College of San Mateo
Office of Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness
Revised: December 12, 2011
Glossary of Planning Terms
Educational Master Plan: A part of the college’s Master Plan that defines the
education goals of the college as well as the current and future curriculum to
achieve those goals. The educational master plan precedes and guides the
facilities master plan.
(Maas & Companies)
Facilities Master Plan: The Facilities Master Plan is an inventory and evaluation
(condition /life span) of all owned facilities (the site, buildings, equipment,
systems). It identifies regulations impacting those facilities and deficiencies and
defines a plan to correct those deficiencies. It also identifies the adequacy,
capacity and use of those facilities, deficiencies of those criteria and defines a
plan of correction. It draws on information contained in the educational master
plan. (Maas & Companies)
Goal: A long term organizational target or direction of development. It states
what the organization wants to accomplish or become of the next several years.
Goals provide the basis for decisions about the nature, scope, and relative
priorities of all projects and activities. Everything the organization does should
help it move toward attainment of one or more goals. (Bryson, 1996).
Master Plan: An extensive planning document which covers all functions of the
college or district. Master plans typically contain a statement of purpose, an
analysis of the community and its needs, enrollment and economic projections
for the community, current educational program information and other services
in relation to their future requirements, educational targets and the strategies
and current resources to reach those targets and a comprehensive plan of
action and funding. (Maas & Companies)
Milestone: A significant date or event during the execution of a project—often
associated with the end of a phase or subphase. (Bryson, 1996).
Mission statement: A statement of organizational purpose. (Bryson, 1996).
Momentum points: Measurable educational attainments, such as completing a
college-level math class, that are empirically correlated with the completion of
a milestone. Milestone and momentum point data help to illuminate patterns of
student progress and achievement, (Leinbach, 2008)
Objectives:
1. They can be defined as a “measurable target that must be met on the way to
attaining a goal” (Bryson, 1996).
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College of San Mateo
Office of Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness
Revised: December 12, 2011
2. Effective objectives are said to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic and Time-related) (Drucker, 1954).
3. Objectives require a deliverable by which the attainment of the Objective can
be determined. (Irvine Valley College).
Planning Assumptions: Interpretations of the planning environment as it relates to the
college’s goals. They are derived from research and carry policy implications. These
implications becomes challenges, issues, and targets to which the college needs to
respond through its Objectives.
(Irvine Valley College)
Performance Measure: A means of objectively assessing the results of programs,
products, projects, or services.
Stakeholders: Any person, group or organization that can place a claim on the
organization’s attention, resources, or output or is affected by the output.
Strategy: The means by which an organization intends to accomplish a goal or
objective, it summarizes a pattern across policies, programs, projects, actions, decisions,
resource allocation.” (Bryson, 1996).
Strategic Planning: An organization’s process of defining its strategy or direction in
making decisions about allocating resources to pursue this strategy.
It is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and
guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it
(Bryson, 1996).
Strategy Formulation:
1) a set of decisions that are designed to create a competitive advantage in order
to achieve an organization’s goals and objectives (Pearce and Robinson, 2000)
2) refers to both the decision making processes and outcomes that colleges. . .
employ to align or fit their mission with their position in the marketplace (the
environment) given the limited resources and capabilities of their internal systems
(Lawrence and Lorsch, 1969)
Values statement: A description of a code of behavior (in relation to employees, other
key stakeholders, and society at large) to which an organization adheres or aspires.
(Bryson, 1996).
Vision statement: A description of what an organization will look like if succeeds in
implementing its strategies and achieves its full potential.
(Bryson, 1996).
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