Colleges, universities, trade schools and other types of advanced learning institutions are important to the global economy. These institutions must produce students who are capable of meeting the needs of today’s society. They must be able to adjust quickly and to compete intensely or they will be left behind. The academic community needs to be able to show that they are capable of turning out students to meet the challenges of world needs and expectations.
Most colleges and universities have not had to implement a marketing strategy to assess their position in the academic community. Changes in management and failure to recognize the direction trends are going could significantly alter the school’s ability to compete with other academic endeavors. Along with planning and management strategies, schools should consider the changing demographics as well as the world outside the confines of their institutions. They should be able to make rapid changes and respond to shifting market dynamics. Social media has also come into the mainstream with universities utilizing You Tube and Facebook.
According to Burrell and Grizzell, authors of Marketing and Strategy in the Academic Leadership Journal, administrators often have problems because they do not have a vision of where they are going; therefore, they cannot communicate the direction to the other stakeholders, such as students, teachers and alumni. You must have a strategic plan in order to run a well-oiled organization and all stakeholders must share in the responsibility of building a successful strategy.
Educational institutions have a responsibility to not only serve their undergraduate student population, but they should provide for the educational needs of working adult students who have returned for advanced degrees or who are working full-time every day. They can achieve results by being sensitive to the needs of the community through programs, such as distance learning or outreach programs. In order to sustain themselves financially and be able to compete academically, schools need to maintain high placement rates for those who graduate.