Nov. 5 Town Hall Meeting

Question 2: What opportunities does WSU need to seize? What external threats could cause problems for WSU?

Responses to what opportunities does WSU need to seize:

  • Have WSU look towards the future with regard to career placement and careers in which there is a demand.
  • Build upon a community focus on campus to reinforce the college experience.
  • Crisis in math and science teacher openings.
  • Certification for teachers without taking a leave of absence.
  • More flexibility with graduate studies.
  • Satellite campuses need to be more utilized.
  • Hybrid class offerings.
  • Needs assessment for postgraduate degrees.
  • Get high school kids on campus - more than a campus visit. Have events for them. Host a high school basketball game or other high energy event.
  • Partner with medical community.
  • Small entrepreneurs - seize them and welcome them.
  • More scholarships.
  • Location.
  • Hybrid education, integrate with high schools, exploding home schools.
  • Online classes.
  • Students that did not complete a WSU degree.
  • Tie-in with high schools - build relationships with high school students.
  • More private investment in the school's programs for job creation like internships.
  • Maybe more credibility for non-accredited programs for all classes of students.
  • Marketing to the world-wide student.
  • Teaching quality.
  • Grow enrollment.
  • Keep high school students in Wichita.
  • Acquire and develop area surrounding the main campus (Shockerville).
  • Innovation through incubators nurturing intellectual capital.
  • Sell ourselves well.
  • Student loan debt - WSU is affordable.
  • WSU is not second to other schools in the state.
  • Have campus life for the commuter student.
  • More connections to K-12 community, especially high schools.
  • Take advantage of students in neighboring states - reciprocity.
  • Degree completion online.
  • Creative coursework and merging colleges.
  • Grants and outreach.
  • Rethink our delivery systems.
  • Research (with research comes funding) and grant money.
  • Professors working in the private sector to keep funding as well.
  • Online programs, keeping costs down and using less resources.
  • Students that did not complete their degree while at WSU - keep or get in touch with them to return and finish.

Responses to what external threats could cause problems for WSU:

  • Rising costs of education. Some schools (Pittsburg State University) allow out-of-state students to pay in-state tuition.
  • Predominance of community colleges in the area. Keep students at WSU after their second year.
  • The economy.
  • Name of university - does the fact that WSU is named after a city give it less prestige than say KU or KSU?
  • Graduate students have no source of financial aid.
  • How other Division 1 schools bring in so much money, we can't compete.
  • Aviation industry highs and lows.
  • Lack of average.
  • Lack of resources.
  • Not residential campus - make threat an opportunity for high standards, credibility, etc.
  • Online courses.
  • Rising costs.
  • State funding flat.
  • Grow enrollment - male to female ratio changing.
  • The risk is technology that would keep WSU from getting across to that market, i.e. other institutions.
  • Two-year costs of going to school may become more of a competitive factor.
  • Cost of in-school education may be a factor because of technology.
  • Loss of funding.
  • Surrounding area development - land locked.
  • Community colleges.
  • Higher education staying relevant.
  • Competition.
  • The economy.
  • Student loans decreasing.
  • State funding.
  • 16 colleges/universities in Wichita competing for our students.
  • Rising tuition - student loans missing.
  • Other online programs offered.
  • Lower number of males pursuing higher education
  • State funding is not something to rely on.
  • Funding in general to keep up with demands.
  • Pool of high school students in Kansas is flat - how do we grow enrollment?

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