Planning from a strategic perspective has been a mainstay of organizational management for decades. Founded in the private sector, strategic planning is now embraced by the nonprofit world as a catalyst for sound resource allocation, transformative decision making, and motivating staff. Student affairs professionals who think, plan, and act…

Data-driven planning or evidence-based decision making represents nothing new in its concept. For years, business leaders have claimed they have implemented planning informed by data that have been strategically and systematically gathered. Within higher education and student affairs, there may be less evidence of the actual practice of…

This document describes major examples of trailblazing and pioneering efforts that are playing a role in designing new directions for student support. The work is being carried out at school, district, state, and national levels. The endeavors are grouped into three categories: (1) places where broad-based systemic changes are underway, (2) places…

This paper describes the development and operation of a high school orientation program using peer facilitators. The activities of the administrative team (two school social workers, a guidance counselor, and an assistant principal) are described, as is training of upper classmen to be peer facilitators for freshmen orientation. A brief…