College and university planning in an era of contraction

Drawing from published case studies of U.S. institutions and from case studies conducted in the U.K., the author assesses the causes and characteristics of decline among institutions of higher education and the various types of institutional planning responses. Planning under conditions of instability and decline is held to be significantly different from planning under conditions of growth in that the politics of planning are more intensive and highly defensive. Changes in the standards for organizational consensus in planning under decline are also discussed. The problems and advantages inherent in developing strategic contingency plans as opposed to developing strategic planning policies are noted.The author concludes with a summarization of the contrasting planning styles characteristic of U.S. institutions, U.K. polytechnics and U.K. universities, noting that the model and success of recent University Grants Committee selective cuts among many institutions is more likely to be transferred to the polytechnic sector than across the Atlantic to U.S. institutions.