View article

A long-range planning process that avoids undue pressure and proceeds in a deliberate, thoughtful manner was devised for the Division of Campus Life (DCL) at Cornell University.(The Division of Campus Life encompasses many of the out-of-classroom activities on campus and involves students as the principle clientele, as well as faculty and staff.) This article describes how the Division went about such planning and the results of its effort.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS Before describing the DCL planning effort, it is helpful to conceptualize the process of change it represents. According to Herman-Taylor (1985), planning is comprised of three activities: diagnosis, formulation, and execution. The dividing line between these phases is blurred, of course, and there is considerable overlap between them. An additional distinction can be made between the strategic frame and the organizational frame in which …