October 24, 2008

How Colleges Can Keep Strategic Plans On Course in a Stormy Economy

By PAUL FAIN

No campus leader could have predicted the full effect of the financial turmoil of recent weeks. But colleges with solid strategic plans are likelier to remain on track and perhaps even spot opportunities, planning experts say.

"If you're really strategic in your thinking," says Thomas C. Longin, an independent consultant for colleges, "a crisis like this doesn't throw you."

But many institutions, focusing mostly on short-term budget needs, do not adequately grasp strategic