University of Mount Union
EN-13: Community Stakeholder Engagement

The University of Mount Union uses and aligns the efforts of three key planning processes: the Strategic Plan, the Campus Master Plan and the Five-Year Operating Plan, which are informed at every level by input from faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders. The Imagine Mount Union Steering Committee oversees the planning of continuous improvements within the institution.

The AQIP Steering Committee was established to guide and monitor the activities and responsibilities of the AQIP accrediting system for the institutional accreditation process through the Higher Learning Commission. The committee is composed of six faculty members, six staff members, the president of Student Senate and a liaison identified by the president.

For prospective students, the University gathers data about needs through ACT/SAT data, individual prospective student visit survey data, the Entering Freshman Survey, Office of Admission program offerings and satisfaction surveys of the summer new student orientation programs.

For current students, the University gathers data about needs through feedback from campus committees, feedback from residence hall activities, career development surveys, student organization advising, exit interviews for students withdrawing from the institution, My First Year in College Survey, the CORE alcohol/drug survey and the Student Satisfaction Survey.

Survey data provides the offices of Alumni Relations and University Activities and Advancement with the levels of satisfaction held by the parents of new and current students.

The Office of Alumni Relations and University Activities employs results of stakeholder data collected during the strategic planning process to guide the Executive Board of the Alumni Council in selecting and evaluating progress for annual action items. This group of 12 alumni leads efforts to actively engage and connect alumni in the life of the University in ways that are meaningful for alumni while supporting key objectives of the Strategic Plan.

Mount Union addresses changing needs of key stakeholder groups through the strategic planning process and updates information regularly by collecting stakeholder information. Data gathered are analyzed in planning sessions and utilized by the offices on campus with direct responsibility for relationship building with the stakeholders.

Mount Union builds and maintains relationships through formal and informal interactions, striving to provide accurate information while both listening and responding to stakeholders’ needs. The University relies on faculty and staff to respond constructively and helpfully in thousands of interactions daily with key stakeholders.

The internal and external environment analysis conducted during the strategic planning process revealed areas of greatest leverage for the University, using a rigorous feasibility process that includes the likelihood of involvement by new student and stakeholder groups. Information is gleaned from national surveys of student groups entering college, regular analysis of regional demographics and the impact on future enrollments, watching trends in the marketplace and regular augmentation of new student orientation programming.

Social media outlets have become an integral part of marketing efforts and are used to engage and converse with stakeholders, particularly students. The Office of Marketing has created a number of communication plans that outline the means and frequency of the institution’s communication with each recognized stakeholder group. For example, parents of current students, as represented by the respondent pool for parent data collection, want periodic information from Mount Union on two topics: academic support and career development services.

List of identified stakeholders:
• Students and prospective students
• Families/Parents of students
• Faculty
• Staff
• Trustees and advisory groups
• Alumni
• Community members

List of identified stakeholders:
• Students and prospective students
• Families/Parents of students
• Faculty
• Staff
• Trustees and advisory groups
• Alumni
• Community members

• Student retention rates and graduation rates (check with Ron Crowl for specific numbers)

• Alumni participation in the Mount Union Fund (check with Advancement)

• Meeting recruitment goals – The University of Mount Union is looking at positive numbers for both the entering freshman class and returning students for the 2014-2015 academic year. According to Amy Tomko, vice president for Enrollment Services, the entering freshman class is projected at between 692 and 702, a considerable increase from last year’s entering class of 642. Goals for the year include the budget number of 625 and the admission target of at least 675 students.

• Nature Center – July 1, 2013- May 31, 2014
• From July 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014, the sum total of the Nature Center’s educational programs and activities attendance is 4,711 people over a total of 200 programs/events. This includes all public programs, school programs, and any other event where at least one staff was present and actively facilitating a lesson, program, lecture, etc.

Nature Center Volunteer programs
Number of Volunteers – 115
Number of Volunteer hours – 1,805

Info From:
Susan Denning Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation, Lecturer, Sociology; Joni Poorbaugh, Assistant Director of Marketing

Entered by Leah Graham