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The article argues for strategic planning as a framework to respond to external pressures such as reduced funding, greater public and legislative scrutiny, and changes in higher education’s social and market landscape. It outlines key components of an effective planning process, emphasizes planning for uncertainty, and proposes an institutional change approach grounded in stakeholder engagement.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/strategic-planning-and-retention-within-the-community-college-setting/599569/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/strategic-planning-and-retention-within-the-community-college-setting/599569.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"jayni","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-28","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do community colleges need strategic planning for student retention?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Economic pressure, demographic change, and heightened accountability make retention harder to address through existing practices, so institutions must plan strategically to respond to internal and external challenges.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What external forces affect retention efforts in community colleges?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Reduced funding and increased public, legislative, and accrediting scrutiny, along with shifts in the social, political, and market environment of higher education, raise attrition risk.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the article explain the evolution of retention research?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Retention and persistence research gained urgency in the late 1970s and early 1980s, supported by federal aid expansions after the GI Bill and the Higher Education Act of 1965, which increased enrollment while attrition remained high for commuter and African American students.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},599569,1793072221,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},3985747859343,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","# Strategic Planning and Retention within the Community ColleSetting\n\nEvon Washington Walters,Shaun McKay  \nChallenging economic conditions,changing student demographics,and heightened levels ofaccountability require community colleges to address student retention strategically.Abistorical summary of the community college serves as the platform for the argument for the useof strategic planning as a tool to address both internal and extermal cballenges.The articlebighlights components of an effective strategic planning process,in addition to providing aframework from which institutions can develop aprocess to retain students.  \nCommunity colleges are not immune to the numerous external forces demandingaccountability as with other American human services enterprises such as four-yearcolleges,health care systems,and other social services.These forces include reducedfunding and increased public,legislative,and accrediting scrutiny,in addition toshifts in the social,political,and market landscape of higher education (Woodard &von Destinon,2000).  \nBryson(1995)stated that the environments of public and non-profit organizationshave become not only increasingly uncertain in recent years but also more tightlyinterconnected;thus,a change anywhere in the system reverberates unpredictablyThis increased uncertainty and interconnectedness according to Bryson,requires athreefold response;first,organizations must think strategically as never before;second,organizations must translate their insights into effective strategies to copewith changing circumstances;and third,organizations must develop rationales to laythe groundwork for adopting and implementing strategies.  \nThe increasing impact of such forces now drives institutions to engage in a moreproactive,self-reflective,and visioning process to determine the most appropriatedirection to take relative to these challenges and their desired future.According toMcConkey(1987),effective strategies to deal with such situations require thatmanagers and leaders engage in planning for uncertainty and not for certainty,as itis becoming more difficult to predict the future with any degree of accuracy.  \nThis article presents an overview of the literature that argues for the need and thesuitability of embarking upon a comprehensive process of institutional change toaddress the problem of student retention within the community college setting.Thisis a process that requires a clear understanding of the existing challenges,firmleadership,and a thorough strategic planning process that engages key stakeholders  \nle  \nin rethinking the existing roles,culture,responsibilities,and architectural structuresof the institution.  \n## Problem\n\nAs community colleges cope with the external forces while at the same timeattempting to meet their mission of open access,their work becomes increasinglycomplex.This difficult task is exacerbated by increasing student enrollments,problems of access and success over the past decade(Pierce,1996;Seidman,1995),and shifts in federal and state funding as a result of challenging economicconditions(Guskin,1994;Leslie,1995).Enrollment growth in particular has beenaccompanied by a major shift in the demographic profile of post-secondarystudents enrolling in community colleges as increasing numbers of students of colorand economically disadvantaged students are expected to enroll in these institutions(Chenoweth,1998;Nora&Rendon,1990).  \nRetention of such students at the community college level has become increasinglychallenging.This is reflected politically within the existing organizational structureand culture,both organizationally in terms of the institution's capacity to reframehow it conducts business while addressing internal and external pressures.Howmuch should be invested in remediation?To what extent does retention play amajor role in the strategic decisions of the college?To what extent shouldinstitutions commit constrained resources to support services?The result of thesepres","cbCailIJiVJy5QUe","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailIJiVJy5QUe","pdf",4541630,14,"English","# Problem\n## Background","[{\"question\":\"Why do community colleges need strategic planning for student retention?\",\"answer\":\"Economic pressure, demographic change, and heightened accountability make retention harder to address through existing practices, so institutions must plan strategically to respond to internal and external challenges.\"},{\"question\":\"What external forces affect retention efforts in community colleges?\",\"answer\":\"Reduced funding and increased public, legislative, and accrediting scrutiny, along with shifts in the social, political, and market environment of higher education, raise attrition risk.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article explain the evolution of retention research?\",\"answer\":\"Retention and persistence research gained urgency in the late 1970s and early 1980s, supported by federal aid expansions after the GI Bill and the Higher Education Act of 1965, which increased enrollment while attrition remained high for commuter and African American students.\"}]","Strategic Planning and Retention within the Community College Setting | PDF",1792089030,35]