Resistance Limitations to Planning and Obstacles to Overcome Exhibit 7: Checklist for Analyzing Planning Environment and for Launching Exhibit 8: or Modifying Planning Activities Exhibit A Conceptual Framework and Analytic Tools for Planning 9: Eras in Planning and Decision Making Exhibit 10: Development of Institutional Planning Activities Exhibit 11: A Critical Short List of Planning References Exhibit 12: Topic Areas in the Planning Bibliography Exhibit 13: a 1 Introduction to Planning: Getting Started So You Have Beer. Asked to Plan? Most college and university pianners remember well the circum- stances that led them to become associated with their institution's planning activities. While the chain of events varies from setting to setting, generally the episode went something like one of these: You have just been hired as director of planning at a regional state university reporting directly to the president. By creating this new position, your president has made a commitment to planning and also has expressed a feeling that serious planning has not yet occurred at the institution. On arriving, you find you have no real job description and no real directions other than "to plan." As vice president for administration, you have been asked by the president to recommend a process of dealing with the potential implications of your newest telecommunication pro- posal for the academic, administrative, financial, and physical facilities components of the campus. The president also wants you to consider its implications for interacting with off-campus learning centers and constituencies. Your proposal deals solely with the technical aspects of several alternatives for wiring the campus, and you are uncertain of how to proceed. Your state has experienced a severe budgetary crisis as a result of the recent economic downturn. Your institution has been instructed to prepare for a two percent immediate reduction in this year's budget, to be effective by mid-year, and another five percent reduction next year. Your president has instructed the provost and you, the vice president for planning and budget, to plan for both sets of reductions, but by the second year to cou- ple budget reduction with a serious scrutiny of administrative processes and academic services. While there is an existing planning process at your college, your 8 2 Introduction to Planning: Getting Started president has charged you with injecting that process with a strategic-planning flavor. Environmental scanning and issues management have been mentioned as possible methodologies, but the president has given no further guidance on how to incorporate them into the existing fabric of planr ing, saying, "You're the executive assistant to the president. You tell me!" As vice president for academic affairs at a small liberal arts col- lege, you are concerned about the program mix at your institu- tion and your ability to deal with the increasingly technological interests of many students and the need to "internationalize" your curriculum. After receiving considerable pressure from the board to make the co'll.ege's program more relevant, your presi- dent has asked you to develop an action plan specifying poten- tial changes in your academic program. As vice president for research, you have decided to review the university's research park and incubator programs, which have been modestly successful as real estate ventures but have not achieved their potential linkages with academic and research programs at your university. A new vice president for academic affairs has been chosen, replacing a person who was uninter- ested in either program. The president is supportive of your efforts, but has some notions of the potential for these ventures which may not agree with your assessment of the best way to proceed. As director of facilities planning at a major research university, you have just received a copy of a memo from the vice chancel- lor for academic affairs, complaining that planning for the new natural sciences building has failed to recognize many of the needs of other disciplines and the long-term academic goals of the campus. You had utilized a planning committee in support of this project, but it was not connected with university-wide planning activities. You have now been instructed to propose changes in the structure of the planning process to ensure that this problem does not happen again. In your newly appointed role as director of institutional research, you are expected to provide analytical support for the planning process, which is scheduled to begin its new cycle next month. The type of data provided in the last cycle was generally regarded as being too detailed and poorly structured, but you have not specifically been asked to revise the format. Based on an idea picked up at a professional conference, the president of your community college has directed you, in your capacity as director of admissions and records, to form an "enrollment management council" not only to orchestrate 9 Introduction to Planning: Getting Started 3 recruiting and retention efforts and enrollment services, but also to deal with the challenges posed by increasing numbers of minority and older students. In the past, these functions have been performed by different committees reporting to different vice presidents. You are to have the committee in place and functioning within a month. As vice chancellor of academic affairs at a growing, comprehen- sive university in a booming, "hypergrowth" metropolitan area, you are attempting to make some sense of requests from three new "urban villages" for substantially enhanced academic offerings especialiy master's-level offerings for young engi- at locations in their communi- neers and other professionals ties. Your president is supportive, but the state is short of resources and many state leaders support development at the upstate, research universities. Your president wants you to con- vene a working group of campus and community leaders to fashion and recommend a strategy for proceeding. Your state's coordinating board has just launched a comprehen- sive, blue ribbon task force for a review of quality in higher education, and you have been designated as the official repre- sentative from your university .o the faculty advisory committee supporting the task force. Your arst meeting is next week, and you have been asked to submit to your president a strategy for dealing with the situation. In your capacity as executive assistant to the president, you have been instructed to work with administrative and academic units, to help them develop their capacity to plan more effec- tively. The president is planning to place greater flexibility and responsibility down into the organization. Your role is to develop these units' capacities. The common thread linking each of these situations is that someone or some group has been asked to plan or to play a role in support of a planning process. Or someone has come to understand that planning is important and is searching for a way to advance the cause of planning at his/her institution. Or perhaps a college reac- creditation team, a college executive committee, the leadership of a development/capital campaign, or some other group is attempting to use planning to fulfill its charge. Or a particular problem-solving opportunity enables the institution to both address the problem and to plan for a broader set of implications of the problem. The institu- tional settings are different, as are the nature of the problems and the characteristics of the actors or groups. Participants may include and stakeholders from the commu- a variety of campus groups 0