Integrated Planning: Streamlining Success

Colleges and universities engage in continual planning efforts to bring their visions for high-quality educational
experiences into reality. Multiple planning theories provide frameworks to guide visioning, decision making, and
implementation. Yet, in spite of the proliferation of planning models, planners and university leaders still experience intense
frustration and loss of morale stemming from derailed plans and repetitive cycles, all of which contribute to a significant
waste of resources.

Through its extensive work with higher education clients, MKThink observed and then tested the hypothesis that it is not the
planning process itself but the human factors surrounding the process that are crucial to ensuring success. Through outlining
the “three essential ingredients” and demonstrating their effectiveness in client case studies, MKThink paves the way for
headache-free planning nationwide.

An MKThink Research Publication

11 December 2009

For further information, please contact:

Chloe Lauer at 415 288 3394
Integrated Planning: Streamlining Success
Institutional planning processes are always under scrutiny, and
new models are often heralded with great anticipation as the
ultimate solution to the frustrations and wasted resources thought
to be caused by previous models. The most recent evolution in
planning theory, Integrated Planning, stresses the synergistic value
gained by bringing academic, financial, and campus and facility
planning together. By focusing on value (as demonstrated by
outcomes, experiences, and costs), encouraging cross-functional
participation, providing frequent feedback, combining analytics
and alignment, and measuring performance and improvement,
integrated planning is an excellent tool for strategic visionaries at
any institution.
While working with a number of leading college and university
clients, MKThink observed that even the best integrated planning
processes failed to consistently achieve their desired results. By
comparing integrated planning efforts that were successful with
those that were not, MKThink discovered that the addition of
three essential ingredients to the integrated planning process, or,
in fact, any planning process, is the key to reliably accomplishing
planning goals and realizing even the loftiest of visions.
Figure 2: Typical Integrated Planning Process
Integrated Planning © MKThink 2009. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Figure 1: Outside forces can continually derail plan implementation
ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS
Strategic Guidance. The first essential ingredient is Strategic
Guidance. After reviewing the school’s foundational values
and finding inspiration in the mission, vision, and positioning
statements of the university, university leadership must define
two elements of Strategic Guidance: Guiding Principles and
Boundaries. The Guiding Principles define the project’s strategic
intention and core values in language that is specific and
measurable. Boundaries are non-negotiable directives that
give players a comprehensive understanding of the playing
field; boundaries include both internal limits, such as number
of students admitted each year, and external limits, such as
allowable density according to city zoning, for example.
Together, Guiding Principles and Boundaries establish actionable
criteria for planning decisions and set the overall direction of the
planning process.
Active Integration is the second essential ingredient. The active
part of this concept is critical. Looking at the definition of active,
four terms are highlighted to illustrate that active integration
requires the ongoing energy and participation of a dynamic
group of people – it’s not merely a change in an organizational
chart or a single meeting bringing all groups to the table. Said
another way, integration won’t happen on its own; it requires
the commitment of a group or an individual to keep weaving the
integration conversation and associated activities throughout the
entire process. The active integration team is like a hummingbird
going from flower to flower: they check in with all groups and
“pollinate” each group with the ideas and insights of the other
groups, ensuring that each group involved is aware of every
component of the project scope and is enabled to shape their
particular content contribution to synergistically support the
whole.
The Active Integration team or individual needs to possess the
ability to act and think in a way that is at once strategic, intuitive
and grounded in reality. Practically speaking, this means the
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Figure 3: “Active” Visual Thesaurus Diagram
Active Integration team is responsible for continually bringing
all groups back to the core mission, vision, and values of the
institution in general and the project in particular, performing
regularly scheduled feasibility checks so that no idea goes
too far in development without being vetted, and finally, and
perhaps most importantly, facilitating constant communication
among all groups involved in planning.
Figure 4: Whole Brain Theory Model
The People Factor is the third and final essential ingredient. All
people, including those on integrated planning teams, have
natural strengths for particular types of thinking, as demonstrated
by the Whole Brain model theory. Understanding individuals’
dominant abilities in strategizing, analyzing, organizing, and
harmonizing assists in matching people with appropriate roles
and responsibilities, balancing out teams, and knowing when
additional support will be needed for leaders playing roles that
aren’t fully aligned with their inherent gifts.
The planning process can be divided into three primary areas
– Decisions, Process, and Content – and it’s crucial to be clear
“who’s who” in each area. Decisions are made by University
Leadership, particularly in setting the foundation for the planning
process by establishing guiding principles and boundaries. The
Integration Team ensures the smooth unfolding of the process by
performing the duties required keep it “active.” And the subject
matter experts drive the content in each chapter of the plan.
Interested in testing this at your institution?
Integrated Planning © MKThink 2009. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Figure 5: Who’s Who in the planning process
Make sure to understand these fundamentals before embarking:
• Strategic Guidance is the indispensable link between Vision
and Planning
• Ensure consistent awareness of economic feasibility
• Active Integration is a strategic and intuitive way of working,
which requires a human element
• “Integrating Agents” infuse Vision and Strategic Guidance into
the planning process
• “Integrating Agents” are the most essential component of the
whole process, providing direction, momentum, flexibility, and
adaptability
• Recognize individual strengths and identify alignment with
organizational responsibilities
• People are the essence of planning; process is simply an
organizing framework
CONCLUSION
Planning processes are only as effective as the people managing
and participating in them. So instead of repeatedly changing
frameworks in an attempt to put a stop to wasting recourses,
address the people component directly by employing the three
essential ingredients. No matter where your institution is in its
development, what project is at hand, or how many people are
involved, the three essential ingredients are a valuable tool for
streamlining success.
Figure 6: “Integrated” Visual Thesaurus Diagram
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 model. To begin with, they had to break down the traditional
silos of ownership to address the structural, experiential,
programmatic, and student components integral to the plan. This
required bringing the residential life leadership team together
with affiliated faculty (directors and faculty-in-residence), student
councils and community facilitators, university leadership, and the
facilities team.

The facilities team facilitated the interdisciplinary committee in

Figure 7: Historic Quad at Santa Clara University
CASE STUDY
Part I: Integrated Planning at Santa Clara University
At Santa Clara University, integrated planning is the model
of choice. As at many other institutions, all planning at Santa
Clara University is rooted in the school’s foundational values
and inspired by its mission, vision, and positioning. Santa Clara
prides itself on its:
further articulating their vision and coming up with a specific
space program that called for academic, extra-curricular,
and, of course, residential space in each RLC. Armed with the
go-ahead from university leadership and the excitement of all
groups involved, the facilities group broke ground and built one
new residence hall, Sobrato, and added a sizeable addition to
another, Casa Italiana. One was designed specifically as an
RLC, and the other was designed with more flexibility to allow for
shifting pedagogical philosophies. The halls opened up in fall
2000 and fall 2004, respectively, and Santa Clara University
began to deliver the integrated residential and curricular program
to a portion of its students on a self-selecting basis.

• Academic Excellence: California’s oldest operating higher-

education institution provides over 8,000 students, a rigorous
undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and
engineering, plus master’s, Ph.D., and law degrees
• Ideal Location: California’s Silicon Valley
• Engaged Community: faith-inspired values of ethics
• Jesuit Philosophy: comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic University

In the early 1990’s, Santa Clara University leaders had a vision

for strengthening academics and building community through the
establishment of Residential Learning Communities (RLCs). The
vision called for 11 four-year, 300-student RLCs defined by the
Figure 8: Sobrato Residence Hall
following attributes:

• Residential
- 90% of freshmen live on campus
- Commuters also given access to the communities
• Learning
- Core course in common
- Shared study rooms
- Co-curricular activities
• Communities
- Multi-year communities with both upper- and lower-division
students
- Community facilitators within in each RLC
- Integration of academic, social, and spiritual activities

The very essence of this vision necessitated an integrated

approach, and Santa Clara University was eager to test the new Figure 9: Casa Italiana Residence Hall

Integrated Planning © MKThink 2009. Reproduction prohibited without permission. Page 4

It’s starting to sound like a success story, but the truth is that Santa
Clara University completed just two of the 11 residences halls
required to fulfill the RLC vision. What happened?
Well, the integrated planning team had neglected to calculate
one very important figure: the cost of renovating existing or
building new residence halls to accommodate the student
population described in the RLC plan. After completing the first
two, the facilities group estimated a remaining cost of $300-350
million. This shockingly large figure put a halt to the entire plan,
and since then, no action has been taken to further the vision.
So, what was missing? MKThink and the facilities leadership
at Santa Clara University took a close look at this planning
experience – its successes and eventual failure – and discovered
that it’s not the planning process itself, but the way human factors
engage in any planning process using three essential ingredients
that determines the ultimate success or failure of a project.
Part II: Adding the Essential Ingredients to the Integrated
Planning Process at Santa Clara University
Armed with this revelatory understanding of the ingredients
missing from the RLC planning process, Santa Clara University,
in conjunction with MKThink, embarked on “Integrated Planning,
Take Two” with the essential ingredients in play.
This time, the project primarily involved academic and
administrative departments (rather than student residential life).
With the opening of two new academic buildings, 1.) Lucas Hall
at Leavey School of Business and 2.) the Harrington Learning
Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, and Orradre Library,
in Spring of 2008, the university had the opportunity to shift
departments into the space vacated by those groups moving into
the new buildings. Instead of limiting the “backfill” project scope,
Santa Clara University administrative and facilities leadership
chose to look at the campus as a clean slate and determine
the ideal location for each department in relationship with one
another and with shared resources. To make this large-scale
analysis manageable, the Integration Team made certain that
strategic guidance from university leadership was provided for
the Backfill Plan 2008 – 2010 project:
Guiding Principles:
• Support modest departmental growth within 2008 – 2010
time frame
• Consolidate academic programs on main campus
• Optimize adjacencies and opportunities for collaboration
• Maximize use of vacated space
Boundaries:
• Plan for a 5 – 10 year life span for each department in their
new space
• Use existing building only; no additional new buildings
permitted
Integrated Planning © MKThink 2009. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Figure 10: Santa Clara University Roles and Responsibilities
• Complete the work in two phases
• Concentrate work during summer 2008 and summer 2009
Once the strategic guidance was established, the Integration
Team, composed of the SCU Facilities and Provost’s Office
leadership plus MKThink, reached out to the owners of the
content: the department team leaders. They provided the
Integration Team with space requirements, as well as desired
“look and feel,” for their respective departments.
With strategic guidance in place and the space needs
established, the Integration Team began the analysis and
planning phase, evaluating the ideal locations for over 40
departments, 15 buildings with over 200,000 SF, and 430
faculty and staff. After testing multiple scenarios, the team
came up with a “best fit” plan and returned first to the university
leadership and then to the departments for endorsement of the
plan.
Once the plan received the go-ahead from all groups,
implementation began. During Phase 1: 2008, 27 departments
with 275 faculty and staff were relocated into ten buildings
containing 87,000 SF of newly renovated space. Phase 2:
2009 relocated 22 departments with 150 faculty and staff into
six buildings containing 67,000 SF of newly renovated space.
The project was a resounding success. Over the two year
period, 800 of the 1600 total university faculty and staff moved
into new or renovated space aligned with their needs, the School
of Law was consolidated on the main campus, the graduate
education program was united for the first time in one space, and
morale across campus was enhanced.
Introducing the three essential ingredients, Strategic Guidance,
Active Integration, and the People Factor into the integrated
planning process enabled the project’s success. By closely
observing the failings of past processes, SCU and MKThink were
able to identify the critical components that can transform any
planning process into a streamlined success.
Page 5
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS COMPANY PROFILE

MKThink wishes to thank our incredible collaborators, Joe Sugg,
Assistant Vice President of University Operations at Santa Clara
University, and Alesha Kientzler, vision and strategy consultant
(www.aleshakientzler.com), for their invaluable contributions
to this presentation. Without the opporunity to work with Joe
ongoingly at Santa Clara University and tap into his depth of
experience, we wouldn’t have been able to test out our “Essential
Ingredients” hypothesis. Without Alesha, we wouldn’t have been
able bring theory and practice together so gracefully.
The MKThink core team for this presentation was Nate Goore,
Principal and COO, Marijke Smit, Director of Strategy, and
Chloe Lauer, Senior Associate.
MKThink reveals and optimizes the nexus between people and
their environments. Led by principals Mark Miller, Steve Kelley
and Nate Goore, MKThink creates dynamic strategies that help
solve organizational challenges.
The MKThink team, comprised of anthropologists, psychologists
and business people, as well as architects and urban planners,
strives to fully understand their clients’ identities, needs, goals
and culture before ever putting pen to paper. With a strong
background in learning, workplace, community and healing
environments, MKThink boasts a wealth of capabilities, including
strategic, analytic and design services.

IMAGE CREDITS

1. Josh Jackson
2. Chloe Lauer
3. visualthesaurus.com
4. takethreemonths.com
5. Chloe Lauer
6. visualthesaurus.com
7. instruct.westvalley.edu
8. Chloe Lauer
9. Chloe Lauer
10. Chloe Lauer

Integrated Planning © MKThink 2009. Reproduction prohibited without permission. Page 6