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INTRODUCTION

Montecito State College (MSC), located in Sherman, JF, was established in 1952 as a result of the merger between Montecito Polytechnic College and Sherman Teachers’ College. MSC is located in Montecito in the suburbs of the large western city of Sherman. In 1982-83, the college enrolled 6,200 students in the day division, 2,950 in Extension Studies, and 1,100 in the graduate school. MSC’s undergraduate program offers courses in technical and business related subjects, education, and the liberal arts. The graduate school offers Masters in Arts, Sciences and Education.MSC has a good regional reputation for its programs in education, management, hotel administration, and psychology.

The extension studies program consists of a wide range of courses that includes undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs. The division also subsidizes a range of continuing education programs, which are primarily f

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ocused towards the working professionals and are offered late afternoon, weekday evenings and Saturday morning hours. The extension program offers courses at six satellite campuses.These courses are offered in high school facilities in Sherman City and the suburban towns of North Sherman, San Lucas and Puget. MSC is exploring different methods to increase enrollment in its extension and continuing education programs.

MSC offers a wide variety of courses with asymmetrical quality in the midst of offerings. Most of the professors are either part time or adjunct; Competition from other educational institutions is strong and enrollment for degree courses has dropped over the past year.In addition, satellite campuses, developed to offer students greater convenience, have not proved popular. MSC used innumerable advertising channels and had tough-time measuring the response rate from any of these Channels.

They have chosen to advertise in small ad

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in the Sherman Monitor, and public service announcements on the radio and TV to promote college events and programs. Other local schools not only took advantage of Newspapers, Radio & Television but also included billboards or car cards on buses to diversify advertising channels to gain advantage over the MSC.The President of MSC has authorized an enlarged marketing budget for the coming year in a last attempt to improve the situation. In addition, the Dean of Extension Studies is also challenged with improving enrollment at the satellite campuses.

SITUATION ANALYSIS (WOTS-up)

A Detailed analysis was conducted to determine the current situation for MSC in order to improve the current situation for the future academic years. MSC’s strengths and weaknesses were identified, in comparison with immediate competitors in order to develop strategic alternatives to improve its position in the current market.

Utilizing the Outstanding strengths such as geographic locations, competitively lower fee, & regional reputation, MSC should emphasize these strengths while determining the strategic alternatives to improve the current situation. MSC’s weaknesses can be overcome by concentrating on marketing and advertising tactics that will enable it to successfully meet its goals and maintain a strong position in the market STRENGTHS

Wide range of course offerings in undergraduate as well as graduate Programs.
Increasing rate of enrollment in continuing education.
Ease and availability of satellite campuses offering additional courses to cater for different geographic locations.
Extension studies division offers several continuing education programs, including short, noncredit workshops, courses and seminars.
The new satellite campus location at Pine Creek has easy access to northern region and is just couple of blocks away from the freeway and has a good

public transportation access.

Low cost of tuition at MSC: 50 % less compared to competing private institutions offering higher education

Division of extension studies has control for the tuition price for Continuing education courses. Degree course prices are set and approved by the Dean and President.

Increase in advertising budget.

MSC’s location in a suburb of a relatively large metropolitan area with a suburb population of 755,000 & Metro population of 1. 8 million.

Flexible course schedule offerings to accommodate working professionals.

Considerably good regional reputation in the community for its programs in education, management, hotel administration, and psychology.

The extension division is low cost and is not required to pay fees for institutional costs such as classroom space.

Some of the facilities where extension division conducts classes are offered free of charge for the satellite campuses.

15% of extension school attendees are full time undergraduates.

Dean of Extension Studies is committed to quality & the Director of Public Information has considerable experience in advertising and public relations.

MSC promotes courses or seminars to target precise market segment using mailing lists which enhances its marketing focus

MSC utilizes various advertising media used: print, collateral, newspaper, radio, direct mail to reach every segment of the market.

WEAKNESSES

Shortfalls in current advertising approaches; lack of ability to measure responses from advertising channels.
Smaller Advertising budget compared to competitors.
Lack of Ability to manage and Coordinate all Advertising activities
Advertising is outsources to an external agency which plays passive role
Advertising agency has little incentive to produce or recommend strategies in advertising as they work on a fixed fee basis.
Lack of demand for extension courses that are

indicated by falling enrollment rates.

Most of Montecito’s satellite course offerings rely on adjuncts and the quality of the program is perceived to be inconsistent.

Many satellite courses are cancelled as they are perceived to have lower quality than main campus courses because they were taught by adjunct/part-time professors.

The Dean inherited the marketing strategy without analyzing it; and did not perceive two schools who offer substitute services as competitors

From exhibit 3, it appears that access to Puget satellite campus is not easy.Proximity of the campus explains the decrease in registrations from 1981-82 to 1982-83.

Many of the students in satellite courses are sometimes non-degree seeking. Some might enroll for a semester for a particular class and than never show up again.

Quality of courses offered by the extension program is uneven according to the Dean of extension studies.

The extension division is not supported by general Montecito college funds.

The total costs incurred for mailing publications is unknown by the public information officer because mailings are done on a departmental basis

Not only it is difficult to measure the response rate from different advertising channels due to lack of traceability but also the responses do not reach a centralized point and are funneled through various locations.

Advertising increases enrollment, but the most effective advertising media has not been determined. Highlights lack of follow on marketing strategies.

OPPORTUNITIES

Ability & availability to choose from a variety of advertising media based on market research.
Partner with local community colleges to transfer credits and encourage students to complete their degree at MSC
Adults aged 18-50 looking to supplement their education on a part-time basis.
MSC could

merge with a local college where there is less competition, such as Orezona Community College.

Promote satellite campus offerings to maintain their existence.

Investigate establishing new satellite campuses in underutilized areas such as the north county area, Mountain View and Montana.

Offer more courses geared towards the full time undergraduate curriculum to stimulate enrollment in satellite locations.

Research in partnership with local businesses to understand the needs of a current market and determine potential courses to be offered.Provide incentives like discount rates for the research participants in the new market oriented courses developed.

Provide higher quality courses (or at least equivalent quality compared to Main Campus) at the extension school and ensure that all courses offered meet the desired quality standards.

Larger newspaper advertising that lists the popular continuing education courses as well as other courses offered at MSC. Also consider advertizing on public transportation vehicles and billboards.

MSC being a nonprofit organization is entitled for bulk mailings and second class mailings.MSC also has a 2nd class mailing permit for mass mailing advertising at more economic rate.

The Sherman Monitor is widely read within the region and creates an opportunity to advertise to a wide variety of people.

Implement Activity Based Costing accounting system to capture the effects of marketing activities.

THREATS

Increasing competition for evening classes among several other institutions.
Minimal Product Differentiation between competitors course offerings
Competing institutions seem to do a better job at advertising, hich could lead to decreased enrollment as other institutions continue to brand themselves.
Competitors use full page newspaper advertising with a detailed listing of full courses, while MSC utilizes smaller page advertisements listing the name and location

of the college.

Increased costs of advertising and promotion may not allow MSC to use various marketing channels that would help enrollment goals.

Tuition is set by the Jefferson College System and must be approved by the legislature, ultimately affecting MSC’s competitive advantage in terms of tuition and perception.

There is a potential risk about the state funding being reduced consequently affecting MSC’s budget

The higher tuition price at other competing institutions may be perceived as better quality.

The advertising budget is relatively low as compared to other local junior colleges and proprietary schools in the area.

Competing schools advertise widely on television. And aggressively promote their course offerings.

The distant area population is more apt to purchase their local news publication rather than the Sherman Monitor.

Lake view and Valley Junior have been advertising on billboards and car cards on buses which MSC has failed to attempt.

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