Utah Valley University 2020-21 SWOT Analysis

University Planning Advisory Committee April 6, 2021

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The University Planning Advisory Committee performed UVU’s biennial SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis during Spring 2021. Based on its ongoing discussion and review of issues of importance to university planning efforts, UPAC identified more than 30 specific factors of note affecting mission fulfillment, and five priority areas for university planning.

• Student Success. Student success remains a weakness of the university, and in a environment that places great significance on graduation rates and employment represents a significant ongoing threat. More success data, particularly on employment, would be useful. But UVUs commitment to student success is a strength recognized by NWCCU in the Mid-Cycle Review, and its progress in improving completion rates recent years presents an opportunity to show the value of UVU’s integrated dual-mission model of higher education. • Program and Course Delivery. One of UVU’s most significant strengths is that during the COVID pandemic it proved it can be nimble and adaptive toward new models while maintaining our relevance and value for the region we serve. UVU is thus poised to take advantage of the opportunities presented by innovations such as stackable credentials, a momentum year, prior learning assessments, industry and business partnerships, and enhanced data-driven analytics, enhancing our relevance to our student population, their demographic characteristics, and their academic needs. • Exceptional Care of Faculty and Staff. UVU’s strength in sharing a commitment to exceptional care of students can be matched by the opportunity to amplify exceptional care for faculty and staff. The ability to recruit, retain, and promote faculty and staff is to some extent a weakness, as demonstrated in the Great Colleges to Work For survey results. Faculty and staff diversity is an area of considerable progress but work must continue so that diversity and inclusion are foundational. • Academic Program Scope. While the committee agreed that UVU’s wide-ranging academic programming is a significant issue for the university, it disagreed about whether that was a strength that allowed UVU to meet the educational needs of an economically and socially diverse region or a weakness that showed a lack of focus. 2020-21 SWOT Analysis 2

This presents, the committee believes, the opportunity to develop a more clearly articulated academic program development, assessment, and review strategy. • Internal Processes. UPAC was concerned that there is limited understanding, collaboration, and training across the university’s internal processes, and that these processes may be interfering with institutional agility. More effective change management techniques would mitigate this weakness.

CHARGE

UPAC’s standing charge and its 2020-21 presential charge instruct the committee to

• Standing Charge: Assess whether UVU is fulfilling its mission, action commitments, and objectives and whether it will be able to do so sustainably in its foreseeable internal and external operating environments.

• Presidential Charge: Conduct UVU’s biennial SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to help inform this year’s strategic planning at UVU.

To accomplish these responsibilities, UPAC conducts a SWOT analysis every other year, generally alternating with a mission fulfillment evaluation. Together these major assessment activities ensure that UVU is aware of both its current state of mission fulfillment and the characteristics of its operating environment that will affect its ability to fulfill the mission on an ongoing basis.

METHODOLOGY

UPAC developed its findings based on prior review of several issues of importance to the university during the 2020-21 academic year. These included:

• Great Colleges to Work For survey results (Taylor Lovell, Institutional Research, September 24) • Vision 2030 (Kyle Reyes, Student Affairs, September 24) • Digital Transformation Plan (Kelly Flanagan, Digital Transformation, September 24) • Utah demographic trends (Pam Perlich, Kem C. Gardner Institute, November 5) • Discussion with state legislators (Steve Anderson, University Relations; Rep. Candice Pierucci, Utah House of Representatives; and Sen. Michael K. McKell, Utah Senate, December 3) • PBA process feedback discussion (Full committee, December 3) • Utah Board of Higher Education goals and strategies (Linda Makin, Planning, Budget, and Human Resources; January 21 and March 18) • Legislative priorities and actions (Stephen Whyte, University Relations, January 21 and March 18; Linda Makin, Planning and Budget, February 4 and March 4) • NWCCU Mid-Cycle Review (Jeff Johnson, Institutional Effectiveness, February 18 and March 4) 2020-21 SWOT Analysis 3

• Completion Plan 2.0 (Michelle Kearns, Student Success and Retention, March 18)

The committee conducted the SWOT analysis in four meetings between January 21 and March 18. The SWOT exercise itself consisted of three phases:

Environmental Scan. Using a small-group nominal brainstorming process, UPAC members identified a wide range of issues that were likely affecting UVU’s ability to fulfill its mission. The aim of this process was to generate as wide a range of considerations as possible rather than a deep understanding of any one issue.

Review and Categorization. Previous UPAC SWOT analyses determined that the traditional binary categorization used in SWOT analyses was inadequate to address many issues where aspects of both categories were present. For instance, financial aid might be both external (in that it is determined by federal policies) and internal (those policies are interpreted and implemented locally). To respond to this, UPAC has developed an enhanced SWOT matrix that maintains the analytical value of the traditional SWOT matrix (identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) while also evaluating the interactions across dimensions. The Enhanced SWOT Matrix is shown below. The committee categorized each issue identified in the environmental scan phase using the enhanced SWOT matrix.

Helps entirely More helps More limits Limits entirely than limits than helps Completely Internal challenge Strength Weakness Internal More internal Leaning to Leaning to Positioned strength weakness Vulnerability More external opportunity Leaning to Learning to opportunity threat Completely Opportunity External challenge Threat external

Traditional SWOT Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Matrix Quadrants

Prioritization. The committee combined closely related issues into major themes. These themes often presented complex sets of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats. UPAC identified five as high priorities for university planning.

Findings were reported to the President during the April 1, 2021 UPAC meeting, and revised following that discussion.

PRIORITY AREAS

Based on the issues identified in its environmental scan process, UPAC has identified five priority strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats for university planning. 2020-21 SWOT Analysis 4

Student Success An area in which UPAC viewed as being viewed as vulnerable is in the area of student success. By many measures, UVU has a low graduate rate and is in a definite need of continued improvement. But has a strong commitment to student success, which the NWCCU Mid-Cycle Review found The institution UVU, and the NWCCU Mid-Cycle Review found, is clearly committed to student success and to serving the population of students enrolled at an open admissions university such as UVU. Since measuring 8-year completions rates, UVU has increased 9 percentage points on the strength of aggressive efforts to improve student success.

Student success is clearly multidimensional, including both intellectual and professional success. UVU has limited capacity to evaluate either dimension. UPAC noted the lack of institutional-level assessment processes in its Mission Fulfillment Baseline Analysis. Progress in this area is promising and ongoing. Looking at post-graduation employability, UPAC presently views this sub-category as either a threat or leaning towards a threat. The reason behind this classification is due to several questions that need to be addressed:

• Are students employable within their field post-graduation? • How easily can graduates find desired employment post-graduation? • Do students have the skillset necessary to seek employment upon graduation? • Do graduates have the skillsets in order to succeed in their desired area of employment? • Are they able to keep their desired jobs?

At present, while UVU has some data on student employment, the university lacks sufficient data to definitively answer these questions in part due to state and federal initiatives that have yet to come to fruition.

A final question that addresses each of these previous questions is: Does UVU as an institution have a clear understanding of the factors that contribute to post-graduation success from UVU?

Program and Course Delivery UPAC identified significant strengths and opportunities related to academic program and course delivery. Three particular areas stood out.

• New Models of Higher Education. As a wide variety of models and trends across the higher education landscape emerges (some influenced strongly by the pandemic), it would be important for UVU to adopt a systematic, interconnected approach to developing, selecting, and implementing models that are relevant to the institution, its students, and it internal and external communities. UVU can be nimble and adaptive toward new models while maintaining our relevance and value for the region we serve. The integrated mission of UVU exemplifies this focus, combined with growing emphases on stackable credentials, a momentum year, prior learning assessments, industry and business partnerships, and enhanced data-driven analytics and support for student success as examples of components of such models.

• New Teaching Modalities. UVU rapidly increased the availability and implementation of new modalities of instruction university-wide during UVU’s pandemic-necessitated 2020-21 SWOT Analysis 5

modified operation. While state government requirements may be a constraint, this is an opportunity to continue diversifying long-term the offerings to better meet student expectations which have also changed in the last year. The diversification of teaching modalities requires consistent availability of relevant, ongoing faculty training to match the teaching modality with effective pedagogy. Another emphasis is the consistency of the technology tools associated with the teaching modalities so that the effectiveness of the different teaching modalities is not distorted by a need for faculty and students to master multiple technologies and instead to focus on the essential instructional and pedagogical components and interactions.

• UVU Couse Delivery Models. UVU’s specific models of course delivery should be representative of the university integrated mission and of the relevance of these models to our student population, their demographic characteristics, and their academic needs. More than 30% of UVU students are non-traditional students and close to 30% work 31 hours per week or more, which requires close attention to providing flexible course delivery models, both as a learning modality and as scheduling options.

Exceptional Care of Faculty and Staff A shared commitment to the Exceptional Care of Students and Professional Development are identified as institutional strengths and provide an opportunity to amplify Exceptional Care for faculty and staff. To continue and sustain this commitment, however, the university must ensure exceptional care for faculty and staff. The 2020 Great Colleges to Work for Survey suggests probable explanations for quality faculty retention concerns.

• While professional development is noted as an institutional strength, the options are not provided equitably. An increase in professional development efforts and quality through OTL, Academic Affairs, and PACE is recommended to decrease the disparity of professional advancement opportunities amongst all employees. • Weaknesses in employee recruitment, retention, and competitive pay were found to be additional areas of concern. • Perceived high staff turnover levels decrease employee performance and increase time and funding spent on replacement hires and training. • Faculty are concerned with transparency, workload, and the RTP process. • Attracting and retaining a diverse faculty and staff, promoting diverse faculty and staff to tenure and leadership positions, and issues of compensation equity need to be addressed so that diversity and inclusion are foundational and not an afterthought.

If not addressed, these concerns may have a negative impact on the achievement of institutional goals and objectives.

Academic Programing UPAC was divided on the effects of UVU’s current diversity of academic programs but agreed that having an effective mix of programming was a high priority for the university. Some members believe that the breadth of certificates, associates, bachelors, and master’s degrees attracts and retains a wide variety of students and meets the educational needs of a rapidly 2020-21 SWOT Analysis 6 growing region, especially in partnership with MTECH and other technical colleges and with the UVU/MTECH/K-16 Alliance. Others sensed a lack of focus in UVU’s programs that may detract from fulfilling the university’s mission, and were concerned about a diverging academic culture in which faculty, staff, and administration have varied perceptions about the scope and purpose of UVU. These two perspectives likely reflect a tension between being a serious academic institution and an inclusive university that the university community has long recognized and worked to resolve. This may present an opportunity to pursue an academic programming development, periodic review, and assessment strategy.

Internal Processes UPAC was concerned that the university’s internal processes and policies are significant weaknesses. Processes, which are series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular outcome, are used throughout the institution. Process management includes mapping, communication, and improvement techniques that often come in the form of well-established conceptual models and definitions of processes. Process management encapsulates, as well, an understanding of how those processes relate to decision making at a strategic level. The committee suggested that existing processes are lengthy and unfriendly, making it difficult for faculty and staff to effect change. There is limited understanding, collaboration, training, and leadership about creating and communicating processes. The effect of this includes, for example, the inability to offer courses in a way that would allow for student success and that limit course offerings generally. Related to this are problems of change management and communication. Basic principles of change management are often not being utilized when change is made, and there can be a lack of communication when things change or need to be updated. All of these issues were categorized as weaknesses in the enhanced SWOT matrix.

ENHANCED SWOT MATRIX

The issues identified by the SWOT analysis are categorized in this enhanced matrix below. The individual issues were identified by a small-group nominal brainstorming process that aimed to identify the breadth of factors affecting mission fulfillment. These factors were not analyzed in depth, and do not necessarily reflect any consensus on the part of the committee. The results below, which are in many cases not consistent across the committee, indicate the range and complexity of thought. 2020-21 SWOT Analysis 7

Strengths Quadrant The strengths quadrant includes issues that are mainly internal and that help mission fulfillment.

Helps Entirely More Helps than Limits

Strengths Internal Challenges • Areas and levels of study • Commitment to Exceptional Care of Students Completely • Recruiting and retaining staff Internal • Faculty and Staff Professional Development • Student Resources • Wee Care Center

Positioned Opportunities Leaning to Strengths • Facilities and Transportation • New Teaching Modalities • Satellite Campuses • UVU Couse Delivery Models • Wee Care Center • National Conversations on Equity, More Internal Access and Diversity and than External Perpetuating Class Systems • Budgeting and Emergency Reserves • Size • Affordability • Division I Athletics

Opportunities Quadrant The opportunities quadrant includes issues that are mainly external and that help mission fulfillment.

Helps Entirely More Helps than Limits

Positioned Opportunities Leaning to Opportunities More External • Fundraising • New models of higher education than Internal • Alternatives to Degrees • Academic Partnerships • On-Campus Housing

Opportunity External Challenges Completely External • Geographic Location • Regional Institution

2020-21 SWOT Analysis 8

Weaknesses Quadrant The weaknesses quadrant includes issues that are mainly internal and that limit mission fulfillment.

More Limits than Helps Limits Entirely

Internal Challenges Weaknesses • Faculty Perception of • Lack of Process Management Completely Transparency • Length of Processes Internal • Faculty Workload • Unfriendly Practices or Policy • RTP Processes • Change Management • Diversity and Inclusion • Communication

Leaning to Weaknesses Vulnerabilities • University Identity • Recruiting and retaining quality • Lack of Focus faculty More Internal • Alumni Engagement • Recruiting and retaining staff than External • Rate of Change • Competitive Pay • Maintaining a High Quality Faculty • Completion

Threats Quadrant The threats quadrant includes issues that are mainly external and that limit mission fulfillment.

More Limits than Helps Limits Entirely

Leaning to Threats Vulnerabilities More External • Competing Stakeholders' • Resources than Internal Priorities • Student employability

External Challenges Threats Completely • Tenured Faculty lines • Legislative Mandates and External Expectations