Strategic Planning for Higher Education

Abstract

Academic institutions are under increasing pressure to improve engineering education while faced with decreasing budgets, not unlike the pressure American businesses experience from international competition. Using an accepted strategic-planning outline, formulation of a strategic plan for an engineering department is discussed. As with any department operating within a large structure, academic or private business, entrenched practices and bureaucracy are identified as formidable opponents to change. However, the first line of defense against change may be the lack of consensus building between individuals within the department.