October 2004 — Industry Perspective
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The Need for Strategic Planning in Academia
Strategic pla––nning is defined as the process of determining a company’s or an institution’s long-term objectives, then identifying the best approach to achieve those objectives. It is a continual improvement process that effectively monitors performance against goals, analyzes achievements and shortfalls, and adjusts activity to accomplish the desired results. Corporate America has used strategic planning models since the 1950s, modifying and adapting them over time to meet new challenges. Yet only in the last decade has it become a cornerstone for decision-making at educational institutions.
More people than ever are enrolling in colleges and universities. However, with greater decreases in federal funding, as well as increasing demands for student services and aid, faculty services, technology, and learning options, the pressures to manage all of these factors fall on the institutions’ leadership. Higher education institutions need strong strategic planning to keep them optimally performing in today’s competitive environment. The same challenges affecting institutions overall also hold true for information technology departments; thus, raising the demand and need for strategic planning in higher education, especially for IT.
Finding Support
Higher education leaders are increasingly looking to IT departments to solve problems and be the strong force behind changes. In the EDUCAUSE annual research on current IT issues within higher education, strategic planning for IT ranked fourth. One of the reasons stated for this shift is that “information technology is vital to the effective operation of the institution” (Spicer et al. 2004). Therefore, it is critical for an institution’s strategic plan to be supported and made successful by a strong IT strategic plan.
Vermont State Colleges (VSC) recognized the need for a strategic plan to align the five institutions that make up its system: Castleton State College, Community College of Vermont, Johnson State College, Lyndon State College and Vermont Technical College. Within the overall strategic plan for the system, VSC also needed a strong and adaptive IT strategy that would keep its schools competitive, as well as allow them to provide services to their constituents within their resources. After an IT evaluation was done by the IT Task Force representing the five schools and the chancellor’s office, recommendations were made for areas of improvement. With strong executive support and overall institutionwide support, VSC’s need for an IT strategic plan was evident.
One major challenge to VSC was that each institution had a separate IT department. There was no integration of data, and the college system’s office was unable to receive the reports it needed to make critical decisions. Each institution also had an outdated administrative system, so the need for total integration became overwhelming. VSC knew it had to standardize the IT personnel at each institution by categorizing their titles and responsibilities, so it chose a new enterprise resource planning solution - one that would meet the needs of its five institutions and 12 locations. It then restructured the way services were provided and set up a central virtual help desk.
