Education

A Letter from Mike Moss, President of SCUP

Mike Moss

Communication. Impact. Sustainability. Integrated planning, an approach that considers holistically all stakeholders and entities which enable the delivery of the academic mission, is successful with open communication and a community committed to sustainability. The ultimate result is impact and the transformation of an institution’s planning culture beyond the current tenure of the administration and faculty allowing the academy to thrive.

SCUP’s North Atlantic Conference, scheduled for March 10 to 12 at the Hyatt Regency, Rochester, N.Y., brings together higher education planners from all facets of campus life — institutional direction, student success, academic planning, facilities, and resources and budget. Joined alongside colleagues from companies that help envision the planned future, the SCUP community and conference define and inspire new trajectories for sustainability and growth.

Your colleagues from the North Atlantic regional conference committee have spent countless volunteer hours examining the issues faced by all stakeholders in the planning process and constructed a conference that will bring solutions to your day-to-day issues and clarity to the long-term strategies that will move our institutions to celebrated levels of effectiveness. United under the theme Campus as Catalyst: Stories of Transformation, Innovation, & Revitalization, they have created a forum for sharing and inviting constructive dialogue around the countless opportunities that are on the minds of so many in our campus communities.

Today powerful external forces shape the higher education landscape. These forces are both big and small, and mostly beyond an institution’s control. With demographics shifts challenging enrollment requirements, student retention issues, dwindling federal and state aid, shifting visions of community, and countless political issues, institutional leaders need forums for learning and honest dialogue about the most effective methods to structure planning to forge a path of success. 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.

Success on our campuses can no longer be defined by matriculation rates, securing of federal funding, or the construction of a new building. It must be determined by the bold, systematic, proactive approach found in well-executed planning that creates a culture of communication and sustainability that ultimately transforms, innovates, and revitalizes our campuses and unleashes the power of higher education for decades to come.

Constructing a pathway to deliver an academic mission can seem daunting, but the SCUP community moves thought into defined practices, strategies, and solutions. We are here to serve you and share our members’ successes at scup.org. To learn about how our members are enacting change, email me at [email protected] or connect with our membership team at 734-669-3270 or [email protected].

Thank you for serving as a champion and change agent for higher education.

Mike Moss, CAE, is the president of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP).