The Master Calendar of Allegheny College outlines the activities for every day of the month that includes among others recruitment of Marine Corps, the inclusion of schedules as trivia or as important as the pre-departure of study abroad, job search launch, homecoming weekend, family weekend mass, modern languages career day. Teach for America information session, FFC meeting, tennis activities, among others. The headings or contents per day highlight organizations and activities and it does not matter whether these organizations or activities are equally important or equally trivial. What is very important is the attention given to details as each activity becomes relevant to the reader or members of the organization by the way it was included and listed on the Master calendar.
It has been suggested that as most school board members and district administrators instinctively like the idea of strategic planning, Master Calendars have become a necessity so much like the daily planner of an executive of a multinational corporation or the chief executive officer of a struggling business. Many school administrators, however, admit to being confused over exactly what is planning and what it requires. William Cook, Jr. (1988) wrote that strategic planning is, “aimed at a total concentration of the organization’s resources on mutually predetermined measurable outcomes.”
This would mean that an effective plan encompasses an organization’s entire resources and purpose so that it must be constructed deliberately and thoughtfully such as that represented by the Allegheny College Master Calendar.
There are many benefits of planning which every organization must establish and this could start by periodically establishing and monitoring its goals. The Master Calendar then comes into focus. Strategic planning enables people to influence the future as the very act of planning implies that schools are far from passive under socioeconomic forces. Such forces, according to Cooper (1985) will soon overwhelm districts that refuse to plan for them as trends earlier identified strongly affect schools: an aging population, a growing proportion of minority students, and growing numbers of special interest groups competing for scarce public resources.
The American Association of School Administrators (AASA, 1983) in its publication Planning for Tomorrow’s Schools, likewise identified several other key developments that continue to demand the attention of many school districts: that officials must plan for shortages of teachers, particularly in math, science, and bilingual education, and they must prepare to accommodate growing numbers of Hispanic and other minority ethnic students, many of whom do not speak English. In addition, students of all types coming from single-parent homes must also be addressed. These profound demographic changes continue reshaping every nation and their schools in the coming decades so that strategic planning becomes particularly important (Marx, 2006).
In comparing our organization’s Master Calendar against Allegheny College’s Calendar, I noticed how lesser-known groups or organizations were set aside and given less attention if listed at all. This means that while Allegheny has competently provided a strategic calendar that reflects the school’s plans addressing all of the concerns enumerated above, our organization failed to properly or competitively address such seemingly unnecessary details that actually play an important role in the overall impact and perception of the school.
It is then suggested that our organization go deeper and more encompassing in enlisting the active participation of all sectors in the campus and outside to maximize benefits gained from learning not only about what is being taught inside the confines of the classroom but also beyond, towards a community-focused development. Each member of an organization no matter how marginalized they may be can find their place under the sun if and only if the organization they belong to give as much importance and emphasis on their activities and small groups. Unity is better than division, and that these are reflected best in strategic planning.
Reference
American Association of School Administrators. Planning for Tomorrow’s Schools: Problems and Solutions. AASA Critical Issues Report. Arlington, Virginia: AASA; and Sacramento, California: Education News Service, 1983. 80 pages. ED 236 773.
Cook, William J., Jr. Bill Cook’s Strategic Planning for America’s Schools. Arlington, Virginia: American Association of School Administrators, 1988. 189 pages.
Cook, William. (1990 ed). Strategic Planning for America’s Schools. American Association of School Administrators.
Cooper, Harry A. Strategic Planning in Education: A Guide for Policymakers. Alexandria, Virginia: National Association of State Boards of Education, 1985. 17 pages.
Marx (2006). Future-Focused Leadership Future. ASCD.