1994 v22 i14

Marketing the New WPI - who will have the final say?

by Kevin Parker Associate Editor Y o u ’ve probably heard som e o f the background - WPI is in a crisis and needs to diversify to attract a higher quality student body. Newspeak is w illing to bet, how ever, that you real­ ly d o n ’t know the whole story. B asi­ cally, W PI is in the process o f re­ evaluating its program s and its focus.

The future of Y OU R school hangs in the balance. T he ultim ate goal is to prepare W PI for a strong future in the next century. T he problem is that the steps which need to be taken to achieve this goal are not cut and dry.

In an attempt to overcom e perceived problem s with W P I’s student body, President Strauss and Provost A pelian

At this tim e, Newspeak will take no is your official representative to the have w ritten a report, entitled “The official opinion on this m atter, due to adm inistration, Newspeak felt that it New W P I,” which proposes certain insufficient tim e to debate the issues was im portant to publish a Special steps fo r preparing W PI for the 21st involved. H ow ever, we feel century. The main focus of that this issue can not w ait this plan is an attem pt to until the fall to seek out stu­ address W P I’s perceived The main Jbcus o f fTlte New WPIJ is an dent opinion. T hus, the pur­ need to change and sharpen attem pt to address W P I's perceived need to p o se o f th is e d itio n o f its im age to attract a highNewspeak is to introduce you change and sharpen its image to attract a highquality student body. to both sides o f the debate.

On A pril 14, o u r Student quality student body.

Please read the original re­ G o v ern m en t A sso ciatio n port, generated by President (SG A ), adopted an official Strauss and Provost A pelian, response to this proposal. and also read S G A ’s response. T hen, Issue w hich w ould put these tw o re­ W hile SG A agrees that there are prob­ once you are inform ed, let both sides ports in front o f the entire student lem s and that W PI does need to ev al­ know your opinions. T he best w ay for body. H opefully, once you read both uate its stance on several key issues you to do this is to talk to your SG A reports, you can form your ow n opin­ for its future, they disagree w ith many Senators. T hese people, your elected ions w ith all o f the facts and none o f o f the step s w hich have been suggest­ the hype generated by both sides in ed to achieve this goal. Since SGA this debate. represents you, the student body, and

representatives, are the people who the A dm inistration listens to when they w ant to know w hat the student body is thinking. If you support or disagree with their opinion let them know!

In order to facilitate contact be­ tw een the student body and its SGA Senators, we have included a list of the current Senators. Please feel free to contact them at any time. R em em ­ ber, if you say nothing, SG A ’s opin­ ion, as show n in this Special Issue, w ill be seen as the official opinion of W P I’s student body in response to “T he N ew W PI!”

The New WPI Jon C. Strauss, Diran Apelian

March 22,1994

Foreword This proposal begins with the financial motivation for changing the marketing image of WPI in order to regain control of net tuition revenue and hence regain control o f the ability to influence our future. With that background, recent efforts in this regard are reviewed culminating in the work of our consultants, Barton Gillct, to first perform a comprehensive marketing study of the needs and opinions of prospective students and then suggest the elements of a plan for WPI to better meet those needs. Finally, we propose a framework for organizing and marketing “The New WPI” designed to meet the needs and aspirations o f prospective students along with a suggested investment targets to help us realize these important initiatives in a timely fashion.

This proposed framework reflects the discussions we have had this fall and winter with faculty and staff, students, alumni, and trustees, as well as the recommendations of several committees and task forces including the Marketing Task Force, the Blue Ribbon Task Force, and the work of our consultants Barton-Gillet. We start from a position of significant strength, we have come to understand the needs, aspirations and the external constraints of our marketplace, and we have the will to respond vigorously. Moreover, our trustees have expressed their willingness to provide seed funding for a well conceived plan. It is important that we all come together to seize this opportunity to better market the extraordinary learning experience WPI offers and to invest strategically in the enhancement of the exceptional academic balance and pedagogical structure of our project based learning approach.

Though this proposal is titled “The New WPI,” we do not see it as a transformation of our traditional values or programs, but rather a proclamation that we are much more than a “traditional” engineering school. We are already a high quality comprehensive university committed to the betterment of society through preparing students for technologically based careers. Stated quite simply, for us to be able to excel, to aspire, and tocontinue to pursue

our vision, we must first be able to survive. As suggested by the 8% drop in applications for next fall, however, our situation continues to change and thus time is of the essence. It is imperative that we present a different face in the recruitment of prospective students for the fall of 1995, and to do so requires that we agree on the outlines of our new marketing emphases this spring. Additional substantive changes that might be required in academic programs can be worked out through normal governance processes over the next academic year.

Background As has been discussed many times in recent years, the rapidly rising cost of institutional financial aid (tuition discounting) has limited our ability to increase net tuition revenue. In fact, while the compound annual growth rate in tuition revenue net of institutional financial aid was 7.2% over the last decade, it was 4.5% over the last five years, and only 1% last year. Staff benefits and plant operations and maintenance expenses grew at 93% and 6.3% over the last five years and it was necessary to increase student service expenses at an average annual rate of 5.7% to invest in marketing and placement. The only alternative was to reduce other expenses and, as a consequence, the compound annual growth rates for instruction and department research, library, public service and information, and general administration were held at 3.7 %, 2.8 %, 0.1 %, and 0 .9 % over the last five years. With enrollment growing at a 1.4% annual compound rate, annual inflation at 4.2%, and the many new initiatives over this five year period, this has not been an easy task. This same budgetary pressure continues for FY1995 and there are strong indications in reduced retention for the spring of 1994 and a 8% drop in applications for the fall of 1994 that the situation may be deteriorating further.

If it is any consolation, however, we are not alone. Last year, scholarship aid from all sources expressed as a percentage of tuition revenue among CMU, Garkson, RPI, Rose-Hulman, and WPI ranged from a low of 38.9% at WPI to a high of 42.5 % at RPI. Moreover, we have been more successful than any of these peer institutions in maintaining undergraduate enrollment (up 7% since 1988 while RPI’s dropped 6% and G arkson’s 25%) and

Continued to page 2

Student Government Association of W.P.I. Position Paper:

Marketing the New WPI April 14,1994

Motimvn

Marketing the New WPI insists that, in orderto achieve alargerapplicant pool and satisfy the Institute’s financial needs, significant change in marketing is necessary. Some real substantive changes are needed to effect real improvement of W.P.I. as well. Even Richard Hesel, vice president of Barton andGillette,W.P.I.’sown marketing company, says that “Any institution that thinks finding more full-paying students is a panacea to its financial pressures is kidding itself.” 1 Other issues besides marketing need to be addressed as well to make real progress.

The heart of W.P.I., The Plan, is what holds us together, and makes W.P.I. special. The Plan is the greatest strength of this Institution, and is not advertised nearly enough. Students who live in the Northeast and are already interested in a technological education and in W.P.I. are not aware o f The Plan. This is inexcusable. W.P.I. does recruit, with reasonable success in a particular niche. Expansion out of that niche will result in W.P.I. fighting unsuccessfully for students with other schools that have more facilities and better resources to recruit for a wider range of studies than does W.P.I. who has neither the resources nor the name recognition to prosper in such a vast market.

Simultaneously W.P.I.’s attraction to the student it currently attracts will diminish as the school that once offered an extraordinary technology based education, now seems to be diluting itself.

There can be little doubt that the paramount strength of W.P.I. is The Plan. The Plan is a unique, focused, experience-oriented, and self-reliant academic program that should be the envy of all the science and engineering

schools in the nation. Yet The Plan does not seem to be the focus of the public relations this institute carries on.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute mast become synonymous with The Plan, and the ideals it embodies, in the minds of all technologically minded high school students. Informal discussion revealed that students who have both the appropriate interests for W.P.I. and are capable academically were completely unaware ofThe Plan during the time they were applying to colleges. These students, some of whom went to competing institutions, were from Boston, New York, Connecticut, and even Worcester! At college fairs, visits to high schools by admissions representatives, presentations by student ambassadors, and in all advertising done by this school, the focus needs to be on The Plan. It is intrinsically tied to the heart of the institute and on its strength lies our ultimate success or failure. The Plan Ls the substance of the academic world created here; W.PJ. needs to embrace it Marketing the New WPI portrays the Institute as a “Comprehensive University”; such a description is not an accurate reflection of this school. While W.P.I. may be officially classified as a university it, must be admitted that such a classification means little to a high school senior, or to the public at large. The essence and spirit of that term must be addressed as well. The term “Comprehensive University” implies a balanced curriculum with strong opportunities in many different facets. That is not what W.P.I. really is. W.P.I. has extraordinary opportunities in the Sciences and Engineering. The descriptors “A Comprehensive Technological University”, “A Technolog­ ical University,” and “A Science and Engineering Oriented University” all seem much more accurate and less misleading. Though these may not appear good marketing tools we should pursue opportunities in this direction.

Continued to page 3

This old sign with the two towers used to welcome visitors to WPI. In the past few weeks it has been replaced by the new sign to the right. Is the administration already adopting its plans to change the school’s name to WPI, or are these simply “temporary” signs for the benefit of prospective students and graduating seniors?

met-.

NEWSPEAK FILE PHOTO

NEWSPEAK STAFF PHOTO / GEOFF ELLIOTT

NEWSPEAK SPECIAL EDITION

Page 2

THE NEW WPI

Tuesday May 3,1994

(CONTINUEO FROM PAGE 1)

growing institutional recognition. But, while misery may love company, it is still misery. We must find a way to break this seemingly inexorable cycle of increasing competition for a diminishing pool o f qualified prospective engineering and sciencc students leading to ever increasing tuition discounts reducing thereby the net tuition revenue required to support the quality programs that attract the students in the first place.

In the absence of colluding with our competition, which would certainly interest the Justice Department and probably not work anyway, it would appear that it is up to us to solve this problem. This recognition, however, is not new. Starting with the work of the Enrollment Management Task Force in 1986, through the development of the Strategic Plan in 1988 and 1989, and on to the Marketing Task Force in 1990, we’ve been at this for some time. The Blue Ribbon Task Force in 1992 and 1993 affirmed that we need to broaden our appeal to prospective students as a comprehensive technological university. Subsequently we engaged the services of Barton-Gillet to conduct a market study to leam what prospective students think of WPI and what they really want in a college education.

The challenge to us now is to employ the market survey information and the Barton Gillet recommendations to position WPI as the institution of choice for more prospective students. Fortunately, the data suggests this to be more a marketing than a programmatic challenge. We have significant strengths that, with modest enhancement, can be marketed better. TTie goal here is not to attract more matriculating students; our present enrollment is quite appropriate for our fixed resources. Rather, the goal is to improve net tuition revenue bv attracting more, hopefully higher ability to pay, applicants from which a higher quality, higher net revenue student body can be selected. But, as confirmed by Barton-Gillet, attracting significant numbers of additional applicants will require a major repositioning; improvements at the margin will not suffice.

Barton Gillet Recommendations Based on their own analysis of the market survey, discussions with WPI personnel, and their own extensive experience in higher education, Barton Gillet began their recommendation report with the following cautions: • “W e should begin by emphasizing our strong judgment that only a major repositioning of WPI in the marketplace will succeed in making possible an escape from the current predicament.

• Action and change must occur on several key fronts, each o f which advances the presentation of a new WPI providing an education for a world of science and technology that is undergoing profound change.

• While our market research and analysis indicate that WPI can make some headway through incremental changes in its recruitment marketing operations, it is clear that change at the margin will not be enough.”

Their recommendations speak to innovation, communication, and marketing:

Continue Academic Product Innovation: “Reposition WPI as the: University of the Future • Move aggressively to reposition WPI in the engineering market by capitalizing on innovations in program and delivery.

Results of Market Survey Barton Gillet employed the firm of Kane Parsons & Associates to measure the potential impact o f initiatives recommended by the Blue Ribbon Task Force that would move WPI further in the direction of linking strong programs in the sciences, mathematics and engineering with their counterparts in the humanities, arts and social sciences.

The market survey consisted o f300 extensive interviews: 150 inquirers (of23,000), 75 no-show applicants (of 2,000) and 75 freshmen (of 700). Inquirers had SAT scores of at least 600 math and 500 verbal.

The size and quality of the inquirer pool is very encouraging. Here we have 23,000 well qualified young men and women who explicitly request our literature, but only some 2,700of whom ultimately apply to WPI. Moreover, the inquirer pool tends to be more diverse in gender, geography, race, and academic interest, of higher academic quality, and of higher ability to pay than either applicants, or freshmen.

• Move resolutely to broaden WPI’s appeal at the marginsof engineering, to attract students to a future-oriented, technologically-based education in selected pre-professional fields as well as selected fields in the natural sciences, social sciences, and arts that bridge technology and herald employment needs o f the future.

• We are not recommending a broad-based expansion of the liberal arts at WPI. Rather, programs should be developed that integrate study in certain fields where there are natural links to science and technology.

To achieve such a repositioning of WPI: 1. Re-establish WPI as the leader in creating a new standard for professional engineering education.

In terms of educational and career directions:

2. Establish the combined BS/MS degree as the terminal degree for practicing professionals.

• 33% of the inquirers, 63% o f the no-shows, and 72% o f the freshm en intend to major in engineering.

3. Define a broader, technologically-oriented education of the future.

• 39% of the inquirers, 32% of the no-shows, and 25% of the freshmen intend to major in science.

4. Broaden the student body.

• Comparatively high percentages of both the inquirers (24%) and no-shows (15%), but relatively fewer freshmen (4%), are interested in biological sciences.

5. Establish a program of formal inter-institutional academic collaborations.

6. Continue to strengthen international programs.

• Nearly 25% of the inquirers express a medical career preference, but only 8% of the no-shows and 7% of the freshmen.

• Of the 19% of the inquirers likely to major in a non-science subject, 11 % are Arts and Humanities, 6% are Social Science, and only 2% are Business related.

•The comparable numbers for the total college going population in 1993 were 8.7% engineering, 5.6% biology, 4.1% other sciences, 74.4% non-science, and 7.2% undecided. The 74.4% non-science majors include 83% Arts and Humanities, 16.1% Business, 10% Education, 19.7% Professional, 9.3% Social Sciences, 2.9% Technical, and 8.1% Other.

Most would agree that these numbers demonstrate enormous opportunity in the biological sciences where we have significant strengths and important strategic alliances with local and regional industry and in premedicine where WPI graduates have been very successful both in gaining admission to medical school and in their subsequent careers. It is also clear that our significant strengths in business and management are not attracting inquirers, let alone freshmen, anywhere near proportional to the interest in the general college going population.

Moreover, the following data suggest that the inquirers do not perceive our commitment to, and strengths in, humanities and social sciences.

• Science oriented inquirers, especially those with higher SAT scores, are more likely (at 61%) to believe humanities and the social sciences are very important than no-shows (at 48%) or freshmen (at 47%).

7. Change W PI’s name.”

Refocus Communication: “In order to produce the most rapid and dramatic repositioning of WPI and the related recruitment gains desired, the initiatives recommended must be supported by an ambitious and aggressive program of communications and public relations.” This campaign should emphasize both media relations and new recruitment materials.

Reform Marketing Process: ‘T o strengthen its appeal and distinctiveness, and to underpin the goal of positioning WPI as ‘the University o f the Future,’ we believe it is essential to develop innovations in this process that engage prospective students on a different, more substantive level.” These innovations might include better counseling, electronic bulletin boards, and better prospect targeting.

Framework Consider the lifecycle of a student’s association with WPI: General Prospect A) Inquirer B) Applicant Q Student D) AJumnus(a) with the four fundamental processes: A. Premarketing -

emphasis: image and perception objective: increase inquirers

B. Marketing -

emphasis: reality, strengths, quality objective: increase applicants

C. Sales-

emphasis: value added objective: increase net revenue

D. Educational Program -

emphasis: a learning community objective: well rounded, practicing, or pre-, professionals

• O f the non-science oriented inquirers, 42% believe obtaining a broad perspective on scientific and technical issues to be very important and another 52% believe it to be somewhat important.

In view of these data, it is not surprising that inquirers are considerably more likely than no-shows or entering freshmen to express favorable perspectives regarding universities compared to technological institutions:

Association with Universities (%)

Strongest Facultv 63 45 15

Inquirers No-shows Freshmen

Most Prestigious 71 51 46

Future Leadership Preparation 67 60 37

Cutting Edge 47 40 19

Student Diversity 93 93 81

If we are to increase net tuition revenue by increasing number of applicants, there is work to be done on all four of these processes. And, as we begin to consider the improvements necessary in marketing and sales, it is important to remember Barton Gillet’s admonition that change at the margin will not be sufficient; a major repositioning is required. The framework for change that follows attempts to be true to these cautions while addressing the identified

Continued to page 4 Moreover, freshmen, no-shows, and inquirers are all likely to identify technological institutions with highly specialized, one sided graduates. There is, of course, another side to these data. Just as inquirers are more attracted to universities, freshmen are more attracted to their perception of WPI as a technological institute. And, in trying to increase our appeal to more broad based inquirers, we must be mindful of retaining our appeal to the very talented students we now attract.

Perhaps most encouraging of all the survey data is the high regard in which WPI is held in comparison to very prestigious peer institutions. The following ratings indicate the relative perception of the different cohorts o f undergraduate program quality on a ten point scale. While the high rating for WPI from freshmen is not surprising, the other ratings are encouraging indeed.

Average Rating of Undergraduate Program Quality (10 pt. scale) Institution Cornell Tufts CMU RPI WPI Clarkson UMass UNH

Inquireis 8.8 8.0 7.8 7.5 7.3 6.7 6.3 6.1

No-shows 8.4 7.7 7.9 7.5 7.7 6.7 6.5 6.4

Fre 8.3 7.8 7.6 7.8 9.0 6.8 6.3 6.1

But, perhaps the most telling data from the perspective of how to attract greater numbers o f inquirers to apply are the following: •The factor cited most often by inquirers (67% major, 17% concern) and no-shows (43% major, 27% concern) as a reason for not choosing WPI was a preference for a more all around school over a technological institution.

• No-shows were comparatively more likely to cite cost (39% major, 25% concern) and quality of life (21% major, 45% concern) reasons.

N e w spe a k The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute WPI Box 2700, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609 Phone (508) 831-5464 • Fax (508) 831-5721 Editor-In-Chief

N e w Editor

Bu«lne»» Manager

Graphic* Editor

Vijay Chandra

Chris Freeman

John Grossi

Kristen Greene

Photography Editor

Feature! Editor

Jason Philbrook

Writing Staff

Brian Parker

James Aduskevich Jason Hutt Becky Kupcinskas Harrison Ripps Joe Schaffer Andrew Watts Jennx Yambert

Photography Staff Matt Bonanno Geoff Elliott Joe Ferra Patti Kessler Byron Raymond Don Socha

Advertising Manager Dave Koelle

Faculty Advisor John Trimbur

Assoclst* Editor* Graphic* Staff Melissa Perkalis Troy Thompson

Circulation Manager Lexie Chutoransky

Michael Caprio Eric Craft Jennifer Kavka Sue MacPherson Kevin Parker Tom Sico

Typist Dennis Obie

W PI Newspeak of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, formerly the Tech News, has been published weekly during the academic year, except during college vacations, since 1909 Newspeak has been printed on recycled paper since January, 1991 Masthead designed by Troy Thompson for Newspeak's 21st Anniversary. Letters to the Editor should be typed (double-spaced) and must contain the typed or printed name of the author as well as the author's signature, telephone number, and box number for verification. Students submitting letters to the editor should put their class after their name. Faculty and staff should include their full title. Letters deemed libelous or irrelevant to the WPI community will not be published.

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Page3

NEWSPEAK SPECIAL EDITION

Tuesday May 3,1994

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION POSITION PAPER

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)

Resources in management, social science, and the humanities serve as tremendous strengths, but the thrust o f the education always will be, and always should be, technologically oriented. While there are significant strengths in the faculty of those departments, there are not a significant number of higher level courses, nor opportunities for much advanced work in these disciplines. The emphasis instead lies in excellent science and engineering programs. The administration maintains we have many strengths in our Humanities and Arts department and deserve the university title. Such a view meets with opposition among the W.P.I. community. While the phrase “Comprehensive University” may imply something we are not, it can be agreed that W.P.I. has some strong resources in non-science and engineering areas that need to be recognized. What W.P.I. has is a minimal requirement to be termed a university, and does not meet that definition of a “Comprehensive University” in spirit with regard to academics and other intangibles. Aggressively marketing ourselves as a comprehensive university is an intellectually dishonest act.

There are two near-guaranteed ways to bring more interest and applicants to W.P.I.: strong prospects for employment, and strong student and alumni recruiting. A promise, that can be fulfilled, of a world class education and professional employment following graduation would be an obvious draw to potential applicants. Also, customers, both former and current students, that are pleased with their W.P.I. education and experiences who encourage others to take part in the experience are equally, or more, important. The value of such word of mouth recruiting among trusted friends, relatives, and associates cannot be overestimated. Marketing the New WPI has tried to address the issue of professional employment by building preferred supplier relationships with businesses and placing an increased emphasis on the entrepreneurial programs. Such issues need to be addressed in light of the dismal placement rate within W.P.I. in recent years. A specific plan needs to be developed to better achieve this goal. This action is applauded as an excellent step towards solving a difficult problem.

The opinions of the students and how they share those with prospective recruits may be the most important factor of all. Currently, the opinion of the Institute is not alwaysa very high one. Very few dispute the high academic standards and the strength o f the programs at W.P.I., however, issues of quality of life are repeatedly cited as negative issues. This issue serves as a significant detriment to recruiting. While academics are clearly the most important issue for the Institute and the purpose o f attendance here, quality of life impacts adversely upon recruiting and needs to be addressed for long term success. There are complaints that there is nothing to do on this campus; however there are plenty of programs and events available to counter that argument. The problem lies not with the Social Committee or funding, but rather the community attitude. For too many individuals, such events are the only social life here, and W.P.I. lacks a cohesive feeling that leads to spontaneous gatherings and events. A student body that is not diverse in gender or in race and is composed largely of students from New England contributes greatly to this problem. Some progress has been made in making the student body a more integrated and cohesive group, but there is not a feeling of community within all the groups of the Institute. The faculty are generally very approachable, as evidenced by some excellent student-faculty relationships that have been developed, however this does not seem to be a trend for the campus. Something must be done to break down the perceived barrier between the students, the faculty, and the administration. More study needs to be done on this issue to create a greater sense o f satisfaction with the Institute on all levels. Such satisfaction will be reflected positively in recruiting. The Campus Center will help improve the situation by providing a foundation from which to build a larger sense of W.P.I. community. This should not be considered a panacea. Further work needs to be done to address concerns in this area.

The accomplishments of this school need to be more successfully advertised. Reports in a recent science magazine recently highlighted a solar power car designed by M.I.T. as cutting edge technology. In truth, W.P.I. students had developed a similar project previously which matched M.I.T.’s. Many MQP’s and IQP’s are undertakings of an impressive nature and would be of interest to both the public and industry. The news service is proving itself to be inadequate. More must be done to herald our own successes and build the reputation of Worcester Polytechnic Institute through the work already being done.

Among the correct and most thought provoking points of Marketing the New WPI is that W.P.I. is perceived too strongly as only an engineering school, and more attention needs to be paid to the scientific programs here. It is not a matter of perspective applicants misinterpreting our name, as it is not focusing efforts in those types of programs. On the contrary, 39% of the inquirers in the Barton and Gillette study showed interest in science at W.P.I., so the logical conclusion is that the W.P.I. presented to them in response was not suitable. The issue is not just the name, but the literature and more in-depth opportunities they were presented with after initial interest Work needs to be done on such methods to greater stress the scientific and engineering science strengths of this Institute. If the name had deterred the inquirers, they never would have bothered to ask for more information, it would seem to be either the programs themselves or the secondary resources that are fault. The programs are far too strong, so the conclusion must be made that they are being portrayed ineffectively.

The newfound interest on scientific emphasis at W.P.I., particularly in the Biological Sciences is promising.

Those majors attract more students from more diverse W.P.I. student groups (i.e. females, and non-Caucasians).

Such work can only broaden the perspective of the current population while still remaining convincingly attached to the spirit and mission o f W.P.I., that of a technologically based education and learning how to learn.

Point fly Point Rebuttal Proposal 1: Changing the Name of Worcester Polytechnic Institute to WPI, where the descriptor “A Comprehensive University” might be appended where appropriate. While the name change is intended to appeal to a wider variety o f students, awareness must be maintained of the chance of losing the current student that attends Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The traditional W.P.I. student came here because of the current strengths of the Institute and the new name does less to indicate these strengths. As already discussed the phrase “Comprehensive University” is not completely truthful, and may only serve to make prospective students start comparing the school to the Yales, UMasses, and Boston Universities of the world. When liberal arts and similar programs are considered, W.P.I. just cannot compete. W.P.I. has a niche now, and a very legitimate fear exists of losing what we have while reaching for something new. More emphasis needs to be paid to the very strong science programs of this school, as the student market seems to indicate a shift towards them. Too often W.P.I. is referred to as an engineering school, and the sciences are ignored. Perhaps a descriptor o f “A Scientific and Engineering Oriented University” would be more apt.

Referring to Worcester Polytechnic Institute as WPI in literature and headlines may be appropriate, as long as no effort is made to pretend that WPI is not an acronym. If WPI is a more sound marketing tool than Worcester Polytechnic Institute, conservative use of it should be encouraged, but the official name and the name on the diploma should forever read Worcester Polytechnic Institute to avoid loss o f name recognition in industry.

Referring to the Institute in such a manner would be denying our histories and traditions of which we should be proud.

Proposal 2: Development of Interface Discipline Programs, and a scheme for keeping them current in the future. W.P.I. does need to react to changing market concerns, but must remain completely aware of the technology focus of the Institute. The new programs will attract students not interested in W.P.I.’s previous offerings, but if they escape the technological scope they will begin to draw negatively on the other programs. This will reflect on the value of any W.P.I. graduate. The Interface Discipline plan encompasses the spirit of how the Plan was meant to be interpreted. In this lie opportunities for growth and more flexible studies. Interface disciplines can be a tremendous strength for the Institute in the years to come, if the appropriate scope of technology is always kept as the defining criteria for a new program. It is essential progress be made in this area and strong, creative, and effective programs be developed. The programs would allow for W.P.I. to react quickly and efficiently to changes in the market and the world while still maintaining excellent standards using the exceptional resources already present as the building blocks for new programs. Some caution to always keep the appropriate scope of W.P.I. in mind, and the complete consent and cooperation o f the faculty, should be primary in the decisions on new programs.

Proposal 3: Professional masters program, newly structured degrees for varying time frames.

This will allow W.P.I. to recruit more effectively in certain niches for students looking for the non-traditional education. Greater course selection must be offered in the summer if such a plan is expected to be viewed with realism. Expansion of summer programs would make course selection more flexible and thereby ease the

difficulties of doing co-op or programs abroad. Care must be taken, as with the interface disciplines, that quality is not sacrificed for another paying student. Also beware that a 3 year program may get accidentally viewed as an associates degree in a marketplace that often reacts off instinct instead of investigating the details. All programs need to be as challenging and rewarding as one that is completed in a different time frame. Overpopulation of the graduate program is an issue that needs to be looked at as well. Such enticing offers to attract more W.P.I. graduates could lead to a situation with far more qualified applicants than the program can support Such a situation yields little gain to the Institute. With the pressure of high student loans, and attractive professional salaries, this is an inventive way to encourage larger participation of graduate school, among W.P.I. alumni.

Proposal 4: Increase the efficiency of teaching at W.P.I. through a new emphasis of student responsibility as isconsistent with the original intent of the Plan. Such a trend of moving emphasis away from the classroom, could be a good thing, but the faculty must remain available to cooperate with the student educational process. This is a non-debatable point. Teaching through PLAs, TAs, or videotapes is in no sense acceptable for the tuition paid to attend here, nor will it be conducive to continuing the excellent education a W.P.I. student intends to get. Fault in the classroom can be assessed to both the faculty and student effort. More attention needs to be paid on a regular basis to the communication and teaching abilities of all instructional personnel. Such a proposal may allow more self-directed learning and more in depth studies, but it needs to be viewed with extreme caution. The students recognize the value of faculty research keeping them on the edge of technology, but that must never occur at the expense o f educating the students.

The Plan needs to be re-evaluated to make sure that the steps we are taking with the projects are accomplishing the Plan’s original intent. Courses should teach problem solving techniques and fundamental principles instead of the current emphasis on the solving o f template problems, grades, and distribution requirements.

W.P.I. has tended to stray away from the original viewpoint of the projects. Too many students view them as simply a credit and not as the exciting hands-on opportunity they can and should be. More enthusiasm for the quality and applications of the projects needs to be generated, and with that much of the change wanted in the classroom would follow naturally. If student proposed projects, always with faculty consent as it is now, were stressed to a greater degree a natural enthusiasm for the projects and their potential impact would grip the students.

This would help to revitalize the potential and spirit of The Plan.

Proposal 5: Development of new preferred supplier relationships with specific companies and markets for WPI graduates. This is a needed approach to a very difficult and rapidly changing market, in a time of a decreasing interest in technology. While we believe this trend to be a temporary one, this is a clever and effective solution to an immediate problem and should be implemented without hesitation. This would not be completely truthful without admitting that there is some skepticism about the effectiveness of the idea. The CDC has shown a poor rate of job placement recently, and the recent track record of this school does not show a large array of excellent relationships with a wide range of businesses. Forging closer ties with alumni run businesses must be a focus of this initiative. The endeavor is worthy and implementation should be attempted, the additional funds may make the endeavor a more successful one.

Proposal 6: W.PX needs to increase emphasis on the global perspectives program and co-op.

With the world rapidly becoming interconnected and the economy globalized these can only be viewed as positive moves that may attract more applicants and increase diversity on campus, increasing both academic and social perspectives. Co-ops encourage contacts within companies that can develop into full time job opportunities later on. This can be positively linked to the attempt to form preferred supplier relationships with particular companies.

In the same spirit, we strongly recommend that the possibility of allowing a salary concurrent with doing a project for credit be considered as proposed by Provost Apelian. Excess can be dangerous dealing with too much movement towards business oriented academics. A program so heavily tied to co-op, like that of RIT, loses the academic emphasis a highly rated program needs to have. A shift towards that of preparing yourself for corporate America is far to vocational in nature for a student interested in a complete education. W.P.I. should not simply become a place to come to get a job, a so-called ‘Gateway to the Professions’. A technologically based education and academic experience still are and always should be the primary focusof this Institute. Co-op and travel certainly have a place in that picture but care must always be taken not to let the focus drift

Proposal 7: More formal collaboration with consortium schools. There are certain areas that this proposal hopes to address that are being adequately addressed by the Interface Disciplines program. More cooperation would be positive. But, as has been the theme of this entire paper, beware of diluting W.P.I. with liberal arts colleges. Merging management departments with Clark would have a good chance of diluting the special perspective a W.P.I. marketing major has now. Consortium opportunities may give chances to W.P.I. students who wish to delve deeper into the humanities an opportunity to do so, and are in that respect positive. Caution must be taken to avoid misrepresentation of consortium resources as our own. Remember that we are responsible and have a duty to provide a strong science and technology emphasis, and perhaps W.P.I. is not the best choice for someone strongly interested in the liberal arts. For those with interests in both areas we stress developments of the interface disciplines to create programs that feature the interaction of some facet o f technology with society, as is consistent with W.P.I.’s focus.

Proposal 8: A larger role for Arts and Humanities at the New WPL This point has been covered quite thoroughly. Cautious expansion of the Humanities can benefit the technological student at W.P.I., while too much expansion away from the Institute’s strengths will result in dilution of the program yielding nothing for the Institute in the long run. The Plan features humanistic technology, so perhaps expansion o f the Social Sciences would be a more effective and appropriate approach to the concerns o f prospective students about the well­ roundedness of a W.P.I. education. The Institute does some things with exceptional ability, this must not be jeopardized to appeal to students outside our focus. What needs to be done is better representation of what we are, our strengths, and abilities to the market w e are already in.

Proposal 9: More emphasis on entrepreneurship. This is very appropriate and very applicable to many of the career paths W.P.I. graduates take. It is also consistent with the emerging Interface Disciplines and could stand as an example of creative solutions to a changing marketplace within the W.P.I. community for years to come.

Proposal 10: Improve the quality of life. This is a substantive change that will effectively address the concerns that plague W.P.I.’s recruiting. Attention needs to be paid to the Campus Center project to make sure that it becomes not only a reality but a strong and workable building to bring this campus closer together. Expansion of special interest housing with houses devoted to particular interests would be a positive step. Floors of houses could be dedicated to photography, drama, and specific languages. In addition, the following questions need to be addressed: How do graduates and undergraduates interact, other than on a TA - student basis? While academically prepared, how do Mass Academy students impact on the quality of life on campus? What needs to be done to increase satisfaction with the living conditions and social life in Worcester, and at W.P.I. in particular?

Can issues of diversity, acceptance, and understanding be addressed on this campus in a reasonable time period?

Conclusions The Institute has identified a problem and taken steps to address and react to it For that they are commended.

In taking these steps care needs to be taken not to lose what we already have a hold on, and never to dilute or harm the extraordinary technological education that Worcester Polytechnic Institute offers. The strengths of this school lie in the very strong education and in the Plan. These are what need to be featured more strongly and more effectively, and are a point that is impossible to stress too much. We must not portray ourselves as something we are not, or do not wish to become. Embrace what Worcester Polytechnic Institute is, be proud of those strengths and market them more effectively than is currently being done.

Endnote: 1 Wall Street Journal - Wednesday January 5,1994.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVES W arren Smale Barbara Doyle Amy Scott Cathleen C onnelly Josh Arias Jason Averill Stephen Bergman Prakash Bhatia

President (outgoing) Vice President (outgoing) Secretary (outgoing) T reasurer (outgoing) Rachel Butland Lexie Chutoransky Ryan Daly Nat Fairbanks Deb Foley

SGA R ep resen tativ es m ay be rea c h e d In calling the SGA office, 831-5565, o r via em ail to sga(V/ wpi.

Josh Greene John Grossi Edward Hallissey Sylvia Khatchadourian Eugene Kim

Joe Laydon Chris M cKeever Pat McM anus Joseph Plunkett Kirsty Reidy

G reg Findlen Fiona A bram s Dan Corriveau Donald Socha Mike Schultz Josh Single Danielle J. Snow Justin Sprague Patrick Sullivan

President-Elect V ice President-Elect Secretary-Elect Treasurer-Elect Andy Thiessen C hristopher Thomas Dennis W alsh W olf W inset

Page 4

THE NEW WPI

NEWSPEAK SPECIAL EDITION

Tuesday May 3,1994

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2)

needs to continue academic product innovation, refocus communication, and reform the marketing process.

programs would not need to guarantee professional school admission to be successful.

The marketing survey and the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force and Barton Gillet lead to the following observations:

6. The marketing survey reinforced the significant attraction o f our global perspectives program to broad based students. Investments must be made to assure that the program continues to grow in WPI with greater emphasis on strategic project center and exchange opportunities in the Americas, A sia and Europe. We should also explore the feasibility of offering greater language support and facilitating international Coop and internship opportunities.

• We must be true to our strengths and not market what we are not or at least do not intend to become.

• There is enormous opportunity in the inquirer pool for biological sciences and premed majors where we have significant strengths and strategic opportunities. However, our capabilities are scattered and do not present a cohesive picture to the prospective student.

• There is opportunity in the prospect pool to increase inquirers in all areas and significant demand for Business/ Management majors where we have unrecognized strengths.

• There are burgeoning societal needs in environmental issues and the communication, computer and information sciences that will create even greater future demand for majors in these areas where we have good current strengths and significant future opportunities.

• By virtue of our broad based undergraduate educational programs and our growing graduate education and research activities, and as recognized in our Carnegie Classification, WPI is a university in all but name. W e truly have moved from being a large technological college to a small comprehensive university. And, interestingly, our U.S. News & World Report number one ranking iseamed against other comprehensive universities in our northern region, most notably Villanova and Alfred.

• With our commitment to broadening our programs and particularly to the interface disciplines, WPI is in an advantageous position to “repackage” our strengths and capabilities to parallel societal needs and to respond to the interests of the marketplace.

7. As suggested by Barton Gillet, more formal collaboration with liberal arts institutionscould only help increase our appeal to more broad based students. We should certainly see if more could be done to lower barriers to our students benefiting from courses at Consortium Institutions. In addition, the ongoing work to organize and fund externally a teaching certification program in cooperation with Consortium institutions should be encouraged.

8. While probably not a source of large numbers of new majors, Humanities and Arts has a central role to play in the development of WPI. 9. The new Entrepreneurs Collaborative established this year under the leadership of Donald Berth and Arthur Gerstenfeld should be expanded and promoted to inquirers and applicants.

10. The ongoing efforts to design and fund the new campus center should be accelerated given the potential improvement of the quality of life identified by both the Commission on Residential and Social Life and The Blue Ribbon Task Force.

These hypotheses will not by themselves, however, lead to more applications from higher ability to pay students.

As recommended by Barton Gillet, the name, organization, and program changes suggested in the hypotheses will need to be made known to the prospective student marketplace. Significant investments will thus be necessary in promotion and sales.

Investment Twsets • There is significant demand among broad based students for exposure to the skills and challenges of entrepreneurship. Interestingly, despite our lack of formal studies here, the WPI alumni have been very successful as entrepreneurs and will be a significant resource to any such program.

• The current poor employment prospects for bachelors graduates arc not only depressing to these new alumni, but they are reducing interest in majoring in engineering and science. Additional effort is needed in job development and in establishing the special value o f a WPI graduate.

• There is significant interest among prospective students for teaching certification in mathematics and science from a technological perspective. Interest in our faculty and support capabilities available through the Gmsortium make this an interesting opportunity.

• As evidenced in the market survey, perceptions of poor quality of life are limiting potential applications.

[Ed note: The remainder of "TheNew WPI" has been replaced by thefollowing document, takenfrom a paper released March 24,1994 by PresidentJon C. Strauss and Provost Diran Apelian entitled "A Marketing Planfor the New WPI" It is an updated version of the original text ] ...As intended, The New WPI and its predecessor drafts have prompted a great deal of discussion in and between all the WPI constituencies and led to a number of suggestions for improvement. The intent of this document “A Marketing Plan for the New WPI” is to capture those elements of a marketing plan on which significant, but certainly not total consensus is developing. Accordingly, the sequel presents revised hypotheses and investment targets in the format of The New WPI document.

Hypotheses Barton Gillet characterized the challenges we face in repositioning, and the resources we command in meeting these challenges, by stating that: “ We are confident that the basis of such a new position already exists in the WPI Plan, the directions in which you have been leading the Institute, and some of the imaginative proposals now on the table. What is needed is a focus and a unifying platform and direction for these initiatives. ” The degree requirements of the WPI Plan would continue to provide the distinctive focus in the New WPI for which WPI is known. Our project-based education, with strong and consistent emphasis on mathematics, science/ technology, and humanities/social sciences, will promote uniform expectations about learning and its outcomes throughout the New WPI preparing students for careers in increasingly diverse technologically-based fields.

To promote further community involvement in the definition of the New WPI, we advance the following hypotheses regarding a unifying platform and direction from these observations and the previous studies and discussions: 1. To broaden our appeal to the 84% of the inquirers who expressed a preference for a more all around school while still recognizing our traditional roots, Worcester Polytechnic Institute should be referenced wherever possible by the three letters (no periods): WPI The descriptor “A Comprehensive University” might be appended when appropriate.

2. To facilitate both the fact and the perception o f special care to the new types of undergraduate students attracted to the new opportunity areas such as the biological sciences, we should organize specific interdisciplinary programs responding to societal needs to complement our existing academic departments. The challenge is to maintain disciplinary strengths (and loyalty) and yet define ways to respond to interface opportunities and societal issues and to the special needs of non-traditional students.

In addition to the interface discipline proposals that were generated in response to the Blue Ribbon Task Force recommendations and are now being evaluated, the societal needs and consequent market demands suggest opportunities for additional, highly visible, student oriented programs in:

An important aspect of the charge to the Blue Ribbon Task Force was the possible provision of investment funds to help initiate the sought after comprehensive plan. The hypotheses presented here could ultimately evolve into that comprehensive plan, but its implementation will require significant investments. Clearly, the investments suggested here will evolve with the comprehensive plan. Each of the different responsible units will need to prepare abusiness plan spelling out the justification, the return, and realistic timetables and milestones forsuch investments.

And, the academic program proposals will need the full scrutiny and approval of the normal faculty governance process.

The proposed investments fall in three classes: Marketing and Sales, Infrastructure, and Academic Program over five years. The general notion is that if these activities and expenses are to continue past the investment period they will be incorporated into the operating budget to be supported by the additional revenue they help engender and/or from proceeds of the new capital campaign that will be initiated during this period. It must be understood, however, that these investment funds are for new activities; the trustees will insist on balanced budgets each year before authorizing these investment funds.

It should also be understood that in addition to these explicit investment funds, the capital budget will also support initiatives necessary for launching the New W P I. For example, the renovations and addition to Higgins I laboratories are already underway. The computer and communications networking of the residence halls is to begin this summer. The program has been developed and almost $2.5 million has been raised for the new Campus Center. Sanford Riley will be renovated in 1995 with the first floor devoted to attractive new offices for Admissions and the Career Development Center. Subsequently, it may be appropriate to relocate Humanities and Arts to Sanford Riley as well, freeing thereby Salisbury laboratories as theexclusive home forbiological sciences activity.

In 1996 and 1997, the Daniels, Ellsworth/Fuller, and Morgan Residence Halls will also be renovated to provide first-class living space and ultimately it may be appropriate to include Salisbury Estates as part of our supervised living environment.

The investments proposed for Marketing and Sales, Infrastructure, and Academic Programs are as follows: M arketing and Sales $0.5 million for Promotion (Engage national PR consultant, produce special materials, travel to meet with media etc.) $0.5 million for Sales (Fund new materials, additional staff, and travel.) $0.5 million for Career Development (Fund development of new Coop and job opportunities.)

Infrastructure $1 Million for Re-engineering and Learning Technology (Develop new self paced, self assessing learning technology.) $0.5 million for International Programs (Develop new strategic opportunities in the Americas, A sia and Europe.) $ 1 million for Quality of Life Enhancement (Enhance diversity, student development, and residential and social environments.)

Academic Program $0.75 million for the PreHealth Professions Program (Create nurturing environment for premed, predental, and prevet students.) $0.5 million for the Environmental Studies Program (Develop cross disciplinary program.) $0.5 million for the Communications Technology Program (Develop cross disciplinary program.) $1.0 million for Interface Disciplines (Fund proposed interface projects recommended by Blue Ribbon Task Force.)

Pre Health Professions, Environmental Studies, and Communications Technology These programs, if approved, would be lead by directors who would work with the faculty o f the associated departments to develop cohesive curricula and appropriate support services responsive to the needs o f the attracted students.

3. To further differentiate WPI in the marketplace for both programmatic excellence and value and to increase the employability of graduates, a new professional masters degree program could be offered in all appropriate disciplines. This program would be designed so that four year graduates of WPI could earn the masters during a fifth year. Consideration will be given to offering significant discounts for the fifth year program to attract more prospective students.

WPI would offer a variety of paths to the prospective student: (1) an accelerated three year bachelors program, (ii) the traditional four year bachelors program, (iii) a five year bachelors program which includes two major intcmship/coop experiences, (iv) a five year professional masters program, and (v) the established academic masters and Ph.D. programs.

4. Since the changes in name, organization, and product might not by themselves be sufficient to restore control of net tuition revenue, it would almost assuredly be necessary to continue efforts to increase the efficiency of teaching and learning in the New WPI. Such an effort might profit by returning to the original emphasis of the Plan on placing the primary responsibility for learning directly on students, rather than continuing the trends of recent years of addressing perceived weaknesses in learning by placing more burdens on the faculty in the classroom.

5. A key to the success of the new marketing thrust of WPI could be the development of preferred supplier relationships with the markets for our graduates. In the engineering professions, this would mean more Gx)p and intern opportunities particularly with the small to medium size companies that represent the growth opportunities in engineering. In the preprofessional areas o f medicine, law, architecture etc., this could mean the development of preferential admission programs with appropriate graduate and professional schools. The current BS/DVM program with Tufts Veterinary School is one example of such a program, but in general these preferred admission

$1.5 million for Biology and Biotechnology (Fund new department head; create nurturing environment for new type of student) $0.5 million for Humanities and Arts (Create new role.) $1 million for Management and Social Sciences and Policy Studies $0.25 million for Entrepreneurship Program (Fund leadership and program expenses.)

Total - $10 million over 5 years to help develop The New WPI. Possible annual spending authorizations might be as follows: $3.0, $2.5, $2.0, $ 1.5, and $ 1.0 million on top of balanced operating budgets.

Conclusions In our continuing analysis of this marketing plan, it will be important to evaluate whether the modified hypothesesof the evolvingplan will achieve the desired repositioning of WPI in the marketplace. The fundamental justification for proposing to commit endowment principal is to attract sufficient additional applications to make possible the control of net tuition income.

As suggested by Barton Gillet, we have little alternative but to make a major repositioning of WPI in order to attract significant numbers of new applications. We now ask for your best thinking on how to refine the comprehensive plan required to increase net tuition revenue, achieve financial equilibrium, and continue WPI’s journey to excellence. Please note that it is imperative that we have our new marketing plan in place this spring in time to influence the recruitment of prospective students for the fall of 1995. We look forward to your thoughtful input.