Strategic Planning in the Academic Business Unit

Strategic planning has become increasingly important for setting the direction of firms and developing contingency plans for things like pandemics. It is also very important for institutions of higher education where strategic planning can be part of operating an academic unit, regional accreditation, and programmatic accreditation. However, the process and stages of strategic planning is not well understood. This particularly holds true for institutions of higher education. Processes vary based on resources available and other factors. Some institutions engage high-powered, external consultants while others use more home-grown practices. This study examines the strategic planning process in higher education business units (departments, schools, colleges). An electronic questionnaire was designed based on published studies. Four phases of strategic planning were identified (plan initiation, situation analysis, strategy alternatives and selection, and implementation and control). The findings indicate that strategic planning is conducted fairly consistently but key differences were identified based upon the institutional characteristics (enrollment, faith-based, accrediting body, and level of degree granted).