Fig. 2: Northwest College Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) identified by the Board of Trustees and NWC constituency groups and community in February 2021.
The President will lead and inspire the College to embrace the future by creating an environment where bold initiatives are thoughtfully undertaken and related to the Northwest College Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) identified by the Board of Trustees and NWC constituency groups and community in February 2021
Strengths
Faculty & Staff Unique Perspectives:
- International students and programs
Shared Perspectives:
- Student-centric culture
- Quality of academic programs and teaching
- Personalized attention
- Geographic location
- Affordability
Community Unique Perspectives:
- Variety of academic programs
- Community support
Weaknesses
Faculty & Staff Unique Perspectives:
- Reticence to change
- Workload and workload prioritization
- Reliance on transfer programs
- Feeling connected to the community & having community feel ownership of the College
Shared Perspectives:
- Percentage of funding sources outside college control
- Facilities
- Shared governance & shared decision making
Community Unique Perspectives:
- Recruiting new students
- Alignment of academic programs to industry, business, and & community needs
Opportunities
Faculty & Staff Unique Perspectives:
- Increasing recruitment & expanding programming for international students
Shared Perspectives:
- Creating new academic programs
- Centering academic programming, revenue generation, and applied learning opportunities connected to Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
- Increasing applied learning and hands-on training opportunities
- Workforce and middle skill programing (e.g, hospitality, tourism, culinary, drafting)
- Partnerships with businesses, community non-profits, and other programs
Community Unique Perspectives:
- Creation of certificate and micro-credential programs
Threats
Faculty & Staff Unique Perspectives:
- Higher education governance and public policy development
- Economic conditions and impacts on student recruitment
Shared Perspectives:
- Public funding of higher education in Wyoming
- Unprecedented and likely irreversible decline of non-renewable natural resource production and related tax revenue
- Demographic shifts with an aging population of high school students in service area
- Impacts of COVID-19 on future practice and perception
- Prevalence of higher education online providers as well as non-accredited education and training providers
Community Unique Perspectives:
- Community perspectives were the same as those previously noted by other constituencies
