IJHEM 2054-9849 2054-9857 https://doi.org/10.24052/IJHEM/ 22 Volume 12 Issue 01 2026-02-01

113 https://ijhem.com/details&cid=113 2026-01-08 Strategic planning has become a virtual requirement in higher education management. Huge amounts of time, energy, and money are committed to the process by individuals representing every level in a university’s hierarchy. Despite widespread adoption and commitment, researchers have frequently questioned whether the content of these plans varies significantly among institutions, or if they are essentially interchangeable compendiums of buzzwords and cliches. Our study quantified the presence of various ideas, or themes, in strategic plans from 150 public higher education institutions in the United States. Our analyses provide evidence of what is important to strategic planners in higher education, where in the plans these themes tend to be discussed, and how patterns of usage vary across Carnegie classifications and geographic settings. Such information can be useful to planners in identifying concepts that should be present in their strategic plans, as well as those that can distinguish an institution from its peers. Barringer, S.N., Leahey, E., & Salazar, K. (2020). What catalyzes research universities to commit to interdisciplinary research? Research in Higher Education 61: 679-705. Bieler, A. & McKenzie, M. (2017). Strategic planning for sustainability in Canadian higher education. Sustainability 9(2): 161. Buller, J.L. (2014). Why strategic planning doesn’t work. In: Change Leadership in Higher Education: A Practical Guide to Academic Transformation. John Wiley & Sons, Chicago. Chance, S. & Williams, B.T. (2009). Assessing university strategic plans: a tool for consideration.   Educational Planning 18: 38-54. Conway, T., Mackay, S., & Yorke, D. (1994). Strategic planning in higher education: Who are the customers. International journal of educational management, 8(6), 29-36. Dooris, M.J., Kelley, J.M., & Trainer, J.F. (2002). Strategic planning in higher education. New Directions for Higher Education 116: 5-11. Eckel, P. (2023). The trouble with strategy. Inside Higher Education. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2023/05/23/trouble-strategy# Eckel, P. & Trower, C. (2019). Stop Planning! Inside Higher Education.   https://www.accs.edu/wp content/uploads/2020/06/Stop-Planning.pdf Gardner, L. (2021). The truth about strategic plans: what makes one a success and another a waste of time. Chronicle of Higher Education, September 29. Gordon, G. & Fisher, M. (2015). Strategic planning in public higher education: management tool or publicity platform? Educational Planning 22(3): 5-17. Graves, B.M. & Erickson, F.J. (2024). Strategic planning in higher education: perceptions of faculty and administrators at public institutions. Discover Education 3:264. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44217-024-00351-                z?utm_source=rct_congratemailt&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oa_20241202&utm_content=10.1007/s44217-024-00351-z Graves, B.M. & Erickson, F.J. (under review). Structure and Content of Strategic Plans of  Public Higher Education Institutions in the United States. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. Hall, R. & Lulich, J. (2021). University strategic plans: what they say about innovation. Innovative Higher Education 46: 261-284. Harris, M. (2010). Interdisciplinary strategy and collaboration: a case study of American research universities. Journal of Research Administration 41(1): 22-34. Hinton, K.E. (2012). A Practical Guide to Strategic Planning in Higher Education, Volume 7. USA: Society for College and University Planning. Hinton, K.E. (2022). Components of a strategic plan: align institutional mission, vision, and values through the strategic planning process. Planning for Higher Education 50(4): 30-33. Khurana, D., Koli, A., Khatter, K. and Singh, S. (2023). Natural language processing: state of the art, current trends and challenges. Multimedia tools and applications, 82(3), pp.3713-3744. Lenth, R. (2023. Emmeans: estimated marginal means, aka least-squares means. R package version 1.8.4-1. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=emmeans. Lerner, A.L. (1999). A strategic planning primer for higher education.  https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.498.7012&rep=rep1&type  =pdf Mallon, W.T. (2019). Does strategic planning matter? Academic Medicine 94(10): 1408-1411. Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning. Harvard Business Review 72(1): 107-114. Moran, B.B. (1985). Strategic planning in higher education. ACRL College and Research Libraries News 46(6): 288-292. Morphew, C.C., Fumasoli, T., & Stensaker, B. (2018). Changing missions? How the strategic plans of research-intensive universities in Northern Europe and North America balance competing identities. Studies in Higher Education 43(6): 1074-1088. Ozdem, G. (2011). An analysis of the mission and vision statements on the strategic plans of higher education institutions. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 11(4): 1887-1894. Presley, J.B. & Leslie, D.W. (1999). Understanding strategy: an assessment of theory and              practice. In: Smart, J.C. and Tierney, W.G. (eds), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research 13:201-239. Agathon Press, Bronx, NY. R Core Team. (2022). R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria.  https://www.r-project.org/ Rowley, D.J., Lujan, H.D., & Dolence, M.G. (1997). Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco. Rumelt, R. (2011). "The perils of bad strategy." McKinsey Quarterly 1(3): 1-10. Yeager, J.L., El-Ghali, H.A., & Kumar, S. (2013). A guide to the development of an institutional strategic plan. Organization and Administration of Higher Education 2013: 127-147. Zechlin, L. (2010). Strategic planning in higher education. International Encyclopedia of  Education 4: 256-263. Zimmerman, S. (2024). An Investigation of Crisis on Higher Education Strategic Planning and Execution. Dissertation. Regent University. Virginia Beach, Virginia. Zinkan, R., Hosemann, A., & LaGrange, C. (2021). What makes a strategic plan strategic?  https://www.rhb.com/strategic-planning/ https://doi.org/10.24052/IJHEM/V12N01/ART-1 https://ijhem.com/cdn/article_file/2026-01-08-09-20-03-AM.pdf Brent M. Graves Fritz J. Erickson Strategic Planning Higher Education Administration Management 1140 12 1

114 https://ijhem.com/details&cid=114 2026-02-04 This study critically examines the efficacy of a curated eco-visual literacy intervention designed to mediate student affective engagement with climate related phenomena in higher education. A mixed methods case study of 80 students, considered representative, evaluated a six month innovation in a Digital Photography module. The instructional sequence combined curated viewing, contextualisation, facilitated dialogue and creative practice to support engagement with the environmental rhetoric of photographers, including apocalyptic narratives and dystopic visions. Qualitative evidence from reflective journals and multimodal creative artefacts was integrated with an anonymous post programme survey to generate contextual insights into meaning making and perceived agency. Analysis indicates that visceral portrayals of industrial degradation initially elicited shock and melancholia. As students moved from passive viewing to structured discussion and solution focused reframing, responses shifted towards empowerment. Participants translated climate induced distress into persuasive works of visual advocacy. Survey responses from 72 students complemented these accounts, with 90 per cent reporting increased motivation for sustainable behavioural change. Overall, the findings suggest that mediation of affect, rather than unstructured exposure to distressing environmental content, can reframe climate anxiety as a catalyst for creative action and environmental advocacy. The study highlights implications for higher education, showing that embedding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, known as the SDGs, within core curricula may support student wellbeing and position institutions as leaders in sustainability education. Finally, it proposes a framework for analytic and pedagogical transferability, emphasising that faculty supported engagement with emotionally complex content can foster global citizenship. Abdellatif, H. (2022). Environmental education through shocking photos: An innovative way of creating environmental awareness. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(7), 4044–4057. https://journalppw.com/index.php/jpsp/article/view/12094 Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Climate Outreach. (2016, January 25). Climate Visuals: Seven principles for visual climate change communication [Report]. https://climateoutreach.org/reports/climate-visuals-seven-principles-for-visual-climate-change-communication/ Farnsworth, B. E. (2011). Conservation photography as environmental education: Focus on the pedagogues. Environmental Education Research, 17(6), 769–787. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.618627 Fetters, M. D., Curry, L. A., & Creswell, J. W. (2013). Achieving integration in mixed methods designs—Principles and practices. Health Services Research, 48(6 Pt 2), 2134–2156. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12117 Frist Art Museum. (2012). Edward Burtynsky: The industrial sublime [Exhibition]. https://fristartmuseum.org/exhibition/edward-burtynsky-the-industrial-sublime/ Harrison, H., Birks, M., Franklin, R., & Mills, J. (2017). Case study research: Foundations and methodological orientations. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 18(1), Article 19. https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2655/4079 Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863–e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3 Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689806298224 Kander, N. (2010). Yangtze: The long river. Hatje Cantz. Khalaim, O., & Budziszewska, M. (2024). “It should not only be technical education.” Students’ climate anxiety experiences and expectations toward university education in three European universities. The Journal of Environmental Education, 55(4), 308–323. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2024.2339824 O’Neill, S., & Nicholson-Cole, S. (2009). “Fear won’t do it”: Promoting positive engagement with climate change through visual and iconic representations. Science Communication, 30(3), 355–379. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547008329201 Papadopoulou, A. (2018). Art Didactics and Creative Technologies: No Borders to Reform and Transform Education.  In Daniela, L. (Ed.). Didactics of Smart Pedagogy (pp.159-178). Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-01551-0. Papadopoulou, A. (2019). Art, Technology, Education: Synergy of Modes, Means, Tools of Communication. Educ. Sci. 9 (3), 237; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030237 Pihkala, P. (2020). Eco-anxiety and environmental education. Sustainability, 12(23), 10149. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310149 Ray, S. J. (2016). Environmental justice, vital materiality, and the toxic sublime in Edward Burtynsky’s Manufactured Landscapes. GeoHumanities, 2(1), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566X.2016.1167615 Rome, A. (2003). “Give Earth a Chance”: The environmental movement and the 1960s. Journal of American History, 90(2), 525–554. https://doi.org/10.2307/3659443 Surfrider Foundation. (2012, June 26). Fly or die – with Chris Jordan [Interview]. https://www.surfrider.org/news/chris-jordan-interview UNESCO. (2020). Education for sustainable development: A roadmap. https://doi.org/10.54675/YFRE1448 https://doi.org/10.24052/IJHEM/V12N01/ART-2 https://ijhem.com/cdn/article_file/2026-02-06-11-09-40-AM.pdf Dimitra Gounari Agnes Papadopoulou Affective engagement Climate anxiety Eco-visual literacy Sustainability education Visual pedagogy 761 6 0

115 https://ijhem.com/details&cid=115 2026-02-04 This study investigates the impact of relational coordination (RC) on student satisfaction in higher education. It aims to identify which dimensions of RC—communication and relational ties—most significantly influence students' perceived satisfaction. A stratified random sample of 593 university students was surveyed between December 2024 and February 2025. The questionnaire, based on an adapted RC model, included 18 items measuring communication and relational ties with lecturers, peers, administrative staff, and student representatives. Satisfaction was assessed using a Likert scale. Factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory) was conducted using principal axis factoring and promax rotation, supported by reliability tests (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.7). Results/findings: Five key factors were identified: (1) RC with administrative staff, (2) RC with lecturers, (3) RC with student representatives, (4) RC with peers, and (5) perceived quality improvement. RC with administrative staff explained the highest variance (15.6%), followed by RC with lecturers (10.3%). The confirmatory model showed a good fit (p < 0.001), confirming the relevance of these dimensions to overall student satisfaction. Findings suggest that improving communication and relational ties - especially with administrative staff and lecturers - can significantly enhance student satisfaction. Universities should simplify administrative processes, ensure staff availability, and foster mutual respect and shared goals among all stakeholders. These measures can lead to more effective interactions and better educational outcomes. Relational coordination is a critical determinant of student satisfaction in higher education. Strengthening RC dimensions can guide universities in designing organizational practices that promote efficient communication, inclusive relationships, and tailored support for diverse student profiles. Future research should expand the sample across institutions and timeframes to validate and generalise these findings. Bandalos, D.L. & Finney, S.J. (2018) ‘Factor analysis: Exploratory and confirmatory’, in Hancock, G.R., Stapleton, L.M. & Mueller, R.O. (eds.) The reviewer’s guide to quantitative methods in the social sciences. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 98–122. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315755649 Checa, C., De-Pablos-Heredero, C., Torres, Y.G., Montes-Botella, J.L., Barba, C. & García, A. (2020) ‘Focused coordination models towards sustainability in higher education: Case of Quevedo State Technical University (Ecuador)’, Sustainability, 12(14), p. 5760. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145760 Checa, C. (2023) Relación entre la coordinación relacional y la satisfacción en educación superior. Análisis comparado. PhD thesis, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid. Available at: https://burjcdigital.urjc.es/items/aad54244-8178-4d78-a791-fe362034e340 Gallego Sánchez, M.C., De-Pablos-Heredero, C., Medina-Merodio, J.-A., Robina-Ramírez, R. & Fernandez-Sanz, L. (2021) ‘Relationships among relational coordination dimensions: Impact on the quality of education online with a structural equations model’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 166, p. 120608. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120608 Gittell, J.H. (2002) ‘Coordinating mechanisms in care provider groups: Relational coordination as a mediator and input uncertainty as a moderator of performance effects’, Management Science, 48(11), pp. 1408–1426. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.48.11.1408.268 Gittell, J.H., Seidner, R. & Wimbush, J. (2010) ‘A relational model of how high-performance work systems work’, Organization Science, 21(2), pp. 490–506. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0446 Haider, S., De-Pablos-Heredero, C. & De-Pablos-Heredero, M. (2020) ‘A three-wave longitudinal study of moderated mediation between high-performance work systems and employee job satisfaction: The role of relational coordination and peer justice climate’, Frontiers in Psychology, 11. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00792 Havens, D.S., Gittell, J.H. & Vasey, J. (2018) ‘Impact of relational coordination on nurse job satisfaction, work engagement and burnout’, JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 48(3), pp. 132–140. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1097/nna.0000000000000587 Margalina, V.M., De-Pablos-Heredero, C. & Montes-Botella, J.L. (2015) ‘Achieving quality in e-learning through relational coordination’, Studies in Higher Education, 42(9), pp. 1655–1670. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1113953 https://doi.org/10.24052/IJHEM/V12N01/ART-3 https://ijhem.com/cdn/article_file/2026-02-06-11-09-58-AM.pdf Carmen De-Pablos-Heredero Miguel Ángel Morales-Moya Mónica Santos-Cebrián Communication higher education mutual respect relational coordination satisfaction students 836 8 0