Planning in a University

Abstract

This article is concerned with the internal planning process of the University. It discusses the need for planning, puts forward a definition of planning, looks at the elements and contents of a planning process, notes the levels and units involved in planning and describes the planning cycles. The four charts at the end of the article outline an example of an integrated planning process and other sections of the article discuss the staff work, information, technical and procedural supports required by the planning process.

With the exception of the section on planning and mechanisms - which goes into detail on the uses of student number factors in planning - the article is an outline description of a planning process which could be adapted to meet the needs of any university and at little cost. The description is set in the British context, and the process outlined therefore assumes a certain relationship between institutional and national planning and assumes that the university possesses some freedoms of action. However, although that relationship and the degree of institutional freedom may differ from country to country, the main features of the process should remain appropriate in many different national contexts.

A planning process similar to the one outlined in this article has been operational at the University of Sussex since 1968. Further details of it in that institutional context are available in the Jones, Lockwood and Mackenzie case study on the development of the University of Sussex contained in Planning the Development of Universities, I edited by V.G. Onushkin (UNESCO 1972).