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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
October 3, 2025

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Book Review: The Connected College

Leadership Strategies for Student Success

By: Ashlee K. Roberts, PhD

From Volume 53 Number 4 | July–September 2025

Abstract: Reviewer Ashlee K. Roberts, PhD, writes that Elliot Felix’s The Connected College: Leadership Strategies for Student Success is a must-read for leaders who want to make an impact in clear, collaborative, and sustainable ways. The book addresses the challenge of leading through change while underscoring the necessity of being nimble and responsive to internal and external environments.

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Webinar Recordings

Published
September 17, 2025

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Trends that Impact Higher Education Planning Fall 2025

By: Jason Nicholas, Northern Michigan University | Tina Dee, Muskegon Community College

Join Jason Nicholas and Tina Dee for a dynamic conversation exploring the external forces shaping higher education in 2025. Drawing from SCUP’s upcoming Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2025 report, they’ll offer their perspective on what these trends really mean for your institution—and how to act on them.
Abstract: Join Jason Nicholas and Tina Dee for a dynamic conversation exploring the external forces shaping higher education in 2025. Drawing from SCUP’s upcoming Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2025 report (available September 15), they’ll offer their perspective on what these trends really mean for your institution—and how to act on them.

You’ll gain more than a list of trends. This session brings fresh insights, real-world context, and practical takeaways that go beyond the report. Leverage what you learn to enhance your team’s strategic, scenario, and contingency planning—and stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly volatile landscape.

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Trends for Higher Education

Published
September 12, 2025

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Trends Outside Higher Education | Fall 2025

How is the world outside your institution changing? From the growth of microschools to the decline of digital platforms and services, colleges and universities continue to face an environment that is uncertain and rapidly changing. Learn the key trends and movements that might impact your institution.

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Blog Post

Published
September 2, 2025

How Strategic Is Your Strategic Plan?

Identify Its Shortcomings and Ask Key Questions

By: Sarah L Collie, PhD, Associate Vice President for Organizational Excellence, University of Virginia

Today, strategic planning in colleges and universities is more crucial than ever. Yet many strategic plans in higher education lack a clear strategy, instead resembling a long-range plan.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
August 20, 2025

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Adopting a Human-Centered Approach to Change

Prioritize the Perspectives and Experiences of Those Individuals Who Will Be Affected

By: Nicole H. Gahagan, EdD

The people impacted by change must be involved throughout the change lifecycle and empowered to navigate change every step of the way.

From Volume 53 Number 4 | July–September 2025

Abstract: When change in higher education isn’t managed in a human-centered manner, institutional leaders are unlikely to see the outcomes they intended to achieve. That’s because they didn’t invest enough in involving and supporting the individuals expected to operationalize a new strategy. Nobody wins in these situations: Executives, employees, and students all lose out on the benefits a change initiative could have produced. In this book excerpt, the author shares why strong change leadership must be at the helm of cultivating an environment where innovation is embraced and managed with compassion for the humans who are being asked to think and work differently.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 16, 2025

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Keeping the Focus Month by Month

Improve Stakeholder Engagement and Outcomes with a Goal Communications Calendar

By: Tina Dee, MS

By strategically aligning monthly communications with its institutional goals, Muskegon Community College increased its connection with students, employees, and the community while reinforcing a shared sense of ownership.

From Volume 53 Number 3 | April–June 2025

Abstract: Muskegon Community College’s (MCC) Goal in Focus communications program reshaped stakeholder engagement and strengthened institutional alignment, driving more effective strategic outcomes. Grounded in the Society for College and University Planning’s Integrated Planning Competencies, our approach fostered a planning culture that is transparent, adaptable, and collaborative. By strategically aligning monthly communications with its institutional goals, MCC increased engagement with students, employees, and the community while reinforcing a shared sense of ownership. A goal-focused communications calendar enriches sustainability, builds relationships, strengthens alignment, and improves preparedness for change.

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Report

Published
May 23, 2025

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The Future of University Planning in 2040 (and Beyond)

I Used Foresight Analysis to Help SCUP Look Ahead, Adapt, and Innovate

By: Lisa Jasinski, PhD, President, Associated Colleges of the Midwest

This is a SCUP FellowResearch Project Final Report for the 2023–2024 program. This report explores how foresight analysis can be used to prepare and plan for uncertain futures in higher education.
Abstract: In this SCUP fellowship project, Lisa Jasinski applies strategic foresight methods to explore what university planning could look like in 2040—and how we can better prepare for it today.

Informed by environmental scanning, futures thinking, and stakeholder engagement with SCUP members and campus leaders, she developed four plausible scenarios grounded in current trends such as AI, climate change, political polarization, and declining public trust. These scenarios aren’t predictions; they are planning tools that help teams and organizations stress-test strategies, surface assumptions, and engage in meaningful future-focused conversations.

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ebook

Published
May 19, 2025

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Essential Practices for Organizational Change in Higher Education

By: Nicole Gahagan, EdD

Filled with guidance, recommendations, examples, and tools, this book is a practical manual for anyone seeking to lead change in a college or university.
Abstract: Higher education is infamously change-resistant. What’s needed is a new methodology: human-centered change. Informed by research and honed by practice, human-centered change is a flexible, pragmatic approach that works within higher education’s unique structures, practices, and culture. This book guides change leaders and practitioners through the application of human-centered change. A practical manual, it provides mid- and senior-level administrators the essential practices, examples, recommendations, and tools they need to lead change in their colleges or universities.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
April 18, 2025

A Toolkit That Shows, Not Tells

Gallaudet University Built an Integrated Planning Culture with Webpages, Quizzes, Workshops, and Conversations

By: Jennifer Powers, EdD, Guthrie Nutter, MA, and Kristin Mulrooney, PhD

The authors of the “Bison Blueprint Toolkit” used low- to no-cost resources to educate and engage everyone in their institutional community. In the process, they cultivated a strategic mindset and aligned work across the university.

From Volume 53 Number 2 | January–March 2025

Abstract: A successful integrated plan requires educating and engaging everyone in the institutional community. The Bison Blueprint is a user-friendly and bimodal-bilingual (American Sign Language and English) toolkit that uses low- to no-cost resources to engage administration, faculty, staff, and students at Gallaudet University, the world’s only university serving deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This article shares the process for developing the Bison Blueprint Toolkit. The Toolkit describes integrated planning, providing clear steps to develop plans at the unit level. The results cultivated a strategic mindset and helped the planning team align strategic work across the university.

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Conference Presentations

Published
April 3, 2025

Live Your Strategic Plan: A Framework for Facilitating Campus Engagement

Abstract: Traditional strategic planning can lead to a static plan that does little to inspire implementation or true change. This session will detail a process that promotes buy-in and engagement while providing structured frameworks to support implementation and assessment. Our framework provides support for a campus community to 'live' its institutional strategic plan through the strategic planning cycle (SPC) at the unit level, informing the realization of institutional goals and outcomes. We'll provide our tools and approaches for you to access and review, as well as the rationale for developing support for your own campus communities to 'live' their strategic plan.

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