Approvals:
11/28/05
USF-SM Campus Board

2/20/06 ACE Work Group

3/2/06
USF Board of Trustees

THE COMMUNITY WE SERVE

• Adult Population Growth

• Increase in High School Graduates

• Analysis of Other Colleges/Universities

• Teacher Need

• Workforce Development Needs

In May 2005, Institutional Research produced the report, Environmental Scan: USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Service Area. This scan was conducted to provide baseline information to the Strategic Planning Committee regarding opportunities for growth. The external environment was defined as the three-county service area: DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties. The focus of the scan was in identifying prospective students for the planned expansion of the campus, coinciding with the completion of the new building in fall 2006. The data analysis provided the following observations:

Adult Population Growth

According to the United States Census Bureau, the population of adults ages 20-54 in the three-county area totaled 247,701 in 2000.  Currently, that figure is estimated to have grown to 277,298 and is projected to reach 308,548 by 2011. The yearly increases in the prospective USF-SM adult student population are expected to range from 1-3% from now until 2011.

Twenty-three percent (23%) of adults who are at least 25 years old have taken some college course work, but they have not completed a degree. The associate’s degree is the highest educational level attained by 6% of the local population over age 25. Fifteen percent (15%) of this group earned a bachelor’s degree as their highest educational level.

In 2004-05, USF-SM served 3,428 students, which is 1.2% of adults in the 20-54 age group in the three-county area. Because USF-SM has plans to grow in enrollment at least 9% each year up to 2011, we can rely partially on population growth in the three-county region but also must attract a higher percentage of the adult population to enter our programs. The prospective adult student population must be targeted by effective communication methods to ensure that it knows about our university and our offerings. We must also make the programs convenient for adults who are working and caring for their families by analyzing majors offered, course times and days, time to degree completion, and family-friendly amenities. 

Increase in High School Graduates

Recent high school graduates, particularly those who may be interested in 2+2 programs (associate degree and bachelor degree), are plentiful in the surrounding region and are projected to grow. From 2000 to 2011, approximately 30,559 students from the service area will go on to college. The number of high school graduates in the service area is projected to increase between 1999 and 2011 by 59% overall, but fluctuations are expected from year-to-year and by county as shown in Table 7. For example, DeSoto County is projected to increase 9% over this 12-year period, but some years the projected number of graduates is a decrease from the previous year.  Likewise, Manatee and Sarasota show some decreases year-by-year, but overall these two counties will increase by 79% over the 12-year period with 2,345 more students graduating in 2011 (5,036 total graduates), compared to 1999 (2,691 graduates). A major goal will be to attract more of these graduates to the 2+2 MCC-USF program.

Analysis of Other Colleges/Universities in USF-SM’s Service Area

Continued efforts must be made to analyze the enrollment trends at Manatee Community College (MCC), our biggest feeder, in order to plan for USF-SM’s growth. Joint strategic planning has begun between MCC and USF-SM, including the 2 + 2 program and combined marketing efforts. Gathering information from MCC and surveying their students must be an ongoing activity for USF-SM. Also, further development of the already strong ties between faculty and staff at the two schools will assist in developing both institutions.

The competitor schools in our service area are all private institutions with higher tuition costs and more limited program offerings than USF-SM. Therefore, making sure that prospective students know our tuition cost in comparison to these schools may give us an edge.  However, some students, particularly working adults with families, are more concerned about convenience (e.g., location, class times, time to degree, child care arrangements) than they are cost, and these convenience factors must be considered here at USF-SM through student and prospective student satisfaction surveys.

Teacher Need

Recently, Sarasota County showed the greatest increase in teacher hiring, Manatee County hired the greatest proportion of teachers out-of-field, and DeSoto County showed little growth in teacher hiring between 2000 and 2001. School districts in the region are anticipating continued need for teachers and anticipate hiring, on average, 713 teachers each year over the next five years for a total need of 3,563 teachers. USF is the largest producer of teachers for the state of Florida. Likewise, USF-SM can be the largest producer of teachers in the service area by emphasizing the critical teaching shortage areas, ensuring convenient summer and after-school courses and workshops, and working closely with school districts to facilitate teacher certification programs.

Workforce Development Needs

By far, business services are the largest employers in Sarasota and Manatee Counties according to the 21st Century Workforce Study. Health services, retail trade, and construction special trade contractors follow business services as major employers in the region. The region’s occupational projections show that USF-SM should continue to emphasize its majors in the following areas: accounting, management, finance, nursing, and social work. The demand for lawyers is justification for several of our Arts & Sciences majors, such as English and political science. A major for computer analysts is also a need. Although construction management requires a minimum of an associate’s degree, there is demand for a bachelor’s degree in this field based on its current growth within the region.

In addition to credit programs, employers in the service area continue to express a need for continuing education, particularly at the advanced and professional levels for occupations that require further certification or updating beyond the bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, or professional degrees.  The Senior Academy has been serving non-credit needs of older adults. However, younger professionals in the area have also expressed interest in continuing education in order to maintain and sharpen their skills and to retrain for new advances in their fields. Continuing education can serve as a gateway into the university for community members, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.