Running Head: SUNSHINE STATE UNIVERSITY PHASE THREE

Sunshine State University

Meghan Birdsey
EDU 515
Dr. Patel

Sunshine State University Phase Three

Sunshine State University has the opportunity to turn around their

reputation and create a university that could be considered a top university
in the state of Florida. In order to do so, SSU will need to take strategic steps
to examine their current situation and address the issues at hand. Thus far,
SSU has shown to have a problem with their diversity. The university does
not have a diverse population but their strategic plan focuses on creating a
diverse campus for students. When looking at the current strategic plan that
is in place, the mission is clear, but the steps needed to achieve the mission
are not. This is due to the fact that the strategic plan is not based off of
current data trends at the university. Within the Common Data Set, SSU does
not have data that revolves around the problems they have addressed in the
strategic plan. For SSU to be successful, they first need to address the larger
problems and then continue on form there. How does SSU do this? They can
achieve this by creating a new strategic plan based off of the data provided
in the Common Data Set. K. Koontz and H. Weihrich (2010) define strategy
as determination the main long-term goals of an organization and the
implementation of sequences of actions and distribution of resources that
are necessary to accomplish these objectives. Through these actions an
organization creates and employs resources necessary to deliver services
that customers find valuable. (Stukalina, pg. 81, 2014)
Strategic Plan
Goals
Completely re-do the admissions
process and admissions

Strategies
Open enrollment to students who
have earned a G.E.D. rather than a

Sunshine State University Phase Three

requirements to allow for higher

enrollments.

Based off of data from other

universities, new degree programs
will be added to the university to
increase enrollments and market to
more students, this will include the
implementation of online courses.

With a new mission for the

university, come new marketing
strategies. Create a new marketing
campaign that reaches out to all
types of students.

3
high school diploma. If a student
has earned a G.E.D. focus will be
placed on a writing sample and
resume when reviewing the
students file for admissions.
Standardized testing such as
SAT/ACT will be made optional,
many students do not do well on
standardized tests and this is not a
fool proof way to determine
whether a student is qualified for
the program. Instead of
standardized tests, students will be
required to have an interview with
their admissions counselor, provide
letters of reference from their
former teachers, and the main
focus will be on their high school
transcripts and resume.
While it is beneficial to the
university to have students with
alumnae relation enroll at the
university, this should not be a
deciding factor in the admissions
process. Focus will be taken off of
this connection.
Focusing on data from surrounding
universities, SSU will increase
program offerings based off of what
is in demand.
Based off of current data, SSU will
begin to offer some degree
programs entirely online, this will
allow for higher enrollments at the
university, as well as reaching out
to students across the United States
and outside of the country.
Admissions Counselors will hit the
roads to reach out to high schools
all across the state.
New marketing materials will be
created that reflect the new
admissions requirements, as well as
the new programs being offered to
students, including study abroad,

Sunshine State University Phase Three

4
online courses, curricular and cocurricular activities.
New target areas for marketing will
be focused on, including
international marketing to bring in
more international students to the
degree program. A partnership with
an international university could
increase international enrollments
at SSU.

Analysis/Critique
The goal of this strategic plan is to grow the university and add some
diversity to the student and faculty population. In order for this strategic plan
to be successful, many people will need to be involved in the planning and
implementation of these goals. This plan all starts with admissions. As a
department, these changes have been decided based off of metrics and
feedback from those on the front lines of recruitment. In order to properly
adjust the admissions processes, a consultant will be brought on to
determine the most cost effective way to go about these changes. The
consultant will work with the department to retrain based off the new
enrollment standards. As a whole, the admissions department will work
together to determine what has been working and what has not. Once the
new process is put into place for a year, data will be collected to determine
the effectiveness of these changes.
Currently, there are 100 majors and minors offered by Sunshine State
University. (Common Data Set, 2010) The higher ups at the university have
recognized a need for change the betters the university. In order to meet the
needs of more students, there needs to be a focus on the program offerings

Sunshine State University Phase Three

at the university. Based off of data from surrounding universities,

enrollments, and student feedback a committee of faculty members from
each department will determine what degree programs is high enrolling and
what are not. The degree programs with little to no enrollment will be phased
out to make room for more marketable programs. The more marketable
programs will be determined based off of data collected from surrounding
universities. This process will take a minimum of two years to phase and
create new programs. This will require new faculty members to be hired for
the new programs. With the offering of online degree programs, SSU will
need to bring on more professors to teach these courses. These professors
do not necessarily have to come to campus to teach. This will allow for a
more diverse population of faculty and students. In order to determine what
degree programs will be offered online, data will be pulled from the
admissions office. The metrics surrounding this decision will be the number
of applications for each degree, the location and age of the students who
have applied to the degrees. Once the data has been examined, a committee
will then decide what degree programs would be most effective if offered in
an online capacity. Once the online classes have been implemented, the
admissions office will then begin marketing these programs to students. Each
semester, enrollment numbers for these programs will be examined to
determine whether or not this has caused an increase in students. The
metrics pulled will also focus on the type of student that enrolls in online

Sunshine State University Phase Three

programs because typically, online programs bring in more non-traditional

students than traditional students.
Once these new programs are created, the targeted marketing groups
for the university will change. The marketing materials for the university will
also change. The admissions department will work together to reach out to
more students across and outside the state of Florida. Ad campaigns will be
created to reach out to students online. The director of admissions, the
marketing department, and the dean of each school will work closely
together to create a marketing campaign that highlights the many new
offerings at SSU.
In order to determine the effectiveness of these changes, three types
of feedback will be focused on. The first and most important is the data
trends. In order to truly know the effectiveness of these changes, the
university will need to pull the data that surrounds each change. Enrollment
will be a main factor in this determination. The goal of these changes was to
bring higher enrollments and diversity to the university. A new Common Data
Set will be created, this will reflect the changes in enrollment standards, the
breakdown of enrollments since the changes were made (ethnicity, gender,
age, etc.) Based off of this data, the university will be able to determine
whether the changes made has had effect. If the data shows that
enrollments have begun to increase, then the university can continue in this
direction. Something that needs to be remembered is that change does not
happen overnight; it will take years to turn around the current state of the

Sunshine State University Phase Three

university. The focus of these changes will also eventually change. Right now
the focus is on building diversity in order to market to more groups of
students. Ongoing changes in government policy driven by the political
agenda, coupled with a consistent decline in public funding of universities
and the rise of student demand and student diversity, are key areas having
huge impact on strategy development. (Shah, pg. 26-27, 2013) As time
moves forward, the university will need to continue to change in order to
keep up with the ever changing needs surrounding higher education.

Sunshine State University Phase Three

References
Common Data Set. (2015). Sunshine State University, 1-8.
Koontz, H., Weihrich, H. (2010). Essentials of management: An international
perspective (8th ed). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Shah, M. (2013). Renewing strategic planning in universities at a time of
uncertainty. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education,
17(1), 24-29.
Stukalina, Y. (2014). Strategic management of higher education institutions.
Managements of Organizations: Systematic Research, (70), 79-90.