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Strategic Management:A Review of Siena Heights UniversityLori KosarueLDR660 Winter 2014Siena Heights UniversityAbstractOver the last 15 years, the market of higher education has undergone some drastic changes. Most changes can be linked back to shifts in the economy as many US workers found themselves without a job and back in school, thus increasing enrollment. For years a college degree has been considered the key to unlocking a successful job or career. But as the economy continues to shift, minimum wage increases, the cost of tuition increases and college students are left wondering if their degree will provide them the substantial return on investment that it once did. As the market continues to transition it is more important than ever for colleges and universities to develop strategic plans for their enrollment efforts. Strategic Management: A Review of Siena Heights UniversitySiena Heights University, a small private Catholic institution has much to offer its students, from a wide range of degree options to co-curricular activities and small class sizes. Yet Siena, like many private higher Ed. institutions, has been struggling with meeting their budgeted enrollment goals. One could say that it is a result of the times. The US economy was hit hard and we have been in a recession. Some could even suggest that the Federal Government has played a large role in the existence of private higher education. The Federal programs have been undergone many cuts over the past several years. The truth of the matter is any of these reasons could affect the future of the higher education market and that is why it is so important for institutional leaders to have strategic plans in place.Historically, Siena Heights University has been a tuition driven institution with 72% of its operating budget driven by the college of arts and sciences program (CAS). Controlling institutional costs is a challenge as the cost of doing business gets higher each year, the only way to cover the budget is to increase enrollment. During the last several years the enrollment of the CAS program has been overly dependent on the recruitment efforts from the athletic program, bringing in over 70% of the 2014 entering class. There is limited room for growth as the athletic programs are near or at capacity. If Siena does not implement a new enrollment strategy they will not meet the enrollment goals and could potentially find themselves losing money.In midyear of 2013, Siena hired a new Vice President of Enrollment Management. Shortly after the new VP arrived he noticed that changes would need to be made relatively quickly to insure optimal net revenue for the future. Many changes have already taken place which includes reorganizing staff members, a geo-demographic study, prediction modeling reports, redesigning the recruitment territories, implementing retention management software, establishing a Strategic Enrollment Management Team (SEM) and task forces, as well as implementing a new financial aid awarding strategy. SWOTStrengthsPartnerships with K-12 institutions, community colleges and corporationsPositive reputation among the community – both internal and externalCampus characteristics that include: small class sizes, diverse student population, multiple campus locations which also include a total online programRankings:One of the top 25 “Most affordable Catholic colleges” in the US2014 Best Online Bachelor’s Program list#47 on the Best Online Program for Veterans listCreative writing program named one of the top programs in the nationMilitary friendly schoolMany co-curricular programs Ongoing campus developmentWeaknessesGraduation rankingRetentionLimited space and growth concernKnowledge of identityBrandingInternal system is filled with bad dataLimited name recognition outside primary marketSlow with decisions and changeOpportunitiesNew partnerships with other institutionsConsortium agreementsExpanding programsFundraising opportunities that will allow the university to renovate existing spacesPossible lease or ownership of the nearby buildingsIncrease brand recognition with new marketing campaignThreatThe development of competition universitiesFederal and State budget cutsLoan default rates for prior students affect Siena’s ability to use federal aidGrowing to quicklyOverall reputation of higher educationIt is clear to see that Siena Heights University has more positives than it does negatives however, if the weaknesses and threats are not managed than the impact of any of the negative aspects can be harmful to the institution’s enrollment success. According to Schoemaker, Krupp, and Howland, “Most organizations and leaders are poor at detecting ambiguous threats and opportunities on the periphery of their business” (page 131). They also state that “strategic thinkers question the status quo and challenge their own and others’ assumptions” (page 132). These may have been a few qualities that prior enrollment leaders have lacked and are important qualities for current leaders to possess.PESTELThe major factors that affect Siena Heights University in its current market are political, economic and legal. Current economic situations play a major role in the enrollment success of institutions. These situations include consumer spending habits, unemployment rates, interest rates, recession and disposable income. Sometimes these conditions do not affect an institution on a personal level, but they might have an effect on the competition. These failures and even successes of the competition have an impact on Siena’s enrollment. The government also plays a major role in higher education. In order to participate in the Federal Student Aid Programs institutions are required to collaborate with the DOE, Attorney General, and State government and follow laws and regulations.? Financial Aid Offices must demonstrate compliance and if any organization or individual knowingly or willingly violates regulations the entire institution becomes ineligible. Legislative changes affect how institutions operate as well as the amount of funding the organization and students receive. This funding is important in assisting most student afford higher education and most institutions in reaching a healthy enrollment goal.Cost leadership and the role of financial aid???Siena Heights was recently named one of the top 25 most affordable Catholic colleges in the US, but this ranking has not been enough to increase the demand. The CPS program at Siena uses financial aid to lower the net cost rather than charging a lower tuition price. Financial aid and pricing play a major role in influencing a student’s decision to enroll in a school. (Hossler 2000) This is also the first area that the new VP of Enrollment Management decided to focus on, and the first phase in coordinating enrollment success. The VP of Enrollment states, “The cornerstone of Siena Heights’ financial aid strategy will be its awarding matrix.” (Wolf, 2014) This matrix is based on segmenting financial aid based on geo-demography and core grade point averages. Geo-demography assists in identifying a family’s ability to pay as well as the perceived value of Siena for the students who fall within each matrix cell. The geo location of a family also assists the admissions representative with knowing how the family might react to the net price of the University. The overall matrix is a tool that calibrates discount and yield. The VP also suggests that, “Having a stronger yield translates into spending less recruitment dollars from the operating budget to meet the University’s primary market goals, producing a greater return on investment”. These are tools that are new to not only the admissions office but to Siena as a whole. From the information gathered, it appears that Siena’s TDR for the next few years might be higher than years past. This strategy will hopefully make students aware of the University thus increasing the market perception and hopefully the demand. Which will accomplish the goal of Siena Heights University being a more sought after school.Business strategyOnce the value and willingness to pay are stronger, Siena can slowly begin to reduce what they have to discount in order to attract students. At this stage the University will also be able to manipulate the market pool and enroll more high-ability students. While this stage is still many years out Siena must also remember to maintain its efforts to retain the students that they have.The retention efforts of Siena have also undergone an overhaul over the past year. The new VP of Enrollment quickly created an infrastructure that supports sustainable retention outcomes by redefining a current position as the chief retention officer to the Director of Student Retention, developing the student response team (SRT), and implementing a new retention management system (RMS) though the institution’s current software provider. These steps assist in coordinating the efforts throughout the university and focus on student success.Student success in terms of retention is not only defined as success in the class room but also success in juggling campus life and financial responsibilities associated with going to college. Siena kept this information in mind when designing and implementing the retention management software (RMS). While there are many students that have trouble academically and socially the majority of the students that are flagged for retention issues are the students with financial issues. The ultimate goal of any college or university’s retention efforts is to increase the graduation rate. Changes in financial aid can impact the retention efforts as federal, state and institutional aid policies change. (Hosler 2000) Students that are struggling academically also tend to find themselves in a financial hardship as they may lose scholarships do to not meeting the GPA renewal criteria. It is important for Siena to keep in mind that financial aid or the lack of aid influences a student’s decision to re-enroll. Differentiation It is important that Siena’s executive council members study the university’s internal resources, capabilities and activities prior to making decisions to move forward on a new project.? Take for example the implementation of the football program.? There was a lot of thought that went into building the program and the field.? Siena grew enrollment rather quickly by not only recruiting players but also cheer, dance and band members.? By building a performance stadium Siena is also able to host community activities which allows them to bring prospective students and families to campus.The downside to this decision is that the University might not have been ready for such a rapid increase in enrollment. The campus had space challenges prior to bring on the new program and last year the challenge was pushed to the extreme as the resident halls were over capacity. It is important for any higher education leaders to make sure that they have the ability to deliver what they are committing to do. (Harrison-Walker 2009) If Siena’s budget is built on 400 new students per academic year, it is important that they are able to house them both academically and residentially as this could have a negative impact on the strategic enrollment efforts. Siena is also contemplating the idea of becoming a test optional institution for the admissions acceptance. If one was to look at this decision strategically, based on the VRIO framework, this decision may appear to have a positive result. The decision is valuable in gaining a competitive edge and is extremely rare. Unfortunately it is not difficult or costly to imitate, therefore the competitive advantage that would be gained would only result in a temporary advantage. Moving forward it is important for Siena to come up with innovative ideas that will set them apart from their competition. Innovation, strategic entrepreneurship and diversificationSiena has made some progress in the years past implementing new programs and ways for student to complete their education. Siena has certainly been able to incorporate diversification in many of their past enrollment strategies. Over the past 15-20 years, Siena has branched into other areas of the education market.? They currently have the traditional undergraduate program, the TOL (totally online) program, the graduate program (both blended and TOL), the community college locations (aka. the degree completion centers), and the nursing program. They have managed to use the long tail concept quite well by expanding programs and building enrollment without having to worry about classroom space, however there is still room for growth.Another innovative idea that Siena has thrown around for a few years is offering more night and weekend classes. With the growing demand of the adult learner, Siena could possibly thrive in offering a community college like environment of learning for a four year degree. This strategic move would continue to use the long tail concept as most classroom space is not currently being occupied during the weekend and evening hours. This is also an area that the current competition is not focusing on and would not require additional residential space, which might just give Siena a competitive advantage. Alliances and networksHistorically Siena has signed many partnerships with local K-12 institutions. These partnerships have not only been good for the community but also for recruitment efforts within the primary market. Siena is also piloting a consortium project and starting to close the deal on an international exchange agreement. These alliances will hopefully promote what Siena has to offer and increase their market position.Strategic enrollment management strategy Under the leadership of the new Vice President of Enrollment Management, Siena Heights University shifted its enrollment strategy to become more strategically aligned. The new VP has quickly moved the practices to become more data driven and system oriented. He has also established many teams and focus groups that will allow the institution to become more forward thinking and integrated in its planning efforts. While tuition revenue is still the primary focus, the goal is now to have the “institution managing enrollment rather than the enrollment managing the institution”. Conclusion and personal take a waysI gathered more information that I could have imagined and am left feeling excited about what the future brings for Siena. Much of the information that I received came from the current VP of Enrollment Management. He suggested that moving forward it is important to build the infrastructure to put Siena in the right position to develop its strategic enrollment plan and create the conditions to manage the University’s enrollment, by doing so we will provide the necessary net revenue, enrollment diversity, and student profile to make Siena Heights University an institution of choice. The overall experience of this assignment and the class was very powerful. It is really enlightening to be able to take information from the text and directly relate it to areas of your career. Many changes have taken place over the last several years at Siena and I have been a part of a lot of them. While Siena has grown over the years, I am not entirely sure that we have had a “strategic” approach. I believe that moving forward the university as a whole will start to collaboratively answer the questions; Who, What, Why and How? While I feel that I was born with strategic tendencies, I cannot even express all of the knowledge that I have gained. I also found it truly inspiring and motivating that our VP suggests that “Highly successful enrollment management is only possible when the entire University is willing to continually assess itself; its practices, policies and processes and make change accordingly, to accomplish its primary mission of preparing students for lifelong success”. How wonderful it will be to say good bye to the silos. What a powerful and true statement!ReferencesCato, S. T., & Gordon, J. (2012). Relationship of the strategic vision alignment to employee productivity and student enrollment. Research in Higher Education Journal, 15, 1-20. Coomes, M. D. (2000). The Role of Financial Aid in Enrollment Management. In The role student aid plays in enrollment management (pp. 77-90). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Goral, T. (2011, September). Counting chickens before they hatch. University Business. Retrieved from , L. J. (2009). Strategic positioning in higher education. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 13(1), 103-111. Rothaermel, F. T. (2013). Strategic management: Concepts & cases. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., & Howland, S. (2013, January/February). Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard Business Review, 131-134. ................
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