Set for APRIL 27-30

 The VAIS Marketing Institute, a national program, continues the tradition begun by NAIS of offering a three-day professional seminar that provides participants the chance to assess their schools’ effectiveness in recruitment, retention, and institutional advancement.

This year’s program, while continuing many popular features offered in previous years, sharpens the focus on integrated marketing communication and expands the opportunities for case study analysis and other practical applications.

More than a lecture series, the Institute provides hands-on training in mission-based marketing; competitive positioning plan development; strategic outreach, comprehensive communications strategies, and recruitment and enrollment management.

Each participant leaves the Institute with reports and statistics to shape future practices, and a wealth of new information about his or her school’s unique marketing challenges. Enrollment is limited to 70 experienced key administrators in independent schools.

For more information or to register click on www.vais.org/

Director’s Pick
25 Really Helpful Strategic Planning Links
(Each link opens a new browser window; please close that window to return to us)

1. United States Naval Academy’s Strategic Plan 2001 Building Leaders for America – excellent example of an approach to plan evaluation through the use of outcome measurements. (see new initiative format).
   

2. Check out the goals and initiatives structure of Rice University’s plan. A clear mission and vision statement and seven overarching goals with a clear implementation strategy.
   

3. York University clearly has institutionalized the planning process. Excellent presentation and understanding of demographic influences on future direction.
   

4. Brown’s planning process is a model of inclusivity, shared responsibility, accountability, institutionalization and evaluation. Check out the position papers written by university leadership on strategic planning in the context of their own areas, especially interesting is the paper re budget and finance.
   

5. Arizona State University set out to make sure that its plan remains useful with individuals in positions of leadership. It seeks to continually remind them of the path and to make the plan outlining the path a living document subject to change in an ever changing environment. Check out their approach to accomplishing this goal.
   

6. Rice gives us a good view of building out over-arching goals into sub goals.
   

7. For a great explanation of academic strategic planning (and what it is not), The Planning Environment at the University of Georgia.
   

8. Look at the planning timelime- Southwestern spent an entire year identifying core values, purpose and vision!
   

9. Good narratives to inform the campus community about strategic planning process and how it will unfold at Purdue.
   

10. In the process of IT planning at Duke, folks realized that they needed broader university involvement to move their planning beyond the tactical (6-9 months) to the strategic. Read 11. Future Planning Efforts.
    

11. Penn State’s current strategic planning process integrates planning, budgeting, and continuous quality improvement. This helps to ensure that the budget allocations will be based on sound and well-thought-out plans. See how they do it.
    

12. Northwestern’s Highest Order of Excellence Strategic Plan has an outstanding implementation plan.
    

13. University of Pennsylvania Agenda for Excellence shows a hierarchy of Strategic Goals supported by Sub-Goals supported by Strategic Initiatives.
    

14. Compare this to the Strategic Plan for the Arts and Sciences at UPENN. Same university; different formats. What do you think about that?
    

15. Strategic planning at Princeton can be found under the Wythes Committee report.
    

16. At Rutgers "The concept of community informs the entire strategic planning process." Excellent presentation of a complete plan built on inclusivity, shared responsibility and accountability. Great implementation strategies.
    

17. Great example of using specific action verbs to begin strategy statements at this University of Virginia planning site. Outstanding External Relations section (go to the end of the plan).
    

18. Look at University of Massachusetts’ University Without Walls Strategic Plan in particular for an approach to working budgetary needs into the plan.
    

19. Check out an inspiring message from NASA’s administrator and the section describing the mission, questions to address, goals, strategies and outcomes, and Center roles and responsibilities for each Enterprise. A model plan.
    

20. U.S. Department of Education shows its framework of strategic goals and objectives. Good charting…objectives aren’t measurable, though, probably would be better stated as initiatives.
    

21. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Strategic Plan; go to goals and objectives for a lesson in how not to write objectives. These have no accountability. They are not measurable, assignable or time-delimited. Need work to be called objectives.
    

22. Interesting look at the Board of Visitors’ Resolution accepting the strategic plan Virginia 2020 for the University of Virginia.
    

23. Stanford calls its plan Cares of the University. Find out why in the introduction. Also, for a different perspective on mission – read the president’s message on mission.
    

24. Read the Carnegie-Mellon President’s letter for a good rationale for planning. Check out the timeline graphic and the task force structure as a different approach to inclusivity.
    

25. MIT Athletic Department presents an excellent example of interactive online strategic planning.