Results from the 2012 marketing research report listed major weaknesses and strengths of UNA. Students listed location as the top reason for attending UNA and cost and living arrangements as the major weaknesses of the university.

Surveyed freshmen from 2010, 2011 and 2012 were asked to rate various elements of the university to help administrators implement improvements. The results include the 248 responses.

“We mainly wrote the report because the university is engaged in reviewing and updating its strategic plan,” said Andrew Luna, director of institutional research, planning and assessment. “We also brought in Dr. Thomas Calhoun as the new vice president of enrollment management. When you do things like this, you have to start asking important questions, and this is the first step in starting to ask some of these questions.”

The 28-page report was divided into four parts to analyze marketing concepts in higher education, a comparison of 2010 and 2012 enrollment and degree trends at UNA, survey results from the 2012 freshman class and retention rates of students enrolling in their second year of college.

According to Luna, the results are not a clear representation of the freshman class as a whole.

“We really needed 280 to have an adequate statistical sample, but we missed it by 40,” Luna said. “Statistically speaking, we cannot really generalize results of this survey to the entire new freshmen population.”

The report does positively indicate that university recruitment is increasing in counties that hold large research schools such as Auburn University and the University of Alabama, Luna said.

“It shows that we are pulling more students since 2010 from areas that have larger research schools and that’s pretty good, but one year does not make a trend,” Luna said.

The results from the report have been shown to the university vice presidents and are currently being used to develop the university’s enrollment plan as well as review its strategic plan, he said.

“I think it’s safe to say the faculty and the staff bring up students’ needs in these (strategic planning) meetings more than any other institution I have been at,” he said. “The faculty and the staff here tend to be a lot more aware of their students and tend to be a lot more aware of students’ needs, so things like this are helpful.”

Matt Jones, head SOAR counselor and junior at UNA, agrees with Luna. Jones said he believes that student retention rates may decline between their first and second years in college due to lack of involvement.

“We are a nationally accredited university and it shows,” Jones said. “You get in what you put out.”

Luna’s team will continue to assess and survey university students, faculty and staff.

“My office is always trying to come up with assessment instruments,” he said. “People look at the results of these surveys to see if we are heading in the right direction.”

The full report is available on the UNA homepage.