Concordia College Strategic Planning Update Situation Analysis

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Concordia CollegeStrategic Planning
UpdateSituation Analysis
Dr. Pamela Jolicoeur presented to Faculty Nov.
29, 2004
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(No Transcript)
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Assessment of Concordias Market
Position S.W.O.T. Analysis
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Threats

• Enrollment
• Public view of education as a commodity
• Orientation of pool toward publics
• Shrinking pool in traditional recruiting area
• Changing profile of admissions pool
• NDSU/UND aggressive promotion publics co-opting
  of Concordias message
• Identity confusion with Concordia University
  system
• name, logo, reputation
• Economic uncertainty (philanthropy, parental
  concerns about affordability)
• Affordability threatened by state and federal aid
  programs

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Opportunities

• Potential growth in the Twin Cities market
• Underclaimed niches in the traditional market
• Fargo-Moorhead area
• Lutheran students
• Concordia Language Villages
• Low interest rate environment
• Potential for greater auxiliary enterprises
  income
• Location - growing metro area, lack of other
  privates in proximity
• Potential for non-traditional programs

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Strengths

• Connection to the church
• Quality of teaching in a liberal arts setting
• Sense of community and shared mission
• Strategic program strengths
• music
• the sciences
• international education
• Financial health/debt capacity
• Concordia Language Villages national reputation

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Weaknesses

• Unclear identity - liberal vs. professional
  education
• Perception gap - Concordias strengths vs.
  interest of potential students
• Insufficiently strong academic reputation vis a
  vis our competitors
• Alumni participation rate under 30
• Endowment insufficient to support level of
  operations and size of student body
• Need for improvement in facilities
• Campus Center
• Ivers/Jones Science
• Library
• 7. Net tuition revenue insufficient to sustain
  high quality programming

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Values

• The dialog between faith and reason
• Academic excellence
• Liberal arts education
• Commitment to our region
• Community and diversity
• Involvement
• Service
• Tradition
• Hospitality

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Central Planning Issue

• Clarity of Concordias identity and aspirations
  as an academic institution

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Concordias Markets
Geographic Fargo-Moorhead Corporate
Territory Twin Cities
Demographic Foci Males Minority
Students Lutherans
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A Tale of Two MarketsHardwick-Day Analysis
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Methodology

• 2004 Image/Visibility Study
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•     5th wave of this project repeated at 4-year
  intervals
•    blind, written survey of college bound
  students conducted summer before sr. year
•    829 responses spread across six market
  segments in MN, ND, MT
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• Price Sensitivity Study
• preceded by six focus groups in Twin Cities,
  Alexandria, and Bismarck
• phone surveys conducted Aug./Sept. 2004
• admitted Concordia students
• parents of admitted students
• enrolled and withdrawn segments

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MARKET AWARENESS OF CONCORDIA COLLEGE Among
Rising High School Seniors
HardwickDay
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SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS OF AREA COLLEGES Among Twin
Cities Rising High School Seniors
HardwickDay
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SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS OF AREA COLLEGES Among Twin
Cities Rising High School Seniors
HardwickDay
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SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS OF CONCORDIA COLLEGE Among
Twin Cities Rising High School Seniors
HardwickDay
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SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS OF AREA COLLEGES Among
Concordia Corporate Area Rising High School
Seniors
HardwickDay
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SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS OF AREA COLLEGES Among
Concordia Corporate Area Rising High School
Seniors
HardwickDay
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SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS OF CONCORDIA COLLEGE Among
Corporate Rising High School Seniors
HardwickDay
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StamatsProspective Student Survey Results
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Objectives and Methods

• Objectives
• To determine Concordia Colleges awareness and
  perception among traditional-aged prospective
  students. This data will be used to help refine
  communication key messages for this audience.
• Methods
• A total of 377 completed telephone surveys were
  analyzed
• 227 from Minnesota
• 50 from Montana
• 50 from North Dakota
• 50 from all other states
• Active lead list provided by Concordia
  CollegeMoorhead
• Fieldwork, data entry, and analysis conducted by
  Stamats
• Sampling error 4.98 at 95 confidence level
• Survey questions were blind on the onset,
  Concordia-specific about halfway through

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Demographic Overview of Respondents

• Snapshot of the 377 prospective student
  respondents (high school juniors)
• Gender 78 female 22 male
• ACT 32 of respondents have taken the ACT
• Mean score 25
• Ethnicity 94 White or Caucasian 2 Asian or
  Pacific Islander 2 mixedno dominant race 1
  Black or African American 1 other
• Religious preference (top 7) 51 Lutheran 16
  Catholic 15 no preference 4 Christian 3
  Baptist 2 Methodist 2 nondenominational
• Major (top 5) 24 undecided 9 pre-med 7
  business administration and management 3
  counseling 3 education, elementary 3 nursing

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Geographic Distribution of Respondents
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Importance vs. Perception of Concordia
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Importance vs. Perception of Concordia
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Importance vs. Perception of Concordia
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Describe Concordia CollegeMoorhead(Top 7)
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Concordia College is Best Known for(Top 5)
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Biggest Advantage of Attending Concordia(Top 7)
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Biggest Disadvantage of Attending Concordia(Top
6)
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Key Message Recommendations to Build Relevance

• Build key messages around the top college choice
  characteristics that you need to build
  perceptions around and the characteristics
  identified in the tree analysis as motivators to
  apply
• The difference between public and private,
  church-related higher education
• Preparation for career, post-graduate
  professional study
• Quality of major or program, academic excellence
• Good value for the cost (financial aid,
  scholarship, experience, outcomes)
• Leadership opportunities

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Next Steps in Planning

• Identify areas for strategic initiatives
• Flesh out and prioritize them
• Identify funding needs and incorporate into
  budget plan
• Assign responsibility and deadlines

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(No Transcript)