This essay reflects on observations made during the four-year American Council on Education (ACE) Project on Leadership and Institutional Transformation, an effort to help 26 diverse colleges and universities succeed with comprehensive or transformational change. Insights were drawn from three sources: biannual campus visits and monthly phone…

Presents recommendations for developing a strategic plan for child care centers. The steps include requesting input from key individuals, compiling a comprehensive list of suggestions, understanding possible obstacles, developing goals, determining objectives, outlining action steps, prioritizing and developing timelines for activities, assigning…

Discusses outlooks for distance education as K-12 enrollment increases in the next 10 years. Outlines distance education development needs. Notes obstacles to addressing large-scale educational problems using distance education and the necessity for a three-part analysis of America's distance education. (AEF)

Reports on ways in which college and university facilities management departments can keep a strategic plan viable throughout the intended planning time frame. Focuses on the importance of reexamining plans, staying on track, measurement and consequences, using other planning modules, scenario planning, reinventing the market, value migration, and…

Colleges and universities should approach strategic change by establishing three kinds of key performance indicators (KPIs): mandated (state-mandates or other imposed objectives); management (determined by the administration); and derived (from the special intentions of institutional units). By assembling the three kinds of KPIs, the strategic…

Explains why marketing is so crucial in a competitive environment. Focuses on how marketing can be used to determine the needs to be met, the manner that services are to be delivered, and how to ensure that customers' or clients' satisfactions are realized. Concludes with recommendations for distance education. (AEF)

Examines application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to group decision-making and evaluation situations in higher education. The approach is illustrated by (1) evaluation of academic research papers at Villanova University (Pennsylvania), and (2) a suggested adaptation for the more complex problem of institutionwide strategic planning.…

To effectively market a camp, current trends and issues must be considered: specialty programming, the Americans With Disabilities Act, competing recreational programs, changes in the school year, programming for seniors, and accountability. Camps should have a marketing strategy that includes public relations, a marketing plan, a pricing…

Describes how large-group brainstorming via e-mail at the University of Northern Iowa was used for strategic planning. Discusses factors affecting electronic brainstorming success and the advantages and disadvantages of electronic brainstorming. (AEF)

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…

Presents five tips for successful planning and implementation of distance education programs in organizations: (1) obtain support from top management; (2) focus on specific projects; (3) take time and resources to plan thoroughly and design well; (4) select media tools according to program needs; and (5) select, train, monitor, and reward…

When teachers, building-level administrators, and district officials can communicate freely with one another through computers, districts become more powerful. An integrated approach to computer technology will result in improved efficiencies. (MLF)

Discusses how colleges and universities with excess facilities should "rightsize" their campuses by divesting unneeded buildings and property. Such institutions should develop a comprehensive master plan, which includes a strategic plan, academic plan, space needs plan, facilities master plan, and financial plan. (MDM)

Marketing provides student affairs professionals with some of the most effective strategies, techniques, and actions for success. This chapter, written for professionals without a marketing background, provides a design for the development and implementation of a strategic marketing plan for student affairs educational fundraising efforts.…

As part of national evaluation of Eisenhower Professional Development Program, examines management and implementation strategies contributing to high-quality inservice teacher professional development in mathematics and science. Finds higher quality professional development is related to management and implementation strategies such as continuous…