What strategic plans could be adopted by the college or university at which you are taking this management course to compete for students in the marketplace? Would these plans depend on the school's goals?

A few strategic plans that ought to be adopted in a bid to compete for students in the market place includes;

PLANNING PROCESS

1. Developing goals, objectives, and action steps, and

2. Following up on  implementation, tracking progress, and revising the plan. During the initial planning process, conducting comprehensive institutional research is crucial to determine appropriate goals and objectives.

3. Coordinating with stakeholders in the planning process which can help build broad support among diverse constituents. In particular, the planning committee benefits from members that represent a variety of institutional roles, demographic groups, and campus units. In addition to building buy‐in, a diverse committee helps to anticipate the future cross‐unit coordination necessary to carry out goals and objectives.

4. Creating planning committees to include an average of 25 members from the institution. While the average is higher than the recommended 10‐12 members, it allows for broad participation. The committees often consist of senior administrators, faculty, staff, one or two students, an alumni representative, and a representative of the institution’s foundation. Participating staff and administrators represent units such as academics, student affairs, facilities, operations, enrollment management, information technology, institutional research, alumni relations, athletics, and budgeting.

5. A short plan cycle may also mitigate the tendency to front‐load or back‐load goals during the planning process. These pitfalls can lead to unrealistic timelines and/or a loss of momentum.

6. Aligning the budget with the strategic plan helps increase the plan’s impact. For instance, redesigning an institution’s budget request form to include strategic importance can ensure that key initiatives are implemented.

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING

The plan should answer the question “How will we know if we reach this goal, and how will we prove it?” A comprehensive implementation plan describes, for each objective, action steps, anticipated outcomes, criteria of success, a timeline, benchmark indicator(s), assessment method, necessary resources, and the person or office accountable. Linking strategic accomplishments to administrators’ performance evaluations may also help to incentivize implementation.

Reporting annually on the institution’s progress can sustain momentum after the plan has been approved. Including a mix of short‐, middle‐, and long‐term objectives in the plan also improves motivation by creating opportunities for measured success early on.

Additional assessment methods may involve reviewing policies and procedures, or analyzing the results of surveys and focus groups. In these cases, the indicators may be revised internal documents or improved survey ratings.

WOULD THESE PLANS DEPEND ON THE SCHOOLS GOALS

The above-mentioned plans would be directly related to the schools goals which includes; ensuring students’ academic success, diversifying financial resources, improving infrastructure and operations, promoting community engagement, and developing institutional branding emerged as common strategic goals among the five profiled institutions. Related initiatives include increasing enrollment and retention, improving alumni engagement, building sustainable facilities, establishing relationships with community organizations, and creating a marketing strategy.

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