The Chicago State University has been facing some severe challenges. The key problems are a reduction in the rates of enrollment, retention, number of students graduating, job placement of students, graduate/professional school enrolment, and professional certification rates. Strategic planning is needed to help conduct an in-depth evaluation of the university and propose strategies that will help overcome the challenges facing the institution. The goals of the university in the next five years are to increase enrollment by 50 percent, improve students’ retention by 50 percent, increase graduation rate of first-time freshmen by 50 percent, place 40 percent of graduates on jobs, improve enrollment to graduate/professional school by 50 percent, and increase professional certification by 60 percent. The charging of higher school fees is an essential factor contributing to the issues facing the university. Reducing fee will help increase enrollment on all levels, minimize turnover, and increase the number of students who graduate from CSU. Partnering and collaborating with organizations will assist in the increase in the placement of students to jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

Introduction

The Chicago State University commonly known as the CSU is a state university of the state of Illinois. The university was established in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School (Seo, & Haykal, 2018). It began as an innovative teachers college where it was taken over by the Chicago Public Schools where it was renamed the Chicago Teachers College. By early 1950s, the state of Illinois was funding public institutions, and in 1965 it took over the management of the college, in 1967, it was renamed the Chicago State University (Seo, & Haykal, 2018). Since then, the facility has provided quality education to numerous individual since it was established despite the challenges it faces. Currently, Chicago State University has five degree-granting colleges which are; the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Pharmacy, and the College of Health Sciences. The university has a total enrollment of 2, 029 undergraduates; it is in an urban setting with a size of 161 acres (Seo, & Haykal, 2018).

In recent times, the university has been faced with challenges in enrollment, retention, graduation, job placement, graduate/professional school enrolment, and professional certification rates. In this strategic plan, I will highlight a five-year plan which the university can utilize to handle these challenges. From the plan, it would be easy for the facility to manage and eradicate these challenges with time.

Strategic Goals

The five-year strategic plan will be aimed at the attainment of six critical strategic goals. The strategic goals are:

1. Increase enrollment by 50 percent;
2. Improve students retention by 50 percent;
3. Increase graduation rate of first-time freshmen by 50 percent;
4. Place 40 percent of graduates on jobs;
5. Improve enrollment to graduate/professional school by 50 percent;
6. Increase professional certification by 60 percent.

Challenges Faced By CSU

Enrollment                                     

A lot of individuals are faced with challenges when joining university. These challenges in recruitment make it hard for people to enter the facility and they have been the root cause of the decline in enrollment. Since 2010, the level of enrollment in the CSU has reduced by 50%, and in the same year, the facility had over 500 freshmen who have fallen to 86 (Rhodes, 2016).

Retention

CSU has been losing students who enroll for various courses as they transfer to other institutions or drop out.  Retention of students for CSU will involve coming up with efforts to maintain the number of enrolled students. The university has to increase its students’ rate of retention to guarantee an increase in the number of graduates. The decline has been attributed by challenges in management and an increase in tuition fee which make students join other universities (Rhodes, 2016). The problems have to be addressed adequately.

Graduation

The number of individuals enrolling for different courses in the university has decreased with only half enrolling as compared to the last ten years (Rhodes, 2016). The decline also translates to a low number of graduates and such happenings are causing financial constraints. The challenge needs to be urgently addressed to improve the performance of CSU regarding teaching and learning.  The improvement in enrollment and retention of enrolled students are essential to increase the number of students graduating from CSU.

Graduate/ Professional School Enrollment

Low Graduate/ professional school enrollment is another problem affecting CSU. The University has a state of the art graduate school. Students are required to utilize the available graduate school and professional courses resources and infrastructure. Reduced enrollment is resulting in underutilization of suchourses, and that needs to be addressed.

Professional Certification Rates

The professional certification rates in Chicago University have also declined due to the low number of enrollment. The university seems to have small numbers of individuals who graduate which is quite a concern. The institution should improve on the services offered so that more students can feel the urge to join it. Effective strategies need to be adopted to address the issue adequately.

Mission and Vision

Part of CSU’s official mission statement reads “CSU is committed to teaching, research, service and community development including social justice, leadership and entrepreneurship” (Chicago State University, n.d.).

The vision statement of the university reads “Chicago State University will be recognized for innovations in teaching and research, and in promoting ethical leadership, entrepreneurship, and social and environmental justice. We will embrace, engage, educate, and empower our students and community to transform lives locally and globally” (Chicago State University, n.d.).

Core values guide the university. The values articulate how members of the university should behave and the crucial goals of CSU. Integrity is one core value that is supposed to guide the conduct of members of CSU. Intellectual development is a core value that articulates one of the focuses of the university (Chicago State University, n.d.). CSU’s mission, vision, and core values remain relevant to-date and provide direction and overall guidance to the university. Strategic planning ought to be guided by the current mission, vision, and core values.

Mission Statement Analysis

The mission statement of CSU fulfills most of the criteria of a good mission statement. The mission statement creates clear expectations in the mind of the reader. One expects CSU to be engaged in teaching, research, social justice, community service among other things. The mission statement is realistic. The goals and objectives that make up the statement can be attained, and the activities of the university are geared towards the attainment of the same. One criterion that the university’s mission does not fulfill is memorability. The mission statement is too long (a long paragraph). It is not easy to memorize the content of CSU’s mission statement. The mission statement is positive and also adaptable. It can be changed if the university’s internal and/or external environment changes.  CSU’s mission is also targeted. One can quickly identify the university’s target audience from reading the statement. One improvement that can be made to the mission statement is making it shorter and more concise. Such an improvement will make the statement easy to read, understand, and memorize. The advantage of having a more extended statement is that it discusses the entire operations of CSU.

Organizational Structure

The governance of CSU is overseen by a Board of Trustees. A president heads the management and the administration of day-to-day operations. The president reports to the board. To effectively run a big institution of higher learning like CSU, the president works with other officials who preside over essential aspects of the university. CSU has a Chief Finance Officer (CFO) who handles the finance division of the university (Chicago State University, n.d.). CSU also has vice presidents for enrollment management, academic affairs, legal affairs, and a director of athletics (Chicago State University, n.d.). The president also has Chief of Staff who aids in the administration of the office. The top executives of CSU work with many other members of staff (teaching and non-teaching) to ensure the success of the institution. The structure of an organization is critical to its success. An inefficient organizational structure is likely to interfere with the efficient operation of the organization. CSU has an efficient structure and the issues affecting the institution arise due to other factors.

External Audit/Assessments

Major Opportunities

            There are significant opportunities in CSU’s external environment that the university can exploit to grow and expand. One opportunity is the increasing demand for graduates. There is more demand for skilled workers which the university can help produce. Another opportunity is the growing demand for the completion of higher education in society. The university can use the opportunity to increase its students’ retention rate. Thirdly, CSU has been cultivating a good relationship with the community through participation in development initiatives and social justice initiatives (Chicago State University, n.d.). Such a relationship can aid CSU in attracting interest on its undergraduates and postgraduate programs to members of the community. Fourthly, universities have been partnering with private and public organizations and individuals to achieve a desired end. CSU can cultivate such partnerships and use the same to attain the desired end like the development of essential university infrastructure. The growth and expansion of businesses in Illinois and other states in the country also present an opportunity to CSU. The university can use the opportunity to find employment, internships, or attachments for its graduates and students.

Major Threats

The external environment presents threats to the growth and development of CSU. One risk is the reduced state funding of the university (Seo & Haykal, 2018). The reduction in state funding has resulted in the university charging higher fees to students to effectively run its operations. The high college fees are significantly contributing to the drop in enrollment in CSU, the high students’ turnover rate, and few graduates. Another threat facing CSU is the rise in online, private, and for-profit universities in the country. Online universities can charge students lower fees as there is no need for construction and maintenance of physical infrastructures like lecture halls, students halls of residence, and offices for staff members and faculty. Another threat facing the university is the growing negative attitude towards university education in the US. Many people are complaining that university education is too costly and that there is no need to accrue huge debts in pursuit of the same.  The development of many universities is also a threat to CSU as students have many options in their quest for higher education.

 

 

Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)

Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)
		Chicago State University		California State University		Illinois State University
Critical Success Factors	Weight	Rating	Score	Rating	Score	Rating	Score
Teaching	0.25	3	0.75	4	1.00	4	1.00
Research	0.20	2	0.40	3	0.60	2	0.40
Marketing	0.25	2	0.50	2	0.50	2	0.50
Management	0.05	3	0.15	3	0.15	3	0.15
Service Quality	0.15	2	0.30	2	0.30	2	0.30
Financial Position	0.05	2	0.10	3	0.15	2	0.10
Loyalty	0.05	2	0.10	2	0.10	2	0.10
Totals	1.00		2.30		2.80		2.55

 

External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix

External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFE)
Opportunities	Weight	Rating	Weighted Score
Growing demand for graduates in the US	0.05	2	0.10
Growing demand for higher education completion	0.05	1	0.05
Good community relationship	0.05	4	0.20
Partnership with private and public organizations and individuals	0.05	2	0.10
Growth and expansion of businesses in the US	0.05	2	0.10
Threats	Weight	Rating	Weighted Score
Reduction in State funding of public universities	0.35	2	0.70
Online, private, for-profit universities competition	0.15	2	0.30
Competition with traditional universities	0.20	2	0.40
Negative attitude towards costly university education in the USA	0.05	3	0.15
TOTALS	1.00		2.10

 

 

Internal Audit/Assessments

Internal Strengths of CSU

            CSU has several strengths that the institutions can capitalize on to be more competitive, grow, and develop. One strength that CSU has is faculty and staff that support the mission of the university and are committed to the attainment of its vision. A second strength is the provision of good quality service to students and other parties. Thirdly, CSU enjoys effective leadership and management, and that has helped the institution overcome challenges in the past. A fourth strength that CSU has is the availability of necessary infrastructure. The university has invested in lecture halls, offices, library, and other infrastructure that support teaching, learning, and research. Currently, the infrastructure available exceeds the demand for the same. Fifthly, CSU has essential partnerships with private and public organizations and such partnerships help in the attainment of the university’s mission. The five critical strengths should be used to the advantage of CSU for instance in dealing with some of the challenges facing the university.

Weaknesses of CSU

            Several internal weaknesses threaten the survival and growth of CSU. One weakness is the shortage of finances. The state government has reduced its funding of the university (Seo & Haykal, 2018). The university has opted to charge higher fees like other universities to cover its budget deficit. A second weakness that the university has is low enrollment (Rhodes, 2016). The charging of higher fees has negatively impacted enrollment of new students into the university. Thirdly, the university is registering a very high rate of students’ turnover. An increase in student turnover coupled with a reduction in the number of students enrolled in the university has resulted in the university producing fewer graduates compared to its past. A fourth weakness that CSU faces is bureaucracy. The existence of many levels in the university’s organizational structure means that it takes longer for important decisions to be made and implemented.

Financial position

CSU has been struggling financially. The struggles are primarily due to the lower rates of enrollment and retention of students arising due to the charging of higher fees. Reduction in state funding has resulted in the raising of school fees to cover CSU’s budget deficit. The approved budget for the 2019 financial years totals $61,644,900 (Chicago State University, n.d.). The budget covers all the major aspects of the institution. The primary source of revenue for the university is school fees (Chicago State University, n.d.). State government’s allocations also help finance the budget.

Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix

Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE)
Strengths	Weight	Rating	Weighted Score
Faculty and staff that support the mission of the university	0.05	3	0.15
Good quality service to students and other parties	0.05	3	0.15
Effective leadership and management	0.05	3	0.15
Availability of necessary infrastructure	0.05	3	0.15
Important partnerships with private and public organizations	0.05	2	0.1
Weaknesses	Weight	Rating	Weighted Score
Shortage of finances	0.30	2	0.60
Low enrollment rates	0.20	2	0.40
A very high rate of students’ turnover	0.20	2	0.40
Bureaucracy due to complex organizational structure	0.05	3	0.15
TOTALS	1.00		2.25

 

SWOT Analysis

Strengths   ü  Faculty and staff that support the mission of the university ü  Good quality service to students and other parties ü  Effective leadership and management ü  Availability of necessary infrastructure ü  Important partnerships with private and public organizations	Weaknesses   ü  Shortage of finances ü  Low enrollment rates ü  A very high rate of students’ turnover ü  Bureaucracy due to complex organizational structure
Opportunities   ü  Growing demand for graduates in the US ü  Growing demand for higher education completion ü  Good community relationship ü  Partnership with private and public organizations and individuals ü  Growth and expansion of businesses in the US	Threats   ü  Reduction in State funding of public universities ü  Online, private, for-profit universities competition ü  Competition with traditional universities ü  Negative attitude towards costly university education in the USA

 

Strategies

            CSU can implement several strategies to deal with its weaknesses and mitigate against threats. One strategy is the reduction of school fee charged to students. Such a reduction is likely to make CSU more competitive compared to other universities and help attract more students. More students will help contribute more finances to the institution. Reduced fees are also likely to help reduce the rate of turnover. One disadvantage of fees reduction is the likelihood of a shortage of funds to run the university.

A second strategy that CSU can engage in to attract more funds is fundraising. Participating in aggressive fundraising every year is likely to help the university raise more funds. With more funds, the university can easily reduce school fees, and that will help attain its six strategic goals. One disadvantage of reliance on fundraising is that it is hard to get people to give to institutions. Another disadvantage is that funds from donation are not constant and that may affect the budget.

A third strategy that CSU can adopt to deal with some of the issues affecting it is aggressive marketing and advertising. Such advertising and marketing are likely to help beat competitors and attract more students. More students would translate into more money and graduates.  Marketing would help attract more undergraduate, graduate, and professional certification courses to the university. One disadvantage of reliance on marketing is the high cost to be incurred in implementing the same.

Partnership with many public and private institutions for the provision of employment and internship opportunities for CSU students and graduates is another important strategy. The strategy will help increase students placement. One disadvantage of the strategy is that many public and private institutions may not be interested in such partnerships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPACE Analysis

Grand Strategy

 

Rapid Market Growth

 

 

Quadrant 2                   Weak competitive position	Quadrant 1                   Strong competitive position
Quadrant 3	Quadrant 4

 

Slow Market Growth

 

 

 

 

 

IE Matrices

			The IFE Total Weighted Score
			Strong	Average	Weak
			3.0 to 4.0	2.0 to 2.99	1.0 to 1.99
		High	I Grow	II And	III Build
		3.0 to 3.99
		Medium	IV Hold	V And	VI Maintain
The EFE Total Weighted Score		2.0 to 2.99
		Low	VII Harvest	VIII Or	IX Divest
		1.0 to 1.99			0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strategy Formulation

QPSM Matrix

		Alternative Strategies
Critical Success Factors	Weight	Reduce school fees		Maintain the status quo
Strengths		AS	TAS	AS	TAS
Faculty and staff that support the mission of the university	0.05	2	0.10	1	0.05
Good quality service to students and other parties	0.05	3	0.15	2	0.10
Effective leadership and management	0.05	3	0.15	1	0.05
Availability of necessary infrastructure	0.05	3	0.15	3	0.15
Important partnerships with private and public organizations	0.05	1	0.05	2	0.10
Weaknesses
Shortage of finances	0.30	4	1.2	2	0.60
Low enrollment rates	0.20	4	0.8	2	0.40
A very high rate of students’ turnover	0.20	4	0.8	2	0.40
Bureaucracy due to complex organizational structure	0.05	1	0.05	0	0
SUBTOTAL	1.00		3.45		1.85
Opportunities		AS	TAS	AS	TAS
Growing demand for graduates in the US	0.05	3	0.15	1	0.05
Growing demand for higher education completion	0.05	3	0.15	1	0.05
Good community relationship	0.05	1	0.05	3	0.15
Partnership with private and public organizations and individuals	0.05	2	0.10	1	0.05
Growth and expansion of businesses in the US	0.05	0	0	1	0.05
Threats
Reduction in State funding of public universities	0.35	4	1.4	3	1.05
Online, private, for-profit universities competition	0.15	3	0.45	2	0.30
Competition with traditional universities	0.20	3	0.60	2	0.40
Negative attitude towards costly university education in the USA	0.05	4	0.20	3	0.15
SUBTOTAL	1.00		3.10		2.25
SUM TOTAL ATTRACTIVENESS SCORE			6.55		4.10

 

Strategy Choice

Based on the QPSM analysis, the best strategy to adopt is the reduction of school fee strategy. The strategy has a score of 6.55 compared to the maintenance of the status quo strategy which has a score of 4.10. Reducing school fee is likely to aid improve enrollment on all levels, minimize turnover rate, and enhance the number of graduates leaving CSU each year.

Strategy Implementation

Actions to be taken

Year	Action	Parties Responsible	Timeframe	Guiding Policies
Year 1	Settle on the reduced fees to be charged to students	Top Management	2nd Jan-2nd March 2020	Course fees and payment policies
	Inform students on reduced fees	University President	15th March 2020	Course fees and payment policies
	Publicize fees reduction outside the campus	Head of Marketing	1st April 2020-	Marketing policy
Year 2	Publicize fees reduction outside the campus	Head of Marketing	2nd Jan 2021-	Marketing Policy
	Aggressive fundraising	University executives	2nd Jan 2021-31st Dec 2021	Fundraising policy
	Partner with firms to employ CSU graduates	University President	2nd Jan 2021-31st Dec 2021	Industry engagement policy
Year 3	Publicize fees reduction outside the campus	Head of Marketing	2nd Jan 2022-	Marketing Policy
	Aggressive fundraising	University executives	2nd Jan 2022-31st Dec 2022	Fundraising policy
	Partner with firms to employ CSU graduates	University President	2nd Jan 2022-31st Dec 2022	Industry engagement policy
Year 4	Aggressive fundraising	University executives	2nd Jan 2023-31st Dec 2023	Fundraising policy
	Partner with firms to employ CSU graduates	University President	2nd Jan 2023-31st Dec 2023	Industry engagement policy
Year 5	Aggressive fundraising	University executives	2nd Jan 2024-31st Dec 2024	Fundraising policy
	Partner with firms to employ CSU graduates	University President	2nd Jan 2024-31st Dec 2024	Industry engagement policy

 

Strategy Evaluation

            It is critical to monitor the implementation of the strategy and to evaluate the performance of the same. Progress will be monitored annually. The variables that will be measured to evaluate strategy are the number of students enrolled each year to undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional certification courses, the rate of students ‘turnover, and the number of students and graduates placed in jobs and internships. The first step will be to measure the variables. The second will be to compare the variables with the figures recorded in the previous year to evaluate if there is any change. The third step will be to publish the results of the evaluation. At the end of the five years, the trend in change of the three variables will be used to measure whether the strategy worked.

Conclusion

The strategy recommended for implementation is very likely to help CSU attain its goals. The primary cause for decline in performance has been the charging of higher school fees. Reducing fee will help increase enrollment on all levels, minimize turnover, and increase the number of students who graduate from CSU. Partnering with different industries will help find jobs for many CSU students, thus increasing placement.

 

 

References

Chicago State University. A New Mission, Vision and Core Values. Retrieved from https://www.csu.edu/news/missionvisioncorevalues.htm

Chicago State University. Key Books and Records. Retrieved from https://www.csu.edu/budget/budgetsummary/booksandrecords/stateappropriations.htm

Chicago State University. Organizational Chart. Retrieved from www.csu.edu/humanresources/organizationalchart.htm

Rhodes, D. (2016). Only 86 first-year students at Chicago State University, as total enrollment drops 25 percent. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-state-university-enrollment-future-met-20160927-story.html

Seo, B. I., & Haykal, A. N. (2018). Chicago State University. Arcadia Publishing.