A review of SWOTember, and the next step in the strategic planning process

This past month was heartily dubbed “SWOTember” in an email from President Williams in reference to the 60+ organizations who would conduct SWOT that month.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and a SWOT analysis is a list of these four things present in an organization, colleges or otherwise. The Strategic Planning Group, or SPG for short, wanted as many campus organizations to fill out a SWOT as possible in hopes of getting an accurate read on these four aspects of the College.

As the template the president sent out with his e-mail on Aug. 29 says, the strengths of the College are what we as an institution are most proud of. An example of the college’s strengths, says Ken Butler, the process assistant to SPG, is “strong faculty committed to undergraduate education.” A weakness, on the other hand, is something the organization needs to improve upon. An example of a weakness, according to Butler, is the College’s “land-locked location in the west end of Allentown, with little opportunity to grow our footprint.”

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, meaning they deal with the inner workings of the organization itself. Opportunities and threats, however, deal with the outside world.

Opportunities are external options the College can take advantage of that will help it strive toward a goal, while a threat, obviously, could hinder the path toward this goal. Butler’s example of an opportunity and threat were, respectively, “partner with local businesses to offer more educational opportunities for our students” and “a growing though inaccurate public perception of the lack of value of a liberal arts education”

In a community-wide SWOT, the attendees are split into groups consisting of students, faculty, and staff. Within these groups, everyone discusses these four aspects of the College. Each individual collage organization can conduct their own private SWOT as well.

As of Friday, Sept. 30, SPG had received 60 SWOT analyses from faculty, staff, student and mixed groups, including student organizations such as Greek Life, and SGA. They also received SWOTs from the Alumni board, various departments, LGBT services, Religious life, Counseling services, etc.

The SPG will then review these different SWOTs, looking for overarching patterns. This collection of data will help guide them in their formulation of a strategic plan for the college over the next few years. Although the SWOT is only the first step in the strategic planning process, the results are particularly important. Butler explained that a SWOT inspired the construction of the New Science building.

“I was not directly involved in President Helm’s first strategic planning process in 2003-2004,” said Butler, “but, as I understand it, that planning group identified through its SWOT and the benchmarking information it gathered from our peer institutions that our science facilities were out of date compared to our peers, and needed to be modernized so that our outstanding science faculty would have labs and work spaces that would allow them to teach more effectively and carry out their research. That’s one example of how information gathered through a SWOT analysis can lead to a strategic initiative (maintaining our reputation of excellence in the sciences) that leads to an action (building the new science building and renovating Trumbower Hall, as well).”

It is important to note that the direct effects of the Plan will most likely be seen by incoming freshman, and not by the current class years. This, however, should not discourage students.

“The mission of the College is student-centered,” said Butler, “and we hope that students want to have a voice as we plan Muhlenberg’s future. At this event... students (alongside faculty and staff) will have direct input into planning the future directions that the College will take.”

Kathy Harring, co-chair to the Strategic Planning Committee, had a similar opinion.

“The Planning Group,” said Harring, “wants to hear all members of our College community -- students, faculty, staff, alumni -- to make sure that all perceptions and ideas are reflected in the planning process.”

Students, faculty and staff alike are encouraged to attend the next SPG meeting, Nov. 2, from 5-8 p.m. in Seegers Event Space.

President Williams hopes to get the next Strategic Plan approved at the College’s Board of trustees meeting this coming April.

The Strategic Planning process website will go live by the end of this week. Those interested in seeing specific organization’s SWOTs or just staying updated should check it out.