Today we had Chris Folkerson come and present to us on the ever-developing school and home to over 5,000 students, Elon University. Since being being founded in 1889 by William S. Long, the university has had 8 presidents. Due to Elon being a private university, it has no shareholders and is instead owned by it’s Board of Trustees, which is comprised solely of the current president, Leo Lambert. This opportunity was unique compared to the other visits because it gave all of us a chance to see the ins and outs of a business we spend everyday of our college careers at.
Elon University’s mission is to embrace its founders’ vision of an academic community that transforms mind, body, and spirit and encourages freedom of thought and liberty of conscience. In order to fulfill this vision, Elon nurtures a rich intellectual community characterized by student engagement and an excellent teaching staff, provides a traditional yet challenging liberal arts and sciences curriculum, and integrates learning across the disciplines putting knowledge into practice. In addition, they foster respect for human differences, passion for a life of learning, personal integrity, and an ethic of work and service. To ensure that the university is constantly going where they want to be and adapting to their current circumstances, the mission statement is amended every 10 years.
Elon University is a non-profit institution that has a customer base almost solely comprised of the student body. Because the university is tuition-driven and does not receive a large endowment, the students pay the hefty price of about $29,750 (excluding room and board and other fees). The only other way the institution raises money is through grants provided by the government, bonds, and fundraisers.
The customers of Elon University value more than just an excellent academic program. While the school is selective and everyone attending does have a high intellectual capacity and thirst for knowledge, college is about the overall experience and the students realize that. The students at this institution value excitement, which incorporates both a vibrant nightlife and excellent sports programs (they are not always guaranteed the latter). More than anything, an Elon college student values having quality options. With the typical busy schedule of each student, they expect to be able to eat good food on command and go to the gym at any hour of their choosing. Last but certainly most important, the customers value meeting genuine people and establishing relationships that will stay with them for a lifetime.
The results for Elon University show that they have not stopped advancing themselves and will continue to until they are satisfied. Most of their plans have been completed on time or are currently underway. A majority of their success can be attributed to their excellent planning, budgeting, and executing. Over the last 20 years, Elon has attracted students from all over the nation and seen a 92% growth in the student population. They deeply care about continuing the improvement of their facilities as they have built 38 buildings in 2 years and vastly improved the quality of their teaching programs and staff. The school has also contributed to the success of the local businesses, contributing a whopping $234 million in revenue and helping create needed joint projects like sidewalks, sewers, and other utilities. While they have experienced a great amount of success in improving the school and programs, they may want to plan a more exciting nightlife as recent options have been erased, which can have a major impact on student satisfaction.
The plan for Elon University is to keep expanding the school, become more selective in their acceptance of students, and conserve more energy. They wish to continue to diversify and have global engagement. More so, they wish to continue to be innovative and achieve excellence in their academic endeavors, which includes hiring a world-class faculty and staff. In terms of generating more revenue, they strive towards creating beneficial alumni programs and remain a “best value university” even with the high tuition rate. In the near future, Elon expects to have started or completed building a new admissions office, theater, library addition, and science center. In addition, they wish to eliminate the commuting and provide a town for their students that is exciting and prosperous. The university hopes to fill their empty stores with conveniences like a pharmacy and grocery store. One day, Elon wants to be grouped with the best private institutions in the country, like Duke and Richmond.
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