By now, many of you have seen or heard the results of the Focused Differentiation Survey that was shared a couple of weeks ago. The results of that survey helped us see that we are, by a majority,
- aligned on the student populations we should prioritize
- accept (again by majority) that we will have to deprioritize certain student segments as long as we do it based on data
- agree on the attributes that differentiate us
- and believe that we are not yet ready; not disciplined enough to execute a focused strategy
Focused Differentiation is a strategy defined by businessman, author and Harvard professor Michael Porter. It identifies an approach that accepts that you can’t be everything to everyone and promotes the idea of identifying something that you do better than anyone else and that others (the competition) would find hard to copy.
The survey results show that we are in line with who will be our target market: First-generation Hispanic undergraduates from South Texas. We will not be everything to everyone. That’s not to say we won’t accept other students; it just means that first-gen Hispanic undergrads from South Texas are who we will spend valuable marketing dollars on to recruit.
The results also show that we believe we are good at having
- strong career pipelines in select industries
- accelerated pathways (3-year degrees, flexible scheduling)
- personalized, high-touch advising model
- and small-class, faculty-mentored environment
We will have to ‘focus’ more on these attributes if we want to make them so strong that the competition would not be able to replicate them.
The overwhelming response was that we are not yet ready to execute a focused strategy. We are not yet disciplined enough. That is true. Some people may see it as defeating; but this is where Providence and resilience kicks in. It is Easter season after all. We are preparing for our rebirth by making changes and improvements. We are re-evaluating current practices and assessing tools such as software that we no longer need. We are identifying skills that will be needed in this renaissance.
While some will be excited about this refreshing change, there will be some that will be concerned about a change. That is natural. “Change” involves human behavior; and humans involve emotions. Below is a chart that we will discuss at our University Community Convening on April 22nd. The top row shows that in order to have successful change, you need to have Vision, Skills, Incentives, Resources and a Plan. If any of these five items is ignored, then you can see in the blue column the effect that it could cause. Take a look at it. Think about it. Be prepared to discuss it at our convening.
