What will your institution look like in five years? Growth takes change and the commitment of the stakeholders in your organization. A five-year plan is essential for any owner or director of an educational institution, no matter how long they have been in the business. It includes various elements such as your enrollment goals for all programs, plans for new programs, new profit center potential, fees and all financial aid opportunities, enhancement of student services, faculty and staff planning, marketing and development strategies, and planning for physical space to support your expansion goals. Also, development plans are often needed to satisfy licensing and accreditation requirements.

This course covers the essential components and techniques involved in developing a comprehensive five-year plan. We will show you an effective step-by-step planning process that involves the participation of representatives from your institution including staff, instructors, students, graduates, and the employers who hire your graduates. The process encourages participants to share their knowledge and ideas, and everyone who participates in the process ultimately becomes a stakeholder in making the plan work. The course includes planning worksheets that you can download and use to help you develop your institution’s five-year plan.

Module 1: Basic Planning & Initial Steps

• Explain how a well-devised 5-year plan will improve operational efficiency and bottom-line performance.
• Utilize a 5-year strategic plan as a basis for business and marketing plans.
• Identify staff who are to be involved in the planning effort to ensure that all constituencies are represented.
• Assess, within the context of the plan, current educational programs, continuing educations courses and potential articulation agreements, including changes, additions and deletions, to meet the demands of the workplace.
• Plot program enrollment goals for each session over the next five years.
• Review factors that affect the planning process such as tuition structure and increases, tuition assistance and financial aid resources.

Module 2: Student Services Planning

• Identify student services currently offered and assess the impact on student success, completion, graduation, and placement.
• Determine, in context of the 5-year plan, what support programs need to be initiated, changed or enhanced such as orientation, student retention and intervention, graduation, and staff development.
• Determine what employment skills training can be added to career services offerings.
• Determine how the career services department can be enhanced to attract more students during the admissions process.
• Describe the pros and cons of internships and externships.

Module 3: Organizational Development Planning

• Create a current organizational chart and restructure it to meet current and future organizational needs.
• Utilize tools for creating new job descriptions and updating those of current employees, and determine what additional staff may be needed to support school goals.
• Evaluate the pros and cons of an Advisory Board.
• Determine library requirements by the appropriate state licensing board and accrediting agency, and assess the library in terms of meeting program, student and faculty needs.
• Evaluate the school's physical site and whether it will support growth goals for the future.

Module 4: Marketing & Budget Planning

• Identify current marketing strategies.
• Develop a profile of ideal students.
• Determine the profile of ideal prospects that are not being currently reached.
• Put plans in place to evaluate current marketing strategies.
• Initiate a budget planning process.