SWOT Analysis

Overview

The communication and theatre department claims students “will gain a broad range of analytical and practical knowledge in the communication and theatre arts.”  In order to do this, students must select one of two majors, communication or convergent media. Students can also choose from seven minors in the department, including church communication, communication, journalism, media production, media studies, public relations, and theatre. Four faculty members lead approximately 25 communication and theatre students. Dr. Melissa Friesen is the chairperson of the department. Additional faculty members are Dr. Gerald Mast, professor of communication; Dr. Zachary Walton, associate professor of communication and Marathana Prothro, assistant professor of communication. The department hopes to double the number of students within the majors, as well as increase the number of students who declare one or more of the available minors. Another goal for the department is to continue to grow and develop the new curriculum changes that were finalized last spring. Convergent media is an up and coming major across a variety of universities, and the department wants to capitalize on that momentum. The communication and theatre department would like to further challenge students with the level of academic rigor incorporated into the classes.

​

Findings

The communication and theatre department provides multiple opportunities for student involvement. The department supplies a number of faculty members who can build strong connections with prospective students. Current students aid the department in the recruiting process by dedicating their time to meet with and write to the prospective students.

​

The department is often unidentifiable to prospective students due to a lack of consistent brand identity and external communication with uncommitted students. The communication and theatre department page on the university website is not attractive enough to prospective students. Though the department has an up-and-coming student-driven media, its technical facilities are out-of-date. The department doesn’t have adequate funding to make necessary improvements.​

​

The department collaborates with other universities to secure students who have completed two years of education. The department may be able to use alumni and area professionals to provide a solid networking community for students. The department encourages students to create portfolio-ready pieces and embrace a professional mindset. There are numerous possibilities for internships and jobs because of the department’s emphasis on high-quality work for professional portfolios.

​

The department is losing students to other schools who are religiously-affiliated or who run strong communication programs. Visual media programs with advanced facilities and substantial resources is another threat. The department may be struggling with enrollment due to the evolving mediums and low job security in the print media world.

​

Low Visibility

The lack of identifiable characteristics and brand consistency within the department makes connecting with a larger amount of students more difficult. An opportunity to counter this weakness is to use the new student-driven media (The Witmarsum) to create a brand that can promote the department specifically. This brand must fit within the constraints of the university guidelines. Another opportunity to counter the lack of recognition is by promoting the communication and theatre department on the campuses of those schools with which we collaborate. Using Hesston College and others are additional gateways for reaching potential students. The department also lacks visibility on campus. It could provide internships with The Witmarsum or encourage students to participate with The Wit to create portfolio-ready pieces.

​

Out-of-date Facilities

The department struggles to reach its full potential because of out-of-date technical facilities. A barrier to overcoming this weakness is the small budget of the department. An opportunity to counter this weakness is to connect with alumni and area professionals to provide internships to students at their workplaces. Creating a department-specific social media presence could provide an inexpensive alternative to the need for new equipment. Using what is readily available to the department can reduce strain on the budget.