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Strategic Planning Overview “Strategic planning begins
with environmental scanning, a process of studying the external
environment via newspapers, literature, and periodicals for
emerging issues that pose threats or opportunities to an
institution. Each issue is then evaluated with regard to its
possible impact. The environmental scan and evaluation are
combined with the conventional long-range planning process to
produce six stages of strategic planning: (1) environmental
scanning; (2) evaluation of issues; (3) forecasting; (4) goal
setting; (5) implementation; and (6) monitoring (Morrison et
al., 1984). This model allows for both internal and external
issues to be considered during the planning process” (Howel,
2000).
While any strategic planning
process needs to respect the specific organizational and
contextual conditions of a college, the Consortium for Community
College Development (CCCD) at the University of Michigan
captured the key dimensions of strategic planning for community
colleges in a generic strategic planning model (see figure
below).
Strategic
Planning at PCC
Like all institutions of higher
education, Polk Community College faces increasing competition,
significant demographic changes, rising student/customer
expectations, growing accountability mandates and the familiar
funding challenges. Managing growth, while balancing multiple
missions and trying to address the many different educational
and workforce development needs of the community, requires
excellence across all instances of strategic planning.
Without an exceptional
strategic framework, it is almost impossible for the College to
develop and translate the right plans successfully into action,
and to develop the necessary organizational capacity for
continuous change. To meet the College's goals and objectives,
PCC's College Planning Council is using the process model shown
below to govern its annual planning cycle.
Strategic Planning
Documents for 2006-2007
On February 1, 2006, Polk Community College
welcomed Dr. Eileen Holden as its new president. Since PCC's
2002-2005 Strategic Plan expired almost simultaneously, the
college started a new strategic planning cycle.
You can find the
associated planning documents via the links below. |
