Lay the groundwork before you engage.

Give stakeholders a realistic, big-picture view of your institution’s current position in the higher education landscape, of evolving student and workforce needs, of your evolving competitors, and of the emerging trends and disruptive forces shaping the future. Everyone needs context.

Open minds to wider horizons
and ambitious possibilities.

The years ahead promise exponential change, new technologies and business models, and your entire campus will need to embrace innovation, transformation, and collaboration. Your stakeholders need inspiration.

The most innovative ideas arise
from the collision of diverse perspectives.

Engage campus leaders and stakeholders across units and disciplines, build a shared understanding, stretch their imaginations, and start exploring potential trajectories – towards a horizon 5 years or even 5 decades hence. With the right catalyst, you can ignite campus-wide innovation, excitement, and enduring dialogue.

“Effective strategic planning demands both a deep understanding of where you come from and a long-range perspective on the many potential disruptions and innovations that lie ahead. Ken engaged our board and leadership team with a dynamic, thought-provoking overview of the challenges and opportunities facing higher education between now and 2050 that added a lot of value and set the tone for an impactful and enjoyable day.”

Benoit-Antoine Bacon, President & Vice-Chancellor, UBC

Ken Steele is a catalyst who can energize your whole campus community.  

Ken synthesizes a vast array of up-to-the-moment research data, trends and forecasts into a fine-tuned environmental scan, a competitive reality check, and a long-term view of the horizon. His provocative, future-oriented sessions include dynamic media and real-time polls, and will entertain and enlighten your governing board, senior leadership, staff and (yes) even faculty.
(See more about Ken Steele.)

In as little as one day, you can ensure your key stakeholders comprehend what’s going on, what’s ahead, and what matters… and pave the way for a successful strategic planning process!

“Thank you for your excellent presentation at my annual Board of Governors’ retreat. I wanted the Governors to hear about what’s happening in our higher education world today, what are the external forces and influences that can, and will, disrupt our relatively slow moving sector. You did a great job of very clearly identifying the trends, challenges and issues from various perspectives; students specifically and society in general. I, along with the members of the Board, very much enjoyed it and learned from it. It was educating, insightful and to my personal liking, even provocative.”

Feridun Hamdullahpur, President & Vice-Chancellor, University of Waterloo

Pre-Launch

Depending on your needs, this includes:

Exploratory Consultation. Ken discusses the current realities of your people and your institution, existing plans and priorities with you.

Background Synthesis. Ken reviews existing institutional plans, reports and research findings, to compile a preliminary SWOT and key questions.

Competitive Intelligence. Ken investigates current brand positions, strategic plans, recent investments and news headlines for 4 to 6 of your key competitors.

Environmental Scan. Ken refines and selects trendlines, forecasts, innovations, and best practices for presentation on campus.

Draft Agenda. Ken reviews his preliminary thoughts and draft agenda(s) with you in advance.

Ignition Point

We can plan a series of stakeholder sessions, from short presentations to half-day workshops or even full retreats. Ken’s per diem includes up to 8 hours in any combination:

Campus Town Halls. Ken provides a synthesis of his environmental scan, emerging trends and future forecasts. Time permitting, this can include scenario planning or brainstorming, to get participants talking. Faculty sessions could focus more on research, programs and pedagogy, while support staff are more concerned with student services, operations, and enrolment management.

Client Debrief. Typically, Ken debriefs with you after the Town Halls, sometimes informally over lunch.

Executive Team. A session exclusively for senior-level administrators can either build on the content of the preceding Town Halls, or provide a streamlined recap. This group will want to explore strategic opportunities, financial pressures, and other potential challenges in a more frank, unstructured way.

Leadership Workshop. A broader group of your academic and operational managers could likewise meet, either to build on the content of the Town Halls or for their own customized environmental scan. This would likely be a highly structured session, and the agenda would be reviewed carefully with you in advance.

Board Presentation/Retreat. Ken is frequently asked to provide governing boards with a high-level overview of higher education trends in Canada and around the world, intriguing new practices, and provocative future scenarios. Typically, this audience has less academic or operational knowledge, so the presentation is framed as board development, and discussion stays focused on matters of mission and governance. (Your executive team may want to attend, either to present institutional context or merely to inform breakout discussions.) This could be a 90-minute presentation during a regular board meeting, or Ken could work with you to design a full board retreat focused on strategic planning.

“Ken Steele was instrumental in supporting the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Senior Management Team in orientation of our newly appointed Members of the Board of Directors regarding trends and issues affecting the post-secondary sector.  With his engaging style and extensive knowledge of higher education, Ken was informative and thought-provoking.  The Board and Senior Leadership Team were inspired by Ken’s energizing presentation, and the effective manner in which it was delivered.”

Dr Larry Rosia, President & CEO, Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Jumpstart your strategic planning process with a catalyst who will provide big-picture perspective, and spark innovative thinking on your campus!

To explore the possibilities,
please drop Ken a note or
schedule a chat in his calendar
at your convenience!

Download the Eduvation Jumpstart brochure as an Acrobat PDF