ABSTRACT
To provide a foundation for building understanding of the local strategic planning environment on an institutional level, this chapter reviews the changing culture for strategic planning in higher education generally followed by an overview of the standard strategic planning process. The review of the general strategic planning process will be followed by an analysis of the challenges that traditional approaches to the planning process pose within the academic setting. The chapter illuminates the difficulty in relying on the overall university strategic plan to provide a blueprint for online education. However, the stewards of online education should capitalize and exploit the areas in which a strategic plan for online education can be linked to the overall strategic plan. Effective planning for online education uses the language and trappings of traditional strategic planning to gather support for approach to higher education. The chapter concludes with initial insights into ways to modify traditional strategic planning for use by leaders of online educational programs.
