This comprehensive handbook, which emphasizes major planning problems and their solutions, should enable administrators and others to enhance the professional skills they will need for the successful management and operation of statewide systems of higher learning.

PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION Demonstrating Institutional Effectiveness In this era of increasing pressure on higher education institutions for accountability, Planning and Assessment in Higher Education is an essential resource for college and university leaders and staff charged with the task of providing evidence of institutional effectiveness. Michael F. Middaugh, a noted expert in the field, shows how colleges and universities can successfully measure student learning and institutional effectiveness and use these results to create more efficient communications with both internal and external constituencies as well as promote institutional effectiveness to support student learning. "How can the assessment of institutional effectiveness be used to provide a solid foundation for planning? Middaugh has crafted a comprehensive, practical guide that also explains what accrediting agencies really want and need to know about these topics." Elizabeth H. Sibolski, executive vice president, Middle States Commission on Higher Education "Only Michael Middaugh, the unquestioned national leader in this field, could write such a lucid overview of how to make institutional assessment and planning really work as a tool rather than as a tedious requirement. He helped invent and shape the focus of national assessment rubrics and now offers his insights into how to make them work for your institution." John C. Cavanaugh, chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education "Middaugh provides extremely helpful and practical guidance and insights on how colleges and universities can use assessment tools and frameworks to improve both academic programs and administrative operations. A valuable and timely book for all higher education leaders." James P. Honan, senior lecturer on education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

In From Strategy to Change-the last in a series-Daniel James Rowley comes full circle in defining his unique vision of the strategic planning process. Written with Herbert Sherman, From Strategy to Change shows how to take the next step after a strategic plan has been formulated. The authors clearly show how to implement a strategic plan that will meet the myriad challenges of today's complex higher education environment and spell success for the academy."It is amazing that while sports teams of colleges and universities meticulously plan their contests against their opponents, their institutions' administrators don't spend nearly enough time or effort in creating andimplementing a strategy. Institutions of higher education seem to be missing the requisite tools to develop and activate their 'play book.' With this new age of globally available real-time information, it becomes increasingly more essential to have a map to help go over and around obstacles, avoid the ever-present pitfalls, and effectively aid in selecting the best route. Rowley and Sherman provide such tools in this exciting and comprehensive new book. I wish that when I was a department chair, president of a faculty senate, and dean that this superb work was available. My function in planning would have been so much easier and more rewarding."--Barry R. Armandi, Distinguished Teaching Professor, SUNY - Old Westbury

In this refreshing new volume, strategic planning of budget management is looked at with a broad, positive perspective. Whether because of cuts in funding, enrollment decline, or academic cutbacks, the necessity for strategic planning in a university comes out of unfavorable circumstances. The chapters cover the planning process from start to finish, with an emphasis on a final goal of bringing the library’s status from one of an economic competitor to a deserving equal in the eyes of the academic community. The development of programs and long--term goals for various programs with realistic results in mind are stressed in this timely book. Strategic planning can be an effective managing tool in the midst of uncertainty and constant change. Cooperation, collaboration, and communication are all essentials for reaching this goal, and the authors of the 13 chapters describe in detail past instances in which these were successful. Readers will find that several major themes tie the diverse chapters of this book together, such as becoming successful in applying for limited institutional resources; giving the library’s goals a more prominent position among the members of the campus administration; and using the planning exercise to help the members of the academic community better understand the administrative decision-making process. Written by college and university presidents, campus planners, and librarians, this book clearly outlines the methods and benefits of strategic planning and provides an encouraging picture of what can be achieved when the process is used.

Higher education leaders and their teams should always seek to add value to their decision-making processes. Planning, Policy, and Politics in Higher Education: Tools to Help Leaders Make Strategic Choices provides a strategic decision-making model and specific tools to help maximize the opportunities for making successful choices. The model was introduced by Dr. Anderes in the book Navigating Through Turbulent Times: Applying a System and University Strategic Decision Making Model. It is built on the use of new tools, including a planning and assessment framework, future scans, an issue analysis inventory, and decision matrix. The new tools in combination with a strong strategic planning process, transparency for all constituencies, and high quality information focused on the future and globally gives leaders the greatest opportunity to make thoughtful choices aligned with their primary goals. The strategic decision-making model consists of six components: 1) Creating an organizational mentality committed to strategic thinking, 2) maximizing the amount of high quality historical data and information for analyses to inform decision makers, 3) routinizing the use of globalized scans of the future integrated with other decision-making information, 4) supporting ongoing strategic planning processes, 5) ensuring transparency to incorporate all key constituencies in planning, and 6) implementing a planning and assessment framework that allows leaders to weigh and filter information into thoughtfully constructed strategic alternatives and action plans. The success of the model is based on the integration of all components, with strategic thinking permeating all aspects of decision making. Board, system, and university leaders and their teams will benefit from the use of the strategic decision-making model in crafting well-informed choices. They will have greater confidence in supporting those choices to the myriad internal and external constituencies they serve. The planning outcomes will be derived from a set of new and expanded resources that provide greater organizational certainty in the final choices. The certainty in the choices will be based on the exhaustive use of the tools in translating strategies into key outcomes and the increased capacity to measure success in meeting board and institutional goals.