Analysis of the Strategic Planning Systems as Academic Suppor for the Major of Natural Resource Management at Universidad Estatal a Distancia

Abstract

This article describes an exploratory qualitative study with a comparative documental analysis of the mission statement of  Distance State University of Costa Rica (UNED, for its acronym in Spanish), the School of Exact and Natural Sciences as well as the major of Naural Resource Management. The purpose was to know the correspondence between the learning objectives stated in each of the institutional hieararchical levels in light of the mission statements of the parties involved. To review the consulted documents, the researcher used theOrganizatoinal Element Model (OEM) proposed by Kaufman, Watkins and Leigh (2001), in which the actions of the mega, macro, and micro and operational levels of an educational organization are examined. This type of administrative tools make it possible to visualize the existing gap between what is stated in the mission statement of the managerial levels and what is done in the subsequent hierarchical levels of the organization. Additionally, the study was complemented by a comparison of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of the organization to indentify possible actions to bring about change in the planning management towards a culture that links teaching, outreach, and research. The findings evidence a series of weaknesses in the academic and administrative management proposals with regard to the basis for strategic plannic such as stating a mission, which deals with decision-making and structural changes that affect the quality of the teaching/learning processes in the program of the manjor of Natural Resource Management.