Short Term Planning In Rural Community Colleges PDF Download

Rural community colleges are unique in many ways including the students served, local community needs, geographic location, and funding. Simply having a strategic plan is not enough to meet the increasing calls for public accountability. Funding is the primary key to taking the strategic plan off the shelf and placing it on center stage. This can be accomplished through integrated planning efforts to incorporate strategic planning considerations in the budgeting process and decisions. This case study provides a better understanding of how this is being done at one medium sized rural community college. The research questions for this study focused on understanding the process for preparing the strategic plan and budget. They also examined how strategic goals and resource demands are established and prioritized. The research questions additionally identified systems, documents, and processes to integrate strategic planning and resource allocation and specifically examined the impact of leadership. A qualitative case study design was used to describe, understand, and interpret these complex real world processes. Interviews were conducted with 13 institutional leaders directly involved with strategic planning and resource allocation to provide a rich description from a variety of perspectives. Documents were also collected and used in the data analysis. Hill Valley Community College (HVCC) serves approximately 4,600 credit students and 1,000 non-credit students annually on two main campuses. The service area of the college encompasses over 11,000 square miles and a total population of approximately 90,000. The HVCC service area is larger than 9 states including Maryland and Vermont. HVCC is the only higher education provider in the service area in this rural part of a Mountain West state. The findings of this research at HVCC identified four primary themes and included (a) respect for the organizational environment, (b) addressing changes with flexibility and responsiveness, (c) commitment to leading and communicating the vision, and (d) establishing trust in budgeting. These four themes collectively described how this one rural community college integrated strategic planning and resource allocation processes. Over the course of this research an interpretation of four conditions essential for successful strategic planning and resource allocation integration emerged and were synthesized by a senior administrator. These conditions were (a) a strong unified leadership, (b) a focused and clear strategic plan, (c) effective followers, and (d) the availability of funding to support the plan. These conditions were each necessary and together they were described as sufficient for successfully integrated strategic planning and resource allocation. Some conditions may be more important than others at times, but in the end they are all collectively responsible for progress towards the future vision of the college. Like any road trip, many elements are necessary for progress and success in integrating strategic planning and resource allocation. A well-planned successful road trip requires someone to take the lead, forethought, a reliable vehicle, money for gas and adventures, and friends willing to go along for the ride. Likewise, strategic planning has essential conditions that are necessary for success. Individually these conditions are not sufficient but collectively they are sufficient for successfully integrated planning.