This final blog of the Sweet Briar College Financial Crisis series will discuss marketing and communication strategies taken by the new administration and what can be applied to other institutions and policies. Three main themes can be found among the academic journals, news articles, and other documents written about Sweet Briar College’s Financial Crises. Those themes are input, adaptation, and advertisement While Sweet Briar College proves that one can return from near closer their journey is not over yet. However, these three themes offer insight on how to respond should another college find itself in a similar situation.
Starting with input the current Sweet Briar College Administration succeeds where the former has failed. Recall that the community was shocked by the news of Sweet Briar’s potential closing (Poleski, 2020). Effective leadership in times of crisis depends on support of the administration. Had the community been involved in the process they would have been less likely to seek excerpt from their leadership after the final decision was handed down. The current administration under the leadership of Dr. Woo redefined communication pathways by including the majority of faculty in the tuition restructuring process (Biemiller, 2017). One can assume that staff were at least represented in the decision making process as upper level administration are usually leaders of staff run offices in student and academic affairs. The new administration has made unchallenged and bold changes which proves that Including more community input affords community byin in times of crisis.
The second theme found in the literature surrounding Sweet Briar College is adaptation. The former administration was unable to see ways to adapt without harming the integrity of the Sweet Briar experience (Woodhouse & Jaschik, 2015). However, the new administration sees adaptation as well practiced means of keeping tradition alive (Woodhouse & Jaschik, 2015). As Dr. Who said herself, “it is difficult to prepare women for the 21st century on a curriculum that dates back to the middle ages” (Biemiller, 2017,p. 1). Sweet Briar needed to adapt to meet the needs of modern women. As discussed in the previous blog one of the ways they achieved this was by lowering the cost of attendance so that Sweet Briar can reach more students beyond those who can afford a high price of private education. Sweet Briar desires to diversify their student demographics which is another sign of adaptation to the modern area of higher education (Biemiller, 2017).
Finally the third theme gathered from the literature is applying input and adaptation to advertisement. If more than a decade of financial struggles did not test the strength of the Sweet Briar Community then the COVID-19 pandemic surely did. As a gentle reminder, Sweet Briar College is a small private liberal arts college in rule western Virginia who struggles with low enrollment (Poleski, 2017). However, the small college started an advertising campaign this spring that put all things in a positive light. Sweet Briar College advertised the campus as the perfect place for social distances as low enrollment numbers meant that no student would have to share their room (Svrluga, 2020). Suddenly the campus 3,200 acres were of considerable value as they coiled provided plenty of space for outdoor teaching and recreation which were already a costume the campus participated in to some extent (Svrluga, 2020).
Perhaps the greatest and most transferable lesson to be gained from reviewing the Sweet Briar Financial Crisis is internal assessment. Above all Sweet Briar would not have been able to make these necessary changes with first assessing resources, options, and issues faced by the institution. Effective assessment and reflection relieved opportunities that once seemed hidden. Onlookers would be wise to heed Sweet Briar’s figurative warning as they seek to make adaptive changes before the financial crisis takes hold.
In conclusion, internal assessment should include input from as many stakeholders and community members as possible. Moreover, the results of the assessment should be scrutinized for adaptive opportunities to modernize by investing in social and economic diversity across the campus. Finally, these new advancements must be met with self-reflection and effective communication which is directly conveyed to the community and desired audience. Change requires effective communication to see it through. It does not matter that Sweet Briar has made changes; what matters is that those changes have been shared with those who need to take advantage of them. Sweet Briar College stands as a testament to the strength of a community during financial crisis.
Reference
Biemiller, L. (2017, September 6). After All but Closing, Sweet Briar Will Shift Curriculum and
Pricing. Chronicle.com. https://www.chronicle.com/article/after-all-but-closing-sweet-
Chaffee, E. E. (1985). Three models of strategy. The Academy of Management Review,
10(1), 89–98.
Poleski, D. (2020, March 3). Defining leadership: five years after the Saving Sweet Briar effort.
Sweet Briar College | News. https://sbc.edu/news/defining-leadership/
Svrluga, S. (2020, June 28). This college is tiny and isolated. For some students during the
pandemic, that sounds perfect. Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/06/28/sweet-briar-college-fall-
coronavirus/
Woodhouse, K., & Jaschik, S. (2015, June 22). What the case of Sweet Briar means for other
colleges. Www.Insidehighered.com.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/22/what-case-sweet-briar-means-
other-colleges