STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE
FOCUS GROUP SUMMARY

DATE: April 6, 1999
TIME: 4:00 p.m.
PLACE: CMU 216
FACILITATOR: Dick Bynum
NOTETAKER: Iris Gill

STRATEGIC GOAL: COMMUNITY

Q1. Based upon any information you have, how would you assess Moorhead State's performance regarding the community goal?

• 4^th of July celebration is good.

   

• CNSA Department trying to get out into community to promote department.

   

• Summer Theatre quality has returned to what it once was. Great draw for MSU.

   

• Community doesn't have a clear idea of what MSU is "about."

   

• In the past MSU was considered to be the top of the line in teacher education (our identity). We no longer seem to have such a clear-cut identity.

   

• We are known for our theater and music outreach to schools.

   

• MSU is perceived as more personalized than other local schools.

   

• MSU seems to be community in and of itself. Doesn't blend with surrounding area.

   

Q2. How could MSU's community be improved?

• Offer 2-hour seminars on topics of interest to surrounding community (i.e., Internet usage, E-mail usage).

   

• Publicize to surrounding community the opportunity for area senior citizens to use our Library (on site use, no checkout privileges).

   

• Have more of the lecture series offered in the evening and publicize directly to surrounding area.

   

• Have a centralized calendar on which to schedule speakers so they don't overlap on the same day.

   

• Do more early child outreach activities in community.

   

• More expansive explanation of our upcoming events in Forum notices.

   

• Publish a community newsletter on Web site.

   

• Departments should post real-world job notices so students can see (a) types of real-world jobs that will be available to them, (b) how much they can expect to make, (c) realize what steps they need to take to reach that goal.

   

• Be known for small-class sizes, career counseling, personalized care.

   

Q3. What barriers exist regarding the development of community at MSU?

• Parking is a problem. Not easy to zip in and out of events.

   

• Never seems to be an "end result" of activities like President's retreat. We give our time but don't see results, so we give up.

   

• One of the participants related that his father often donated money to Concordia and NDSU. His son asked why he did not donate to MSU. Answer was that "MSU never asked him to."

   

• HS graduates still think of MSU as their choice of last resort, rather than being their first choice. Student participant countered that several of his HS class did come to MSU, because they thought the campus size was better than NDSU's.

   

Q4. How could MSU excel to a greater extent in terms of collaboration with Moorhead-Fargo and regional communities?

• Need to go to them to invite them to participate.

   

• Offer "come and see how we operate" events.

   

• Have more outdoor concerts and invite the campus neighbors to attend.

   

• Hold departmental open houses.

   

• Invite business community in to ask them what they expect of our graduates.

   

• Feed parents a brunch BEFORE the graduation ceremony.

   

• Publicize Science Center much more. Used to hear a lot about it but now hardly ever. Keep its name before the public.

   

Q5. How could MSU excel to a greater extent in terms of promoting diversity?

• Offer scholarships for Native Americans so we can compete with NDSU's scholarship offers.

   

• Need money to get word out to potential international students.

   

• Make connection to area high school students from other countries (e.g., exchange students).

   

• Increase diversity of our staff. NDSU perceived as more diverse than we are.

   

• Provide program to ease cultural transition for international students.

   

• Student mentors for international students.

   

• Add English as Second Language courses to our curriculum again.

   

• Promote more older-than-average student enrollment. They provide a nice asset to classes.

   

17. Should we keep old goals or add new goals?

     

TRANSITIONS

• Seems it should be integral part of MSU rather than as a strategic goal.

   

• Shorten FYE course -- program had very useful parts (study habits; where things are on campus) but many other sections weren't of much interest. (student)

   

• Package FYE course so students can read the parts they are interested in.

   

• Contact alumni that did not graduate and ask them if they would like to come back.

   

• Have ambassadors to community to serve as a liaison to the campus.

   

• Sell ourselves to the community more.

   

• Offer release time to do outreach activities (speakers to community, general contact, high school contact by programs involving both faculty and students).

   

• Promote Biology and Graphics Arts programs more regionally.

   

• Home town school day where students from a certain home town go back to the high school to talk. Professor and student go together. But they would need some training to do it well.

   

TECHNOLOGY

• Not much love for offering ITV courses as they are not personalized and don't provide much community building.

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