Ready, Set, Whoa

The stage has been set and we have launched the plan for how we will go about getting feedback into the plan. We are going with a parent committee that is relatively small, four standing committees in specific areas, and then we are using a focus group approach to gain feedback from a wider group.

The timeline is that we are going to get the first round of feedback by October 30, so I have a lot to do. It will be a strange year as we work simultaneously on the new "look" and brand plan at the same time we are talking about doing some major surgery.

If an area of concern has come up recently it is in the adult programs. For so many years online and adult programs were very low hanging fruit for us. Basically, it was put a few ads in the paper and they would come. To me it is a key brand indicator, because what it says is that locally we just still aren't that well known.

I'm also starting to think about larger economic forces and wondering what an economic slowdown means for a campus like ours. In short, I think it means we better get a lot better at proving that what we do is valuable, and that is in the back of my mind as we begin coming up with key messages. I don't think in the coming years it will be enough to be "fun" or "a great experience", I think we are going to have to talk about the kinds of outcomes that two year colleges and others have been talking about for a lot of years. However, the classic debate of what the outcomes of a private, more or less liberal (in a completely conservative way) college type experience should be are likely to be a key point of debate.