ABSTRACT

This chapter considers some organizational "alignments" that, while a bit more down to earth than those considered by the Romans in their decision-making, are fundamental to properly managing academic program resources. It addresses the issues and challenges associated with three different alignments: curriculum alignment, strategic alignment, and resource alignment. The chapter considers strategic curriculum planning in more depth, including the strategic roles of curricula and the challenges faced by many educational institutions in this area. It expresses that academic program resources are best managed in environments where strategic plans include a curriculum component. The chapter focuses on achieving curriculum alignment, whose relationship to resource alignment is also developed more fully. It discusses business process reengineering (BPR), which is a tool for exploring how resources can be applied more efficiently and effectively in the educational environment.