Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching & Learning

Abstract

This study concerns the efforts of Minot State College, one of North Dakota's state-supported institutions of higher education, to conduct long-range planning activities, to generate its institutional plan for the 80's, and to define its mission in response to a mandate from the state's Board of Higher Education. To facilitate these efforts the college employed the author as planning coordinator for the project from October 1979 through June 1980.One of the challenges of the study was to use well the planning model specified by the Board. A Futures Creating Paradigm: A Guide to Long-range Planning from the Future for the Future was developed by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities through its Resource Center for Planned Change. It differs from most institutional planning models in its emphasis upon the societal context in which the institution is likely to function a decade hence and in its insistence upon building the institutional plan out of that conjectural future rather than upon linear projections of the present. Since its publication in 1978 it has been used by only a limited number of colleges and universities.The paradigm clearly defines ten planning stages, gives examples of the kinds of activities which could generate the planning information needed by each stage, and suggests that involvement in the planning be broad-based in terms of numbers and kinds of participants. The first four stages aim to help participants build a conjectural society and to consider the impacts which societal change will be likely to have on the college during the next decade. The remaining stages concern formulating goals and objectives which are realistic in terms of the information from the first stages and analyzing in the several ways suggested by the model the desirability of those objectives' evolving into institutional policy.Over 400 planning participants from various Minot State College constituencies generated the information from which the college's Administrative Cabinet shaped the final plan and statement of mission. The plan provides that particular individuals and committees during specified time periods will be responsible for studying, recommending action plans, or undertaking action on each segment of the plan. Such specificity increases the probability of successful implementation.Other factors contributing to the same probability include: (1)broad-based participation which insures that many college constituents understand the plan and have a vested interest in it; (2)strategies for implementation which stress the college's making more, better, or different uses of present resources and building on existing strengths in program and faculty; and (3)new perceptions of the future among participants which increase understanding of and receptivity to change and, thus, increase the likelihood of its occurring.The part of the planning process beyond the participatory activities outlined by the model also helped to generate the plan by clarifying the significance of the information collected. The reorganization of planning material at various points often not only changed its shape but also suggested new implications.The planning model provided considerable flexibility in accommodating unique institutional circumstances, allowing choices in the important matters of numbers and kinds of participants and of the time-frame and design of the activities. The paradigm also encouraged planning from the perspective of the decade ahead and its activities promoted new perceptions of that time. It accommodated diversity of opinion without any accompanying divisiveness. It provided reasonable bases for planned institutional change which aims to cope with societal change. It proved to be a useful vehicle for Minot State College to use in its efforts to anticipate the future.

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