Strategic Planning

1. Strategic Planning Workshop for Palestinian TEIs CINDA Ramallah, May, 2007

2. Jose Rafael Toro • Professor of Computational Mechanics in the School of Engineering , Universidad de los Andes • Presently I am Vice President for Academic Affairs at Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) - 11,500 Undergraduate Students - 2000 Graduate Students - 550 Full Time Faculty

3. Where do I come from ?

4. Where do I come from ?

5. My city, Bogotá

6. Extremes of Strategic Planning An enlightened authority knows where the institution has to go, and the rest try to follow him A huge number of tiny academic units make up a list of resources which add up to an “impossible dream”

7. Extremes of Strategic Planning Strategic Planning should (at least) be an opportunity to try to discuss openly and systematicallyall issues which determine the future of an Institution There should be a place for leadership, for participation, and for analysis

8. Vision Local and global context Mission Vision Vision SWOT analysis Basic elements of Strategic Planning: a common language

9. Basic elements of Strategic Planning: a common language Mission Final State Initial State (Base Line) Actions Final State Goals Strategies Final State Vision

10. Basic elements of Strategic Planning: a common language Mission It is a conceptual statement concerning the nature and purposes of the institution. BUT it can be so abstract and general that it helps little to enlighten future goals and strategies in SP process. • Every concept in the Mission should have a translation into more operational elements. For example what does it finally mean for your institution: • Quality - Interdisciplinarity -Commitment to the country’s development • - Academic excellence - Globalization

11. Basic elements of Strategic Planning: a common language Vision It is a description (a “photograph”) of a possible future reality. The Mission is unique and has permanence in time. The Vision changes and adapts to local and global conditions. The vision is a concretion of the mission MISSION and VISION are only useful if they have been deliberately designed to build on them, and not only as a formal step in SP exercises.

12. Some preliminary observations Apart from conventional procedures in SP ( Mission, Vision, SWOT) a special emphasis should be placed in: -Developing conceptual models of the operation of the institution which show the interactions and restrictions among the different system components of the institution. Many TEIs can coincide in WHAT they want in the coming future (Missions of different universities differ very little), still the restrictions and difficulties which limit achieving (apparently) similar goals require a very precise analysis fitted for each institution, within each particular context. -Detailed knowledge of the interactions between academic and economic variables, which determine the development of an institution. TEIs tend to evidence a strong gap between what is academically desirable and what is economically sustainable. This tension complicates considerably decision making processes.

13. System components of a TEI for SP purposes Academic processes : -Undergraduate programs -Graduate programs -Research -Continued education -Community services Prime Actors: Faculty Decision making processes Academic processes Prime actors: Students Academic products SP intends to design strategies which allow an optimal performance of prime actors (faculty and students) in achieving goals consistent with Mission demands. Evaluation and accreditation processes are intended to monitor the effectiveness of strategies in achieving the pursued goals. Physical resources

14. Local and global employers Academic community (national and international) Social and economical conditions External context Definition of quality: Inner and outer consistency Mission and vision Inner consistency Faculty Staff Decision making processes Outer consistency Academic products Academic Processes Students Physical resources

15. Evaluation processes and systems Actors: Faculty Employers Academic community (national and international) Academic Products Actors: Students Academic Processes Professional certification systems Physical resources National secondary education examinations Governmental National and international accreditation systems Local and global context

16. Strategic planning under the metaphor of an Optimization Problem Degree of inner and outer consistency of the institution ObjectiveQuality Function -Social, economical and political restrictions -Institutional restrictions Restrictions Strategic Planning can be understood as the process by which inner and outer consistency of the institution (objective quality function) are optimized subject to inner and outer restrictions.

17. QF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF Definition of Quality factors Faculty Staff Academic Processes Students Physical resources Quality factors are special attributes in which system components can be unfolded. By affecting Quality Factors, system components are transformed in a direction which affects (positively or negatively) the overall quality of the institution.

18. -Consistency of curricula with Mission Statement -Consistency of curricula with market demands and main stream of disciplines -Effectiveness of teaching learning process (ex: Active learning processes, student engagement with learning process) -General education requirements and adequate balance between breadth and depth of education Quality Factors(some tentative examples) • Faculty staff disciplinary and teaching qualification - Faculty size - Labor conditions: • Salaries • Teaching loads • Resources and environment for academic production • Rules (selection, promotion, evaluation) Faculty staff Academic Processes Academic Products Students -Entry qualifications of students -Study habits -Autonomy -Effectiveness of physical resources in supporting academic processes Physical resources Quantitative Indicators can be associated to (most) Quality Factors

19. Quality factors and strategies Resource oriented strategies: high investment and operation costs Resource oriented quality factors such as: .Faculty size .IT support services Process oriented quality factors such as: .Teaching-learning process .Decision making processes Process oriented strategies moderate operation costs Strategic Planscannot be reduced to a collection of required resources: How things are done (once reasonable resources are available) can be very strategic and cost effective in determining quality

20. Process Process The subtle couplings: “How things are done” (may) increase effectiveness of processes Quality Factor Couplings Resource dependent QF Process dependent QF Process dependent QF Resource dependent QF Non void couplings among quality factors suggest strategies oriented to increase quality of products Resources Processes The simple couplings: Better resources (may) lead to more effective processes

21. Quality Factor Couplings Examples

22. QFi QFi QFi QFi QFi QFi QFi QFi QFi Strategic Planning rationale Strategies are coherent actions which affect groups of highly coupled Quality Factors in a positive direction

23. F S F S A P A P Strategies and actions designed with the help of QF coupling analysis S S Base Line in terms of system components and its associated quality factors Expected states in terms of system components and its associated quality factors Strategic Planning rationale Each set of goals, strategies and actions affect operational and investment costs which can be evaluated in this flow chart, thus selecting the sustainable and academically acceptable strategies

24. Academic Programs academic variables vs. cost structure Gross income Tuition and government support Faculty costs Selection capacity Drop out rates Student population Faculty salary structure Faculty size Teaching structure Admission process Curricula Teaching demand Admin structure Gross demand Admin costs Enrolled students Educational support resources & services Support invest. &costs Instit. admin costs Institutional administration Each set of goals, strategies and actions affect operational and investment costs which can be evaluated in this flow chart, thus selecting the sustainable and academically acceptable strategies

25. Examples of coupled factors : Admission and quality of students # students (some) quality standard “quality” of students Enrolled students High risk students Under qualified students Qualified students

26. Examples of coupled factors: Admission and secondary education “quality” of students Enrolled students Under qualified students Qualified students Under qualified students Qualified students Better secondary education

27. Examples of coupled factors: Admission policies and costs of teaching Larger course sizes Regular course sizes # students Smaller course sizes High risk students Under qualified students Qualified students #Teaching hours ~Size Faculty ~Operation costs

28. Exampled of coupled factors: Admission policies, quality of students and cost of teaching Larger course sizes # students Regular course sizes High risk students Active learning strategies which increases engagement of students with their education process #Teaching hours ~Operation costs Education support costs/hr Faculty costs/hr >

29. How does learning really proceed ? Are our teaching practices adequate for our students? Learning ¿ …….. ? Repetitive exercises “quality” of students Lecturing Time Profitable time Unprofitable time

30. Strategic planning structure within the institution Generation of adequate conditions Examples : -Faculty staff training programs -Salary policies -Teaching load policies -General curricula structure Institutional SP Schools SP Department SP Faculty staff work plans Academic specific programs and projects

31. Strategic Planning as an iterative process Institutional SP Goals, strategies and actions Schools SP Department SP Associated investment and operational costs Faculty staff work plans The sustainability iteration The institutional iteration

32. Why do I look arab?

33. SP Workshop • Objectives: Considering a specially significant process associated to Tertiary Education, the object of the work shop consists in identifying (quality) factors of the different components of the institution which are expected to affect the selected process. For the selected process, and quality factors coupled with such process, the participants are expected to:

34. SP Workshop • Provide a general qualitative characterization of the present state of such elements ( analyzed process and coupled quality factors) • When possible provide quantitative which help with the above mentioned characterization • Describe briefly the way in which selected quality factors affect the process under analysis • Provide suggested final states of quality factors which will affect positively the selected process • Suggest different strategies and actions which will determine the expected evolution of the analyzed process and associated quality factors • Provide a general overview of the impact in operational and investment costs associated to proposed strategies and actions

35. SP Workshop • For the present workshop its is proposed to consider the Teaching Learning processes in the institution for one or several significant academic units and programs. • TL processes are key elements which determine the overall quality of education. At the same time they are affected by many other system components. This condition will allow the participants to explore the multiple factors analysis required for comprehensive and systematic planning.

36. SP Workshop