Stamats' QuickTakes
Insights into Research, Strategic Planning, and Integrated Marketing for Colleges and Universities by Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President at Stamats (quicktakes@stamats.com)
Vol. 5, no. 13: Strategic Planning
In this issue.
COME VISIT US AT NACAC!
Please stop by our booth (#404) to talk with us, to satisfy your chocolate craving, and to register to win a dorm room!
On September 25, we're hosting a one-day TeensTALK conference at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center. Topics include: Youth Intelligence; Web-based recruiting funnel, Web usability and Web surveys; TeensTALK survey results; and a moderated discussion of high school youth. Cost to attend is $250. To register, please contact Brandy at brandy.huseman@stamats.com or 1-800-553-8878 ext. 5104.
ON STRATEGY I: KEY THEMES OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
While there are many different definitions of strategic planning, most share four common threads.
First, there is the idea that the planning process is strategic because it involves choosing how best to respond to the circumstances of a dynamic and sometimes hostile environment. As Michael Allison and Judith Kaye write, all living plants respond to the environment, but as far as we know, they do not choose how to respond. Colleges and universities have many choices in the face of changing stakeholder needs, funding availability, competition, and other factors. Being strategic requires recognizing these choices and committing to one set of responses instead of another.
Second, we have the notion that strategic planning is systematic in that it calls for following a process that is both focused and productive. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners and internal stakeholders examine past experiences, test old assumptions, gather and incorporate new information about the present, and anticipate the environment in which the organization will be working in the future. The process also guides planners in continually looking at how the component programs and strategies fit with the vision and vice versa.
Third, strategic planning involves choosing specific priorities; making decisions about ends and means in both the long term and the short term. Consensus on priorities must be reached at many levels, from the philosophical to the operational. While a strategic plan will stop short of the level of detail in an annual operating plan, it cannot be called a plan if it does not articulate the major goals and the priority methods the organization selects. Long-term goals have implications for short-term action: the two must be congruent with one another for the plan to be valid and useful.
And finally, the strategic planning process is about building commitment. Systematically engaging key stakeholders in the process of identifying priorities allows disagreements to be engaged constructively and supports better communication and coordination. The process allows a broad consensus to be built, resulting in enhanced accountability throughout the organization. This commitment ensures that a strategic plan will actively be used for guidance and inspiration, instead of serving as a dust cover for a remote corner shelf.
ON STRATEGY II: HOW STRATEGIC PLANNING DIFFERS FROM OTHER TYPES OF PLANNING
According to George Keller, writing in Academic Strategy, there are six features that distinguish strategic planning and decision-making from other types of planning.
MANAGING
CHANGE ON CAMPUS
By Barbara O'Malley, Principal
Consultant
Change on campus is not a new concept. Colleges and universities have been adapting to change since the inception of higher education. Change has been an integral element in nurturing the evolution of higher educated from the first all-male, church-centered colleges in the 1700s to the diverse college campuses of today.
Interesting then, that we continue to perceive change as negative or new. It is neither. According to the Random House dictionary, change is to make the form, nature, or content of something different from what it would be if it were left alone.
This article discusses the dynamics of managing change on your campus. Hopefully, it will help you view change not as something that happens to you, but rather as a continual dynamic that you control and shape in the context of your campus mission.
Rowley, Lujan, and Dolence write in Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities that each college and university has its own traditions, environment, and character. Institutions that make adjustments by means anchored in their strengths and their character are more likely to progress in changing times.
Change does not have to impact your institution's sense of purpose. In fact, being anchored and understanding your institution's core values provides the foundation for managing change.
However, Dr. Gerald A. Heeger, President of the University of Maryland University College, warns in his article The New Business of Higher Education in EDUCAUSE Review, May/June 2000 that too often institutions are eager to embrace new markets, new partners, or new technology without having to change too much.
Be honest with yourselves in your change efforts. There are times when it might be appropriate for your institution to look at reengineering its business, management, and organizational practices beyond your comfort level.
Who manages change?
The natural fit for change management is in process planning. Managing change
requires creativity and the ability to look at the mundane from different perspectives
in order to develop new ideas. If you have a strategic planning team, a marketing
team, or an enrollment management team, discuss these ideas of change management
with the team leader.
Why is change so hard?
Robert A. Sevier writes in Thinking Outside the Box, "People, and the
organizations they create and inhabit, generally do not welcome change. For
the most part, they are resistant and reluctant, believing that there is great
comfort in the familiar and security in the status quo." Sevier goes on to discuss
the danger in complacency. We can debate the "who," "what," "when," and "where"
of change, but there is no debating the "why" for change. The marketplace is
changing.
Top-10 Excuses for Not Making Changes
10. Academics will never buy it.
9. We don't have the authority.
8. We're all too busy for that.
7. That's beyond our responsibility.
6. It's too complex.
5. We tried that before.
4. We've always done it this way.
3. It's not in the budget.
2. That would never work here.
1. Our campus is different.
Marguerite J. Dennis describes excuses like these as being the result of fears in A Practical Guide to Enrollment and Retention Management in Higher Education. Fear about creating new markets or strengthening existing ones. Fear about enrollment yields and attrition rates. Fear that no matter what is done, it won't be enough. Fear of changing the way we do our work and view our students (customers).
Each of us brings to our offices our own set of insecurities, our own set of fears. Change makes us uncomfortable. It has been said that people don't necessarily resist change itself—they resist being changed. A key, then, to managing change, is to help people understand that you are not trying to change them. Rather, as a team, you are going to improve the process of doing something.
To help manage changes on your campus, contact Barb at barbara.omalley@stamats.com to discuss this article further.
TURNING
MAYBE INTO YES: MAXIMIZING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR LEAD POOL
By Barbara O'Malley, Principal
Consultant
If it is true that 20 percent of your lead pool is made up of potential students who absolutely will enroll no matter what.and 20 percent is made up of potential students who absolutely will not enroll no matter what.it makes sense to focus admissions strategies on the 60 percent of potential students in the middle who might enroll.
But how do you determine who those 60 percent really are?
The answer lies in a little ditty called predictive modeling. Predictive modeling is a mathematical approach to identifying characteristics of students who have enrolled in your institution in the past. The theory is, if these are characteristics of students who have enrolled in the past, then these are characteristics of students who are most likely to enroll in the future.
Predictive modeling can also identify characteristics of prospects who:
Predictive modeling allows you to really focus on the characteristics of students you might be able to influence through marketing activities.
What do you need to get started? You'll need three years of good data to pull from, the desire to maximize the success of your lead pool, and a little willpower.we'll do the math!
To discuss this further, please contact Barb at barbara.omalley@stamats.com.
NEW
BOOK: BUILDING A BRAND THAT MATTERS
Bob Sevier has published a new book, Building a Brand That Matters: Helping Colleges and Universities Capitalize on the Four Essentials of a Block-Buster Brand. The book covers such topics as:
Information on the book and its companion volume, Thinking Outside the Box, is available at www.strategypublishing.com.
UPCOMING
INTEGRATED MARKETING AND BRANDING CONFERENCE
On Monday, November 25th, Stamats will hold a one-day conference on integrated marketing and branding in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The conference will include five sessions:
Presenters include Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President at Stamats and author of Thinking Outside the Box and Building a Brand That Matters. Accompanying Sevier will be Dr. Robert Smith, Provost at Slippery Rock University.
The conference will begin at 8:00 a.m. and conclude by 4:00 p.m. Participants will receive a detailed conference resource notebook and a copy of Thinking Outside the Box or Building a Brand That Matters.
The conference is timed for the week before Thanksgiving so attendees can combine the work trip with a possible extended holiday in Hawaii.
For information about this conference, please contact Brandy at brandy.huseman@stamats.com.
NEW CLIENTS
Stamats would like to welcome the following new clients:
STAMATS SEMINARS SERIES
TeensTALK Conference
(Pre-NACAC)
When: September 25
Where: Salt Lake City, UT
REGISTER NOW!
2nd Annual President
Institute
When: November 7-8
Where: Washington DC
REGISTER NOW!
Integrated Marketing
and Branding One-day
When: November 25
Where: Honolulu, HI
REGISTER NOW!
JOB OPENINGS
Stamats Consulting, the higher education research, planning, and consulting side of Stamats, is expanding our staff and is looking for a principal consultant. If you are interested, please e-mail jenny.olson@stamats.com for a copy of the job description.
Web Communications Manager
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
This position, under the supervision of the Director of Marketing, develops,
designs, implements and maintains top-level Web sites at the University, including
the main UMass Web site. This position works in collaboration with other members
of the University community, including the UMass Web Committee and high-level
University officials. QUALIFICATIONS: Master's Degree in Computer Graphics,
Marketing or related field and 1-2 years experience in designing, developing
and maintaining large scale Web sites or a Bachelor's Degree with 3-5 years
experience. The University of Massachusetts is an equal opportunity/affirmative
action employer. E-mail the Hiring Manager for more information (keldred@admin.umass.edu).
Development Officer
Murray State University
Qualifications: Bachelor's degree is required; one or more years of experience
as a development officer or direct sales representative with a proven record
of success preferred. University fund-raising experience is preferred. Responsibilities:
Assignment to specific academic units to build upon the results of a successful
capital campaign with special emphases on the enhancement and creation of endowments;
the identification, cultivation and solicitation of major gift prospects; and
being an integral team member in the overall development operation. To Apply:
Send letter of application, resume and names, addresses and phone numbers of
three references to: Development Officer Search Committee, Murray State University,
106 Development & Alumni Affairs Center, Murray, KY 42071-3313. Women and minorities
are encouraged to apply. Murray State University is an equal education and employment
opportunity, M/F/D, AA employer.
If you have a short position description (100 words or less) you would like posted, please forward it on to info@stamats.com. There is no charge for this service. Job listings available online at Higher Educations Careers.
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Stamats QuickTakes is published by Stamats and is distributed to our clients and colleagues in higher education at no charge. Contents (c) 2002 by Stamats. Please feel free to forward copies of Stamats QuickTakes in its entirety to colleagues. Visit QuickTakes for past issues. To subscribe, reply to this e-mail, send your request to quicktakes@stamats.com, or visit QuickTakes.
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