The primary purpose of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA) is to assist school districts to implement effective innovations that benefit students. The "capacity" of a district to facilitate building-level implementation refers to the systems, activities, and resources that are necessary for schools to successfully adopt and sustain…

A Regional Education Agency (REA) functions as a partner with local districts and the State Educational Agency (SEA). REAs provide training, guidance and support intended to enable school districts to operate efficiently and improve their student outcomes. The primary purpose of this Regional Capacity Assessment (RCA) is to assist regional…

Administrators of adult education programs work in dynamic and ever-changing environments. They are continually challenged with a myriad of issues related to program budgeting, marketing, strategic planning, funding, human resources, and other topics. With decades of real world experience in the field, Steven Schmidt and Susan Yelich Biniecki have…

The purpose of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA) Technical Manual is to provide background information on the technical adequacy of the DCA (Ward et al., 2015). This current version draws upon a rich history and background of previous work assessing district capacity. Notably, the current version includes significant modifications from…

Colleges and universities generally advertise themselves poorly because of improper planning, resistance, inexperience, and lack of marketing plan. Components of effective advertising include an appropriate and strategic plan, correct choice of planner, coordination with other marketing efforts, contingency planning, and follow-up activities. (MSE)

Strategic planning models seek order in a disorderly world. However, chaos science offers a language of concepts to discern deeper patterns in organizational life that appears out of control. Many of these concepts apply to higher education institutions. Interpretation of chaos theory principles suggests five tools for making high-leverage change…

In an era of rising public criticism of education and decreasing resources, strategic planning can be a major tool for educational administrators who wish to respond to the increasing challenges their adult literacy programs face. Strategic planning can be defined as a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and…

California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo is exploring several cost-effective technological solutions to improve learning productivity, reduce labor intensity, and provide new ways to deliver education and better services to students while enhancing quality of instruction. Strategic planning and partnerships have been key…

To increase the value of its endowment, a college or university must manage three separate but interdependent factors: endowment spending rate; investment policy; and fund-raising. Using lessons learned by other institutions, Oberlin College (Ohio) developed strategies for spending and investment that balance the institution's need for income, the…

The National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) Strategic Plan outlines the fundamental purposes, values, and environmental factors of the association. It presents five strategies: to serve and educate association membership through publications, research, and programs; to advocate and support technology use; to expand fiscal resources; to…

Presents and answers a series of questions about how the college or university development office can prepare for economic uncertainty or downturn, including insulating the major gift operations from economic decline, communicating with the administration, budget cutting, communicating with donors, helping donors cope with financial losses, and…

Discusses issues in institution-wide information networking, focusing on two major forces in research and education institutions: the network as an information and technology platform, and as organizational structure. Looks at how the organization uses information and coordinates activities and allocates resources so information use creates value…

This practice manual is intended to provide an organized approach to strategic planning for human resource professionals at all organizational levels, regardless of their familiarity with strategic planning. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction and chapter 2 describes the strategic planning process. The rationale for pursuing a strategic…

This monograph outlines a philosophy and method for master planning of higher education facilities. It is intended to provide facilities personnel with guidelines for establishing a successful planning process. The guide provides practical advice, including worksheets that can be used to identify issues and requirements. Included are examples of…

College and university Web site managers are offered advice for creative funding and staffing, including how to determine actual human, equipment, and financial resource needs; six ways to break out of the conventional funding paradigm (using existing resources well, using others' money, advertising, priority shifts, shared resources, and in-kind…