84 Strategic Leadership
drawn into debates and controversies about operational issues or budgetary
details; (3) the SPC must be conscientious and consistent in communicating
with the campus community about its work and recommendations; (4) the presi-
dent and other university leaders should be fully engaged in the enterprise and
balance the work of the SPC with the responsibilities of other university officials
and decision-making bodies.
Case Studies in Strategic Governance
As one reviews the literature and the practice of strategic planning in a vari-
ety of settings, it is clear that institutions continue to struggle with the nature
of the governing body or bodies that can best develop an authentic strategic
agenda. Larry Shinn describes some of the issues and conflicts in strategic plan-
ning and faculty governance at liberal arts colleges (Shinn 2004). Many colleges
and universities now have the formal equivalent of SPCs, though their roles and
responsibilities vary widely, as we have seen. They operate with differing powers
and duties along a spectrum of institutional centralization and decentralization.
Leaders and participants often report a central advisory or steering committee to
be particularly useful (Dooris, Kelley, and Trainer 2004; Steeples 1988).
One of Burton Clark’s (1998) central findings in his influential study of five
entrepreneurial European universities was the presence of a strategic “steering
core” in each of the institutions. Clark notes elsewhere that these central groups
are committed to effective planning, to allocating resources as investments to
gain the best returns, and to creating “a desirable and sustainable institutional
character” (1997, xiv). In sum, there must be effective forms of strategic thinking
occurring throughout the organization, but most especially at its core.
The University of Northern Colorado
In a riveting irony, a prominent work on collegiate planning describes how
the faculty senate and the academic deans at the authors’ own institution, the
University of Northern Colorado, never fully accepted the institution’s strate-
gic planning process (Rowley, Lujan, and Dolence 1997). Aspects of the process
were nonetheless implemented through the work of the SPC and the president’s
authority. Based on their controversial experiences with governance rules and
protocols, and study of the issues, the authors offer extensive counsel and object
lessons about how and why to establish an effective SPC.
Brown University
Revealing both the diversity and similarity of governance issues at different
universities, Brown University offers a parallel yet different model of strategic deci-
sion making. Brown has recently established a new faculty committee and revised
an existing one to advise the president on academic and financial priorities. The
Academic Priorities Committee is an effort to strengthen the voice of the faculty
in advising the president on the strategic use of educational resources. A parallel