For many, the new year offers a fitting time to re-examine one’s priorities and direction in life. It’s a fresh opportunity to think critically about what’s working and what’s not and adjust accordingly.
Even if resolutions like “getting in shape” or “quitting smoking” end up not working out, just the process of re-evaluating outcomes is important.
Therefore, the following resolutions are some things we think the university should consider implementing in 2014.
Better athletics marketing: If you follow SEC football or watched a college bowl game over the break, you’ve been exposed to it. For major football powerhouses like the University of Alabama or the University of Georgia, it’s not just a winning record that attracts fans and recruits (though it certainly helps). It’s the brand these schools have carefully nurtured that makes the difference.
Identity matters.
And the culture projected to donors, potential applicants and their families through major marketing campaigns can be the deciding factor for whether these stakeholders care about Georgia State or not.
Now ask yourself the following: What kind of messages are we sending to these groups? When was the last time you saw an ad for Georgia State on TV or heard an ad about our athletic programs on the radio?
With the second-largest number of enrolled students in the University System of Georgia and more than 125,000 alumni in the Atlanta area alone, Georgia State needs to make a serious overhaul of its marketing efforts the cornerstone of its New Year’s resolutions in 2014.
At the university level, good marketing builds hope and inspires people. It promotes a shared sense of identity and rallies everyone together behind a common banner.
That’s just the kind of thing we need this year.
Connect students with internships: For many students, internships can be the difference between getting a good job after school and not.
Therefore, it’s in the best interest of the school to streamline the process of helping students find internships while in school or immediately after graduating to get them that critical experience they need to be successful. However, as an institution, Georgia State appears to be woefully inadequate in assisting with this placement.
Only some programs currently offer credit for internships or assistance in securing them. While changing this reality may be somewhat difficult or involved, there’s no doubt it’s necessary and needs to happen as soon as possible.
More tech in the classroom: Georgia State was largely involved with technology in 2013. Notable examples included professor Mark Stockman’s nano-optics research, the option of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and research showing how entrepreneurs and contractors influenced high-tech growth within Georgia.
In 2014, it’s time we invest in greater technology in and around the classroom environment. For example, we could expand offerings like the Digital Aquarium and other technology labs located on campus to accommodate more people. Further, we can encourage university professors to break out of the old Powerpoint-centric teaching model and work with students to better modernize the classroom.
Expand study abroad options: Searching for study abroad programs in one’s own major can often be an exercise in futility, as evidenced by the number of degree programs that offer multiple upper-level study abroad experiences.
This frustrating experience is often exacerbated by the fact that certain majors seem to have an overabundant choice of destinations. With proper planning and direction from each department head, we can certainly work to get more programs for more majors in the next year.
Secure Turner Field: Georgia State needs to throw its hat into the ring for the soon-to-be-vacant Turner Field area. No decisions have been made regarding the stadium’s future and Georgia State can only stand to benefit from making a bid for it.
Essentially, we either can watch hundreds of parking spaces that we desperately need be taken away from us, or we can take the opportunity to keep the parking and possibly develop an athletic facility close to campus. The choice is obvious.
Be comfortable in our own home: Above all, Georgia State needs to learn to be comfortable with being Georgia State in 2014.
For decades, Georgia State has been known as Georgia’s premiere non-traditional university – even as it has adopted qualities such as additional on-campus housing and a Division I football team are more often associated with traditional schools. Most are comfortable with that and, yet, some feel like we’re still not on the level with schools like Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia.
It’s time we learn to appreciate the university as it is.
Georgia State houses top nationally-ranked business and law schools. The University conducts millions of dollars worth of research each year and has nearly single-handedly revitalized Downtown Atlanta. Plus, it graduates more people of color than any other public university in the country.
Clearly, something is working.
