SCUP is pursuing a bold vision for the future where planners unite across disciplines to tackle what’s ahead in order to advance higher education. There is simply no better way to put that practice into action than gathering the SCUP community together in person. After all, in order to sustain, we must plan together.
The SCUP 2020 North Atlantic Regional Conference is coming to New Haven, Conn. March 8-10 to celebrate and showcase the region’s institutions while hosting a conference devoted to “Finding Your Niche: Institutional Strategies to Survive and Thrive.”
Simply put, it is events like this that represent the best of SCUP’s community. After all, the savviest planning strategies start with a solid understanding of regional and local trends. It is through events like this that we can inspire and gain an insightful look into the issues that are important to us, our institutions, and our local community. It is our collective work and experiences that can lead us to solve our toughest challenges – together.
I do not have to tell you that the challenges of higher education are vast. In an environment where enrollment, persistence, retention and other financial challenges are creating stress for institutions, many have recognized new opportunities and found success by understanding and capitalizing on market shifts and their own uniqueness. Finding the right niche may involve expanding into a satellite campus to support new programs or increasing enrollment or research. Alternatively, an institution may require consolidating into tested and trusted programs to maintain academic quality or even transforming curriculum or culture to better serve – and possibly expand – its established student base.
With a diverse group of colleges and universities, each with its own distinct identity, history, and constituency, New Haven can be seen as a microcosm of the national higher education environment and such, the ideal setting for this gathering. That is because institutions today – in New Haven and across the wider North Atlantic region – are pursuing different strategies to respond to current circumstances while meeting critical planning objectives.
Your colleagues from the North Atlantic regional conference committee spent countless hours creating a program that will address your day-to-day issues and your long-term strategies. We hope the SCUP North Atlantic Regional Conference can inspire you to help lead the evolution of our campuses to bring integrated planning to the forefront of daily practice.
It is up to us to unleash the promise and potential of higher education. By coming together and advocating for change, we will demonstrate how grassroots planning directly impacts higher education. To learn about how our members are doing just that, email me at mike.moss@scup.org or connect with our membership team at 734-669- 3270 or members@scup.org.
Mike Moss
Mike Moss, CAE, is the president of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP).
