1. COMMUNITY COLLEGE AT A CROSSROADS Staying True While Serving New Audiences 1

2.  Founded 1965  Rooted in its technical school heritage  Technical Certificates, GEDs, Associate Degrees  From Diesel Mechanics to Nursing to pre-Education  Dominates its ‘trading area”  13,000 students 2 CHATTANOOGA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

3. “COMMUNITY’ COLLEGE MEANS...  Open admissions  Serving diverse audiences  High School grads  Adults  Business community  Affordable  Convenient  Accredited  State funded 3

4. THE SITUATION 4

5. TREMENDOUS GROWTH 5

6. GROWTH DRIVEN BY...  Weak economy  Adults retooling, seeking new skills  Families looking for more affordable path to college degree  Strong programs and new partnerships  Volkswagen Academy  Nursing and Allied Health  Two Plus Two  E-learning 6 BA degree

7. STATE CHANGES FUNDING FORMULA  Pre-2010: Funding based on number enrolled  Strategy: Attract more students  Open ‘front door’ 7

8. STATE CHANGES FUNDING FORMULA  2010 and beyond: Funding based on number who graduate  Strategy: Attract, retain, and graduate more students 8

9. CHATT STATE AT A CROSSROADS: GROWTH MUST BE TARGETED  “Growth must be targeted to specific segments, not just overall”.  Dr. Jim Catanzaro, President, October, 2010. 9

10. CROSSROADS – NEED ANSWERS BEFORE MOVING ON 10  Tremendous growth  Some programs at capacity  Nursing, health-related  New programs working  New funding formula: retention  Who?  How?  What?  Why? The strategic challenges defined the questions

11. THE RESEARCH APPROACH 11

12. OBJECTIVES  Assess overall awareness, attitudes and perceptions among constituent groups about Chattanooga State  Explore the decision-making process  Explore the strengths and weaknesses of its communications  Advertising  Website  Learn about the e-learning program  Dig into the root causes of retention 12

13. Graduates Online Prospects High School Counselors Current Students Online Current Online Drop-outs Prospects: HS Adults WE IDENTIFIED ALL CONSTITUENCIES 13

14. Graduates Online Prospects High School Counselors Current Students Online Drop-outs Current Online Prospects: HS Adults WE ORGANIZED THEM INTO RELATED GROUPS 14

15. Graduates Online Prospects High School Counselors Current Students Online Drop-outs Current Online Prospects: HS Adults WE SELECTED A METHODOLOGY TO MATCH THE GROUPS 15 Focus Groups Online Bulletin Board 1-on-1’s

16. THE QUALITATIVE INFORMED THE QUANTITATIVE 16 QUAL QUANT D-Guide Questionnaire

17. KEY FINDINGS 17

18. PERSONIFICATION EXERCISE “ “If Chatt State were a retail chain, i t would be most like _________” 18

19. CHATT STATE DELIVERS ON WHAT MATTERS 19 AffordableVariety of programsConvenient locationSmall classesEasy admissionsAccreditedTransferable credits

20. CHATT STATE HAS MANY POSITIVE BRAND EQUITIES  Jobs and careers  Hands-on learning  Faculty:  Cares  Real world experience  Mentors  Good reputation in the community  Networking 20

21. ‘BRAND’ CHATT STATE HAS SOME LIABILITIES  “The 13 th Grade”  Crowded  Parking  Lenient admissions  Too easy classes  Faculty  Registration, Financial Aid – not working  Low status  Advisor program 21

22. Low Awareness Growth Potential Health (Nursing) Health (Nursing) Business; Sciences Business; Sciences AWARENESS OF PROGRAMS WITH GROWTH POTENTIAL WAS LOW 22 High

23. THE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN WAS APPROACHING WEAROUT  High awareness  “Cheesy,” “not real”  Confusion around the “Ask Joe” phrase  Ads with call-to-action work 23

24. THE WEBSITE SCORED HIGH MARKS  Well-received  Prospective students want the facts - quickly  Challenge: lots of info  Opportunities to improve e-mail functionality  Some helpful features had low awareness 24

25. RESEARCH CONFIRMS BARRIERS TO RETENTION: “Life gets in the way.”  Work  Family  Financial issues  Course work overload 25

26. THERE ARE MANY RESOURCES TO HELP RETAIN STUDENTS...  Caring, helpful, engaged professors  Study resources:  Reading lab  Math lab  Tutoring  Advisors 26... BUT THEY HAVE LOW UTILIZATION

27. E-LEARNING DRIVEN BY CONVENIENCE AND FLEXIBILITY  Convenience and flexibility drive online enrollment  Organized self-starters more likely to succeed  Certain subjects better-suited for online  E-learning would benefit from a stand alone, consumer-focused website 27

28. E-LEARNING’S GROWTH POTENTIAL IS AMONG CURRENT STUDENTS  Current students highly satisfied with online classes  Non-Chatt State online students not really interested in Chatt State 28

29. WHAT’S NEXT? 29

30. INSIGHTS DRIVING A NEW PLANNING PROCESS 30 InsightsStrategic PlanMarketing Plan $ Budget $

31. INSIGHTS DRIVING A NEW STRATEGIC PLAN  Promote programs with low awareness, capacity, and potential for growth  Engineering Technology  Sciences  2 Plus 2 program: Center for Education & Human Services 31

32. THE “ASK JOE” CAMPAIGN GETS NEW MESSAGES  ‘Ask Joe’ messages to communicate many positive brand equities, such as:  Real life success stories of graduates  Affordability  Distinguished faculty  Hands-on learning, small classes  Accreditation 32

33. “ASK JOE” MESSAGES TAILORED TO SPECIFIC AUDIENCES 33 High School “2 Yrs. and get a job” High School “Prepare for Bachelors Degree” High School “2 Yrs. and get a job”

34. COMMUNICATIONS WILL UTILIZE MORE DIVERSE MEDIA  Explore new media  Social media  Public relations: ‘free media” 34

35. STUDENT RETENTION REQUIRES NEW APPROACHES  New strategies: Increase awareness of resources Improve effectiveness of resources Blue sky: Identify at-risk students early on Develop new resources for at-risk students 35

36. THROUGH THE CROSSROADS WITH A NEW APPROACH 36 Little data Broad target and messages Enrollment Nursing, Health Related Data Targeted messages Retention Sciences, Engineering

37. THANK YOU 37