This paper examines the use of environmental scanning for institutions of higher education to achieve the following objectives: (1) provide early warning of changes that will have an impact on education; (2) define potential threats and opportunities to the institution or department; (3) promote a future orientation in faculty; and (4) alert faculty to trends that are converging/diverging, speeding up/slowing down. The following phases of scanning process are discussed: formation of a scanning team; the search for and selection of information resources to scan, the initiation of scanning and the establishment of a record-keeping system, analysis and reporting of results, and determination of the special actions to be taken based on the scanning results. Attached are several documents that can be used in environmental scanning, including a sample keyword checklist and a form for recording a summary of information found. (Contains 15 resources.) (GLR)