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Iowa State University's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)

The Strategic Planning Committee generated a list of what they perceive to be Iowa State Universitys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) twelve for each area. Four groups were formed, one for each area, to generate these lists. After the initial lists were formed, the items were ranked ordered by another group, i.e., the list of strengths was ordered by the group who generated the list of weaknesses and vice versa. Similar switching and ordering of the opportunities and threats lists occurred. At the end of this exercise the committee concluded that lists represent an internally focused view of the university and that the committee needed to go through another SWOT analysis while assuming an external view of the university.

STRENGTHS

Most prominent

• Land-grant mission -- access to higher education, service to people, and outreach to the public
• Strength of character -- steadiness in the midst of difficulties, strong work ethic and commitment to quality, positive morale, commitment to seek opportunities in face of adversity
• Nationally and internationally recognized programs -- Question -- Can we aspire to excellence in all areas?
• Renowned faculty

Moderately prominent

• Quality of education and teaching, particularly for a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University-Extensive
• Innovation as evidenced by grant applications, patents, research, and technology transfer
• Student environment -- learning communities, programs, student organizations and clubs
• Collaborative culture as evidenced by the collaboration between researchers including sharing of equipment, the number of successful interdisciplinary collaborations and research programs, the strong collaboration between academic and student affairs professionals, and the relative lack of turf battles

Less prominent

• Close relationship between student and academic affairs professionals
• Richness/diversity of disciplines and modes of thought and inquiry -- Question: How diverse can the university be in light of current resources -- should we continue to aspire to being a broad research university or a more narrowly focused research institute?
• Willingness to recognize weaknesses and make improvements, e.g., the administrations willingness to openly discuss challenges the university faces -- recruitment, retention, lack of diversity -- and develop plans for making improvements.
• Atmosphere of success for faculty, staff, and students
• Physical environment and quality of life -- campus, Ames community, public school system -- that aid in recruitment efforts

WEAKNESS

Most prominent

• Lack of consensus on what it means to be a land grant university. What should our mission encompass? What are the university's priorities? What is the relationship (or lack thereof) between the sciences and humanities? What is the role of University Extension and Continuing Education? Who are we?
• Lack of long-term budget planning and a process that is transparent
• Lack of diversity
• Ability to compete for and retain faculty and students -- need more faculty lines, smaller class sizes, and flexibility and funding for dual career couples

Moderately prominent

• Quality of facilities and lack of repair & maintenance which makes it difficult to recruit top faculty and graduate students, e.g., research laboratories and facilities in some areas of campus, restrooms, landscape and landscape maintenance, litter, care of older buildings, lack of energy efficiency, difficulty of getting things repaired within the university's system and pricing structure
• Dispersal of information by administration -- needs to be strengthened and streamlined
• Services offered by support offices not adequate likely due to lack of necessary staff, e.g., support for writing grants, addressing compliance issues, completing building repairs in a timely and cost effective manner, addressing problems with workstations and the information network, etc.
• Underutilization of and lack of organization for technology -- not taking full advantage of IT potential, e.g., integration in teaching in learning, lack of designated leader / CIO, and evidence of haphazard developments across campus and waste of resources

Less prominent

• Location in Ames, Iowa -- perception of those considering moving to Ames
• Unresolved issues and regulatory relationships with corporations/industry -- perception that we are selling out to corporate America

OPPORTUNITIES

Most prominent

• Expand and improve the effectiveness of marketing of ISU beyond Iowa and the Midwest emphasizing the university's unique identity, big campus and small city (best of both worlds), professors who teach, learning communities, and commitment to lifelong learning via distance education, new certificate programs, etc.
• Increase and strengthen internal collaborations and external collaborations e.g., efficiencies in offering degree granting programs and distance education by stronger collaborations with other educational institutions -- K-12, community colleges, Extension, and other Regent institutions
• Focus on excellence with a emphasis on areas in which ISU should grow

Moderately prominent

• Growth opportunities in emerging sectors -- research and economic development (life science, advanced manufacturing, information solutions)

Less prominent

• Tapping donors -- alums, businesses, foundations -- use them to tell ISU's story; improve perception of the ISU Foundation and clarify the relationship between the purposes of private giving vs. tuition revenues
• Alternative budgeting/funding models, e.g., responsibility centered management

THREATS

Most prominent

• Declining resources from the state and increasing dependence on tuition revenue, the ISU Foundation, and the ISU Alumni Association
• Alternative providers, i.e., on-line universities and community colleges
• Declining financial support for students (Pell grants, etc.) that leads to more students working to stay in school
• Declining number of high school graduate students
• Legislative actions that are increasingly building walls and barriers for conducting technology transfer

Moderately prominent

• Decreasing ability to compete for and retain top faculty
• Loss of public support and shifting attitudes toward the university
• K-12 students less prepared for university education
• Declining infrastructure

Less prominent

• Declining standards at ISU and in society, i.e., rigor, work ethic, grade inflation
• Growth of administrative and service functions required to be in compliance with unfunded mandates
• Declining interest in technical subjects by U.S. students and reliance on foreign students is a cause for concern, combined with the fact that national policies are currently making it more difficult to recruit foreign students
• Improper use of rating systems to direct change at ISU (should we all be MIT?)
• Students' increasingly possessing an entitlement mentality