Lindenwood University is one of the top universities in the US that offer a four-year course in liberal arts. It is located in St. Louis, Missouri. They have excelled in the field of liberal arts. The student strength of the university is about 15, 000 and the university offers more than 120 undergraduate, graduate and post graduate programs. Besides the university also offers a Doctor of Education in liberal arts since June 2007. The main campus of the university is the St. Charles campus which is about 5000 acres large, and other smaller campuses are located in south and northwest of St. Louis, Wentzville, O’Fallon, Moscow Mills, Weldon Spring, Defiance (Daniel Boone) and Belleville, Illinois, etc.
The university has Judeo-Christian roots and was founded way back in 1827. George and Mary Sibley had founded the university, and at that time it was the second oldest university in the Mississippi area. The university has also excelled in sports such as football and athletics. Let us now conduct a SWOT analysis of the Lindenwood University.
Strengths:
- University has as a strong history
- One of the oldest universities in the Mississippi area (More than 181 years old)
- University known for innovation and entrepreneurship
- Have strong values – Believe in purpose, order, dignity of work, integrity of the individual, rights and obligations of people, importance of truth
- Offer more than 120 programs under graduate, post-graduate and doctorate education – Greater amount of choices and options for students
- Has a large and beautiful campus located in a natural environment conducive for learning (main campus is about 500 acre large)
- Large student strength – 15000 in more than 120 courses
- Having dedicated and talented staff and administration, who are committed to teaching ad improving education
- Has accreditations with top organizations such as by the Higher Learning Commission
- University has subscription to a number of electronic journal and databases
- University is known for social work
- Large amounts of physical space
- University has courses attracting in corporate and working professionals
Weaknesses:
- University has not been able to gain a name in the international market
- University is not providing more mainstream courses and hence is not able to attract mainstream students
- The large campus may create transportation difficulties for the students
- The University may not be able to cope up with the expansion demands of the students
Opportunities:
- Promotes cultural development of the neighboring community
- Students interested in Liberal arts can seek quality education from the university
- Currently the university is attracting students from the liberal arts field. However, the university could attract students from other related fields and also from mainstream fields if it utilizes its brand name (suggesting quality education) effectively
- Greater opportunities for expansion and growth
- Due to the innovation and entrepreneurship, they could also tap the other segments of the market which include research, part-time education, etc.
- Greater chances of collaboration with the industries
- Greater chances of collaboration with the foreign universities – MOU’s for student-faculty exchange program
- Accreditations could help the university to grow further
- As the university has quality staff members who have been trained, there are chances that competitor employees may join in this university for their career growth
- As the university has a big campus, there are opportunities for it to grow and expand by including more buildings and absorbing in more students
- The new Doctorate in education could attract in new breed of students
Threats:
- Other universities that offer more mainstream courses would be lost to the mainstream universities
- Competition is strong from other universities who would be attracting top students
- Other universities who are renowned in the mainstream education may start courses in liberal arts and may be strong competitor against Lindenwood University
- Although the university has very good teachers and administrators, there are chances of these quality staff being poached by the industry and their competitors
References:
- Lindenwood University. “Accreditation.” 2008. Lindenwood University. 26 Oct.2008. www.lindenwood.edu/about /acc.asp
- Lindenwood University. “Expansion and New Construction.” 2008. Lindenwood University. 26 Oct.2008. www.lindenwood.edu/about /exp_con.asp
- Lindenwood University. “Home page.” 2008. Lindenwood University. 26 Oct.2008. www.lindenwood.edu
- Lindenwood University. “Message from the President.” 2008. Lindenwood University. 26 Oct.2008. www.lindenwood.edu/about /pres.asp
