STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE
FOCUS GROUP SUMMARY
 

DATE: April 8, 1999
TIME: 3:00 p.m.        
PLACE: CMU 208
FACILITATOR: Martin Grindeland
NOTE-TAKER: Marla Smith
 

STRATEGIC GOAL: QUALITY

1. Based upon any information you have, how would you assess Moorhead State?s performance regarding the quality goal?

In general, quality is good. Departments are assessing themselves and the quality of the education received by students. If we focus on students, there are many indicators of quality including performance in classes, the jobs graduates are getting and graduate school admissions. Yet, overall quality at MSU is harder to define and more difficult to assess. One member noted that we get preoccupied in our own department and it becomes hard to know what is happening with the rest of the University. Some members were unsure how well we were doing outside of the classroom.  

2. How could the achievement of quality at MSU be improved?

MSU needs specific goals related to quality that can be assessed. Several members said they didn?t understand how MSU was assessing overall quality. They suggested improved methods of providing feedback to students, employers and the general community regarding how well we are doing.

The feeling was that some people actually resist quality. If this resistance could be broken down, the achievement of quality would improve.

Several members said MSU needs to become a resource for businesses in the community. Businesses don?t know what MSU can do and we don?t know what they need. One person said that there was a recent study addressing this linkage. Several members thought the linkage was weak and should be improved.

3. What barriers to quality exist at MSU?

Not enough money and not enough time.

Several members said that resources are allocated with a shot gun approach with hits here and there but missing many needs. Others said to reach the pinnacle of quality may take more people because right now employees don?t seem to have enough hours in the day to do all that is expected of them. Several members felt that with better methods we could get a higher level of performance from the people we have.

Several members in the group felt that our bureaucracy takes so long to accomplish things. Many times ideas are put on the shelf and forgotten. We seem to have too many meetings and too much discussion without enough action and completion of tasks.

They felt we are working very hard and spending great amounts of time but not necessarily doing the right things and doing them as effectively a might be done if we were not so bogged down with our bureaucracy.

4. How could MSU excel to a greater extent in terms of doing the right things and doing them effectively?

We could develop a better system of allocating resources to bring about improvements. Members felt this approach should be less piecemeal.

One member said that quality improved training sessions were valuable but they need to continue. This member heard they were discontinued because we ran out of money. Most members of the group spoke about the need to continue working on the ideas that were presented in these sessions and the need to help employees, in every way possible, achieve these quality goals.

Several members thought that MSU should excel to a greater extent in terms of academic advising. One member said that advising seems to be something that is talked about as failing on campus.

5. How could MSU excel to a greater extent in terms of using the best practices regarding teaching and learning?

MnSCU should help us benchmark with the best practices regarding and learning in specific disciplines. One faculty member recalled a workshop he attended that focused on improvement in teaching math classes. He found it to be very beneficial. Other members agreed that this approach would be very useful for bench marking with the best practices of teaching and learning. They felt this was a better approach, especially for advanced teachers, than normal faculty development sessions that focus on general techniques of teaching.

6. How could MSU students and faculty excel to a greater extent in terms of producing creative and scholarly work? (Did not address this question).

7. If you were to identify a new strategic goal for MSU, what would it be and why?

The consensus was that we should keep the current goals but do some retooling of each goal. Members felt that we should be more specific in defining the quality goal. They felt that quality should be the center of everything and that the other goals should spring from that. For example, they felt that technology could be included in quality as it is currently written. Some members though that we should focus more upon web-based instruction as part of our technology goal. One member felt the FYE program is a great tool and should be expanded, and perhaps aspects of this program should be given as a class to all employees. The consensus of the group was that the community goals seem to need more work.

Several ideas were presented regarding the retooling of existing goals without necessarily creating new strategic goals:

1) Members said that we should develop specific objectives under each goal and identify concrete action plans. We should then measure any changes that occur and assess our effectiveness at executing our plans and achieving our objectives. We should communicate our progress to the entire MSU community.

(2) We should place more emphasis upon building partnerships under the community goal. Several members felt this would be a good way to increase MSU's awareness within the community and improve our image. Education tailored to meet the needs of community members should be looked at as a way to increase the number of students who use our services and provide services to organizations, including businesses in our community. This approach would also build better internship opportunities. Some members of the group said that this was a laudable goal but it should not be forced upon anyone because many people already feel overworked.

(3) We should do a better job of academic advising. It was noted that it is very difficult for faculty to fit outstanding academic advising into their schedules when they are overloaded with advisees. Several suggested that something needs to be done structurally to improve the situation, including perhaps banning all other university meetings during advising week. One member said that the best thing we give our students is our time. The consensus of the group was that academic advising should be made a priority via allocating time and resources to it. One member said students appreciate faculty and staff who are willing to listen and help. Yet, the consensus of the group was that although academic advising can and should be improved, it does not need to be a separate strategic goal.

(4) The group felt that we should be better stewards of our physical environment on campus. Some members talked about the general appearance of the campus and buildings. They felt that many of the buildings were dirty with litter outside and trash bins overflowing. They cited problems like tire ruts next to sidewalks that should be repaired. They said benches should not be destroyed by snow removal. One member said that they should widen sidewalks if they are going to be used as roadways. The consensus of the group was that the general appearance of our campus should be a priority and that everything we have should be treated with respect.

(5) We need to be better organized. One member said that when you call MSU you usually need to talk with 4 or 5 people before you reach the right person. This member felt that we should be much more efficient with other people's time and that we should do a much better job of responding to those who contact us. Other members agreed and said that we frequently don't know as much as we should know about other parts of the university.

(6) We need to work more effectively as a team. The consensus of the group was that we need to work together for improvements. We all need to be reminded that we are ambassadors for MSU. Yet, several group members felt that we have a lack of comradeship among faculty and staff. Several members said that we need to create a place for faculty and staff to interact without having students around such as a university club. The consensus of the group was that MSU lacks a sense of togetherness.  

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