SPRING 2005 STRATEGIC PLANNING SURVEY (SWOT)

Summary of Responses from

Alumni, Parents, Faculty, Staff, and Community Advisory Focus Groups

  1. What are the top 3 things that FAU does well?

Response from Alumni

 Provides a quality education (64)

 Employs excellent, high caliber faculty (48)

 Enriches and serves as a strong resource for the community by providing lifelong learning, educational accessibility to working adults and community service (47)

 Maintains multiple campuses to accommodate a large geographic area (24)

 Offers a large variety of programs/majors/courses (21)

 Makes higher education available at a reasonable cost (19)

“A great choice of academic programs in various disciplines.”

“Operates as a continuous learning organization.”

“Provides lifelong learning for older adults.”

“Excellent education at an affordable price.”

Response from Parents

 Communication and information sharing from the Director of Retention to parents (21)

 Excellent Freshman Orientation Program (8)

 Offers wide variety of majors and courses (8)

 Dedicated professors (5)

“Keeps parents well informed about student progress.” ** specifically referring Dr. Jennifer Bebergal, Director, Office of Retention

Response from Faculty

 Offers expanding upper and lower division quality education (36)

 Provides a wide geographic distribution of programs thru distributed campuses (28)

 Outreach to local communities through service programs and partnering to leverage resources with organizations, businesses and community colleges (26)

 Hires caring and dedicated faculty and researchers (24)

 Embraces diversity in student population, faculty and degree programs (21)

 Offers life long learning programs and makes education accessible to working adults and non- traditional students (16)

“Diversity of student population.”

“Provides a second chance for non-traditional students.”

NOTE: It was disappointing to find 8 faculty respondents provide sarcastic, cynical answers to the question, “What are the top 3 things that FAU does well?” Examples:

 cut money from needed programs  screw over adjuncts  following Republican agenda dictated from Tallahassee procrastinate, irritate and frustrate  make sure administrators salaries are near the top give kickbacks to Board of Trustees members give parking tickets  generate profits for food franchise holders

Response from Staff

 Offers a large variety of programs/majors/courses (27)

 Provides a quality education to traditional and non-traditional students (26)

 Promotes excellent community outreach by providing cultural activities, life long learning, and partnering with the community on services, programs and research (26)

 Promotes and accommodates diversity of students, faculty, and staff in age, gender and ethnicity (26)

 Multi campus locations service a broad geographic area (21)

 Attracts and retains high quality, dedicated staff and faculty (19)

 Offers affordable education at a reasonable cost (12)

Provides excellent employment benefits (9)

“Can offer diversity of experience and expression of ideas.”

“Offers a great variety of educational programs.”

“FAU provides great benefits for employees.”

Response from Community Advisory Focus Groups

  • Provides accessible, high quality, low-cost education

Shows commitment to and concern for the community by offering lifelong learning and continuing education programs

Meets needs of community by offering varied and preeminent degrees and programs (i.e., Ocean Engineering, Motion Picture Industry)

Offers class schedules well-suited to commuter and employed students.

2+2 partnerships with Palm Beach Community College, Broward Community College and Indian River Community College

Partnerships well with community, industry, research centers (i.e., Scripps)

Maintains excellent leadership personnel

Response from Student Focus Groups

  • Diversity of student body, enriches FAU experience
  • Location
  • Accessibility due to partner campus structure
  • Class size
  • Level of interaction with faculty
  • Quality of interaction with staff, close-knit communities on partner campuses
  • Articulation agreements with community colleges, partner campus proximity to community colleges to share resources

2.What should FAU preserve at all costs?

Response from Alumni

  • Excellent Professors, Educational Quality (39)
  • Nature/Owl Habitat, Campus Grounds, Green Areas, Tropical Landscape, Nature Preserve (13)
  • Affordability/Value, High-Quality, Low Cost (12)
  • Athletics, Football, Baseball, Club Sports, Head Football Coach(12)
  • Academic Programs, MBA Program, Specific Programs(12)
  • MBA program in Fort Lauderdale (especially Sports Management), Medical School Partnership, Nursing, Engineering-Marine/Ocean, Biomedical Sciences-Take advantage of presence of Scripps.
  • Academic Standards (11)
  • Class size, faculty accessibility, reasonable size (10)
  • Campus structure, partner campuses (8)
  • Owl Mascot (5)

Response from Parents

  • Communication with Parents, Student and Parent access to upper administration(4)
  • Academic standards, high standards for achievement(2)
  • Affordable education, keep tuition affordable(2)
  • Small size (2)
  • Diverse student body. Intermingling of cultures (2)
  • Diverse courses, diverse course offerings (2)

“Small size.” “Keep class size small whenever possible, with student teacher ratio as low as fiscally viable”

Response from Faculty

  • Quality of Instruction, Academic Integrity, Standards (14)
  • Diversity, Diverse student body (6)
  • “Student first” orientation, making students the primary focus, caring atmosphere for students, respect for students, meeting the needs of students (6)
  • Nature habitats, green areas on campus, owl and turtle sanctuaries (5)
  • Small class size (5)
  • HonorsCollege, and small class size and student-faculty ratio at HonorsCollege(4)
  • Liberal Arts Core, status of liberal arts in education. (4)

“broad range of programs, inc. fine arts, social sciences, liberal arts – don’t drain these programs in favor of medicine, nursing, engineering, business, etc.”

Response from Staff

  • Partner campus structure, accessibility, opportunity for all, including non-traditional students (16)
  • Academic integrity, academic quality (13)
  • Owl burrows, tortoise habitat, nature preserves on campus (9)
  • Small class sizes, small school feel, personal touch, quality service, first year experience, retention initiatives, student focus, strong student affairs division to support focus. (9)
  • Owl Mascot (6)
  • Academic Programs, Humanities Departments, Ocean Engineering at Seatech. Programs in College of Education, High Caliber Nursing and Business Programs, degree programs meeting societal demand (5)
  • Community Outreach, Ties to surrounding communities (4)

Response from Community Advisory Focus Groups

  • Academic excellence

Lifelong learning

Educational accessibility for northern Palm BeachCounty residents

3.Who are FAU’s Chief Competitors?

Response from Alumni

FloridaInternationalUniversity (144)

 Nova Southeastern University (84)

University of Florida (71)

University of Miami (70)

University of CentralFlorida (68)

FloridaStateUniversity (56)

University of SouthFlorida (36)

LynnUniversity (28)

 Community colleges – BCC, PBCC (23)

BarryUniversity (22)

 On-line universities, i.e., University of Phoenix (20)

“The question should be – who is our competition nationwide, not just in the Southeastern part of Florida. We must think bigger. … If we see FIU, Nova, BCC PBCC, etc. as our main competition, then we will perform at that level. We must assume UF, FSU, UM, etc. are the schools we are up against in Florida – and if we want to move forward and become a top-tier program – we need to compete with the best in the nation.”

Response from Parents

FloridaInternationalUniversity (9) FloridaStateUniversity (9) University of Florida (9)

University of CentralFlorida (8)

University of SouthFlorida (6)

“Residential campus focused universities like FloridaState or University of Florida verses commuter campus. They are better attractor to most high school seniors. There is a strong desire from this group to emerge themselves in a residential campus environment or “college town.”

Response from Faculty

FloridaInternationalUniversity (65)

 Nova Southeastern University (56)

University of Central Florida (32) and University of Florida (31)

University of Miami (23) and FloridaStateUniversity (21)

BarryUniversity (16)

 All Florida local community colleges (13)

University of South Florida (12) and LynnUniversity (12)

 On-line universities, i.e., University of Phoenix (11)

“For the poorly prepared, and/or geographically bound students we overwhelmingly attract, we face little if any competition.”

“There are no serious competitors, which is why FAU has grown so quickly and with so few demands for quality, effectiveness, thoughtfulness or common sense…”

“We lack the quality and reputation to be competitive outside of our region.”

Response from Staff

FloridaInternationalUniversity (65)

 Nova Southeastern University (53)

University of CentralFlorida (31)

University of Florida (23)

FloridaStateUniversity (14) University of South Florida (14) University of Miami (14)

Palm BeachCommunity College (13)

 All Florida local community colleges (12)

 On-line universities, i.e., University of Phoenix (12)

BarryUniversity (10)

Response from Community Advisory Focus Groups

  • The University of Phoenix and other distance education providers

FloridaInternationalUniversity

Nova Southeastern University

University of CentralFlorida

University of SouthFlorida

Palm BeachCommunity College

(NOTE: Many expressed concern about other universities, mainly UCF, FIU and UF, encroaching on our service area and attracting students away from FAU. They felt FAU should offer programs that other universities do not.)

Response from Student Focus Groups

  • FIU, UCF, USF

UF, FSU

Other SUS institutions

Other private institutions (BarryUniversity, St. ThomasUniversity)

Community Colleges

Distance learning providers/On-line programs

  • For-profit schools (i.e., Kaplan)

4.What does FAU do better than its competitors?

Response from Alumni

  • Flexibility of course offerings, time and location, opportunities for non-traditional students (39)
  • Affordability, cost of tuition, value (30)
  • Location (19)
  • Academic programs:Engineering, Business (Accounting), Biomed, Education, Ocean Engineering (13)
  • Small class size, small school feeling (11)
  • Sports Programs – Improvement (8)
  • Lifelong learning (4)

Response from Parents

  • Campus setting, safe environment, ease of getting around (4)
  • Personal, personable, friendly, helpful. (4)
  • Location, accessibility throughout BrowardCounty(3)
  • Tuition, good economic value. Offers a wide variety of curriculum at a fair cost. (3)
  • Dorms, dorm layout (2)

“My daughter feels totally at home on campus, she has never felt lost or alone or scared…….awesome!”,

“More appealing campus setting”, “Campus is ‘walkable’ and easy to learn.”

“Smaller size makes students feel an integral part of the school.”

“Offers a smaller school atmosphere with more individualized attention.”

Responsefrom Faculty

  • Low cost, quality education (22)
  • Partner campus access (11)
  • Quality Professors, Instruction (10)
  • Diverse offerings, specialized programs (8)
  • Student access to faculty members, good interaction, faculty involvement in classroom teaching (7)
  • Quality academic programs (6)

Response from Staff

  • Access, multiple campuses, location (22)
  • Tuition/Cost (17)
  • Small class size, personal service to students, student care, personal environment, good faculty-staff relations (11)
  • Access for non-traditional students, flexibility (4)

Response from Community Advisory Focus Groups

  • Colleges of Business and Education are better at FAU than other schools.

Partnership with Scripps

Unique programs (i.e., Harbor Branch, Motion Picture Industry)

Response from Student Focus Groups

  • FAU is convenient to work and go to school.

FAU is attractive due to distributed campus structure.

FAU does provide good financial aid

FAU is more affordable than schools in other parts of the country.

5.What does the competition do better, that FAU should be doing?

Response from Alumni

  • Promotions, marketing/advertising, recognition, public relations (39)
  • Traditional campus environment, campus activities, campus housing, dorms, fraternity and sorority houses (26)
  • Athletics, larger following, better school spirit, rivalries, more established programs, recruiting, facilities (20)
  • Attract and keep better faculty, better faculty pay, better staff pay (13)
  • Cater to working adults, flexibility, weekend/evening classes (9)
  • Prepare students for workforce, more practical curriculum (5)

Response from Parents

  • Promote itself to high schools, school districts, prospective students, recruit students (7)
  • Traditional campus life, campus activities, student involvement, clubs, less commuter oriented. More choices for food on campus. (3)
  • Management of campus housing, assignment of housing (2)

Response from Faculty

  • Public relations, advertising, promotions, recruiting (18)
  • Flexibility & variety of schedules and course delivery, meeting non-traditional student needs (13)
  • Student services, more personal attention to students (advising, admissions, registration). (10)
  • More competitive faculty & staff salaries (8)
  • Higher academic/admissions standards, attract better students (8)

“Streamlined service at convenient times and locations”

Response from Staff

  • Public relations, advertising/marketing (14)
  • Distance Education, On-line courses, use of technology, registration, etc. (14)
  • Traditional campus atmosphere, campus environment, housing. (9)
  • Customer service (5)

Response from Community Advisory Focus Groups

  • Marketing and PR (some felt competitors do better, some felt FAU does better).

Some competitors (i.e., UCF) offer a younger mind-set student body and more dorms creating a more traditional college atmosphere.

Response from Student Focus Groups

  • For lower division courses community colleges are more affordable.

Offer need based aid. At FAU some students cannot afford to buy books.

Private institutions are more prestigious.

FAU is not a prestigious choice for graduate school, only an alternative if students are not admitted to choice schools.

  1. What 3 things should FAU address immediately?

Response from Alumni

 Promote school identity/marketing (51)

 Scheduling – more class/time selections, course variety, on-line availability, instructors (33)

 Increase salaries (28)

 Raise admission standards (18)

 Advance athletic programs and facilities (18)

 Increase on-campus, off-campus and Greek housing (17)

 Raise/retain quality academic standards (15)

 Parking deficiencies (14)

 Traffic flow, access from major roads and internal/external congestion (13)

 Build football stadium (12)

 Hire/retain good faculty/staff (12)

“Image as a serious, achievement-oriented academic institution.”

“Market FAU outside of PBC and Florida.”

Response from Parents

 Better communication to develop better customer service (13)

 Quality/availability of food service (8)

 Improve campus life/increase activities (8)

 Increase security/safety (hurricane preparedness, lighting, etc.) (8)

 Expand/improve housing (4)

“User friendliness of registration and administration.”

“Get more info to high schools in Central and North Florida.”

Response from Faculty

 Increase salaries and number of faculty (35)

 Increase physical facilities and improve cleanliness/maintenance (22)

 Raise academic standards (20)

 Improve internal and external communication (19)

 Improve fund raising (14)

 Raise admissions standards (13)

 Develop more effective advertising/marketing (12)

 Increase course offerings (11)

 More scheduling availability (7)

“Understand that retention is 75% about who you admit.”

“Make community colleges prove students learned.”

Response from Staff

 Expand course offerings/programs/availability (25)

 Customer service (24)

 Traffic/parking/signage improvement (21)

 Communication (20)

 Increase salaries/benefits/opportunities (14)

 Campus/building cleanliness (14)

 Add new/increase size of old facilities (classrooms, stadium, library, etc.) (13)

 Raise admissions standards/recruitment/retention (13)

 Quality of academics (11)

“Design a mandatory course unique to FAU for freshmen.”

“Get people to buy-in to unified message and image.”

Response from Community Advisory Focus Groups

  • Change “Boca centered” focus and promote knowledge of Broward and Northern campuses.

Create strong Research I presence to attract more high tech companies.

Increase job-shadowing and internship opportunities and interaction with area businesses.

Begin recruitment/awareness earlier (elementary school) and host SAT prep courses

Provide more employment opportunities for HonorsCollege students (Jupiter)

Allow BrowardCounty campuses to serve a pilot program lifting the campus housing restriction on a test basis.

Response from Student Focus Groups

  • Improve availability of courses on partner campuses, especially required courses.

Student services on partner campuses (including health services, health insurance, intramural opportunities on partner campuses).

 Food service. Quality of food service, flexibility on required meal plan purchase on Jupiter campus.

Parking.

  • Too much reliance on Boca Raton campus, partner campuses should have more resources.
  • Marketing/promoting programs and recruiting students.
  • Availability and quality of advising, especially freshman advising and partner campus advising.
  • Availability and quality of distance learning.
  • Too much emphasis on athletics.

7.What does FAU do poorly?

Response from Alumni

 Self-promotion, marketing and advertising (42)

 Needs to improve standards and focus on academic image in order to attract higher quality students (21)

 Career services, job placement and advising (17)

 Does not create a traditional on-campus life (17)

 Communication – with alumni, students, employees, faculty and the public (12)

 Physical plant: Many buildings, classrooms, faculty offices, restrooms, etc. are unclean and in ill-repair. (9)

“Market night courses as fun, educational, social and networking opportunities, aswell as for tools for advancing in corporate world.”

“Marketing. Get the word out about research and unique discoveries and assets atthis university.”

“FAU creates a poor experience for commuter students.”

Response from Parents

 Customer service – calls not returned (Advising); emails not responded to (Advising); improper or inconsistent information given by FAU employees (Advising and Financial Aid); and rude or inefficient employees (7)

 Food service – quality, repetitiveness of meals, and meal plans (4)

 Advising (3)

 Housing – availability, cost, maintenance, noise (3)

“The entire admissions process is very confusing. While trying to get some basic information about who to talk to, which office to go to, which form to submit, when to submit them, etc., my daughter and I were either misdirected, given improper instructions, or simply told ‘I don’t know’. …”

Response from Faculty

 Faculty salaries/retention/recruitment (24 )

 Internal and external communication/marketing/advertising (24)

 Promoting and retaining high academic standards (10)

 Spread resources too thin due to multiple campuses (9)

 Physical plant – cleanliness, maintenance, service (8)

“…I am dismayed at the lack of academic skills of some students, almost all of whom are transfers from community colleges. Some of these students are woefully unprepared for college, and they need more than a writing/tutoring center. They need extensive remedial work. We do a disservice to these students (and to their classmates and professors) by admitting them. I have spoken to other professors who experience the same problem. …On average, especially on the Davie campus, I can expect that 25% or more of my students can barely read and write. Many of these students are trying their best, but it’s a tremendous challenge when their academic skills are so poor. As a result, I have to “dumb down” my teaching…”