The hard choices that must be made to balance budgets at higher education institutions can be painful and have dramatic consequences that may linger for years. If enrollment projections and therefore tuition income/budgeting projections for future years are inaccurate, then the result may be unnecessary or insufficient budget reductions, both of…

Oberlin College in Ohio recently undertook a building-by-building survey of its entire physical plant, emerging with plans to recycle 17 campus structures. (Author)

Fact books are discussed as effective methods of information dissemination that facilitate institutional research and planning. Advice is given on how to compile a fact book, information selection, and presentation. Examples are taken from the fact book concept formulated at Georgia State University. (SF)

Robert G. Cope's report on strategic planning models and techniques among higher education institutions is reviewed and found to shed light on the concept and processes of strategic planning. (MSE)

In a discussion of the history and function of institutional research, the field is described as a continually evolving part of the higher education community. The author cautions that the tendency to emphasize the compilation of raw data at the expense of data analysis must be checked, as institutional research coordinates with planning efforts.…

A guide to environmental scanning looks at its rationale and relationship to strategic planning, and outlines three administrative approaches: establishment of a committee, sponsoring a scanning conference or event, and assigning the task to the institutional research or planning office. (MSE)

Factors leading to dissatisfaction with planning processes are identified, barriers to successful planning are described, and proposed solutions suggest a set of minimum characteristics applicable to all academic planning systems. Implementation of a program review system is discussed. (Author/LBH)

As more colleges and universities coordinate institutional research as a support system for long-range planning, new analytical tools become necessary. A system developed in Massachusetts to project the effect of statewide policy alternatives may have wide applicability to other institutions and to multi-institutional planning groups. (Author)

Given the limited resources available for planning, at times the choice must be made whether to concentrate analytical studies on internal functioning or on the external environment. Describes how the planning focus of the University of Massachusetts (Boston) responded to external conditions. (Author/MLF)

It is recommended that colleges and universities considering building renovation or new construction first conduct a feasibility study to uncover existing conditions, avoid potential problems, explore design options, and determine comparative costs. A seven-step process for such a study is outlined. (MSE)

The economic impact of Gainesville Junior College upon its immediate service area is examined. Three primary "injection sources" were studied: the college payroll and spending patterns by the faculty, staff, and administrators; spending by the student body; and direct college purchases. (MLW)

A study examined whether a patterned sequence of institutional responses to fiscal stress existed by analyzing the magnitude, sequence, and substance of decisions made by a variety of institution types. The results and their implications for planning are discussed. (MSE)

This article suggests that benchmarking, the process of comparing one's own operation with the very best, can be used to make improvements in colleges and universities. Six steps are outlined: determining what to benchmark, forming a team, discovering who to benchmark, collecting and analyzing data, using the data to redesign one's own operation,…

The context of and the participatory strategic planning process at the University of Texas, El Paso, from 1993 to 1996 is described. The internal and external factors that influence the intensive interactive process are reviewed; the university's conceptual framework for strategic planning is described; and the role of the university's planning…

In light of declining enrollments, planning for the increased emphasis on nontraditional education is discussed. The planning process used by Indiana University is presented as a model. Costs, institutional adjustments, and various methods of integrating nontraditional programs into traditional university systems are described. (BH)