The growing body of knowledge about the use of strategic planning in higher
education focuses on the decisional processes and dynamics of such planning as
conducted in an academic setting. Information about the outcomes of strategic
planning initiatives, or the ways in which institutions change in relation to plan goals,
has received little attention by researchers.
This qualitative study combined descriptive and case study methodologies to
investigate what results occurred to meet strategic planning objectives at five small,
four-year, private colleges and universities as measured by fmancial, enrollment, and
programmatic indices. The case study method permitted an in-depth analysis of the
relationship between individual institutional plans and their respective outcomes. The
population consisted of thirty-two institutions awarded planning grants by the
Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education (CAPHE) between
1984-88. A purposive sample of five institutions was drawn from those institutions
identified as having developed strategic plans by the end of the grant cycle. Evidence
was gathered using IPEDS and CAPHE survey data, document analysis, and
interviews. Data were analyzed using basic statistical procedures and qualitative
methods. Further, data were standardized by means of common categories and
reporting fornlats for the purposes of cross-site analysis.
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