LHE-7600: Strategic Planning and Operations in Higher Education

Volkwein, J. F. (2010). A model for assessing institutional effectiveness. New Directions for Institutional Research, s1, 13-28. https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1002/ir.328
The author outlines critical questions for institutions to ask regarding their strategic planning and institutional effectiveness processes. He outlines a model for organizing institutional effectiveness processes that is still relevant today. He also dissects the implications of these processes and departments and units and how they affect operational planning.

Hinton, K. E. (2012). A practical guide to strategic planning in higher education. Society for College and University Planning.
Read pages 18-22. The rest of this resource provides an introduction to institutional effectiveness and its part of the planning process.

Baer, L. L. (2017). Connecting the dots: Accountability, assessment, analytics, and accreditation. Planning for Higher Education, 46(1), 1-16.
This excellent article summarizes three overlapping forces in education affecting institutions: accountability, assessment, and accreditation. While each concept is unique, they overlap in practice, and it is essential to understand the distinctions, including the purpose and audience for each process.

Leimer, C. (2012). Organizing for evidence-based decision-making and improvement. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 44(4), 45-51.
This author discusses institutional effectiveness processes at higher education institutions and how institutions can think about how to organize internal functions to maximize their effectiveness. Institutional Research offices are one common way for institutions to coordinate these functions.

Nwosu, P. O., & Koller, J. (2014). Strategic planning and assessment in an outcomes-based funding environment in an era of more scrutiny and less funding, higher education must be adaptive to the changing environment, while also demonstrating accountability. Planning in Higher Education, 42(3), 58-71.
This article is a case study of a university planning and institutional effectiveness process under a new state legislature mandated accountability/performance funding system where the state partially funds the universities based on degree completion. This article is an excellent example of how, for many institutions, institutional effectiveness and accountability are linked.