JMU 2040 plan draft

[Anonymous]

https://www.jmu.edu/pair/strategic-planning/_docs/strategicplandraft_jan2026.pdf

Does this seem problematic to anyone else? Acceptance rate dropping to 40%. "Increase the on-campus housing capacity to at least 60% of the student body". They want to raise research spending from $20mil => $50mil+. Does VA really need a 7th R1 institution besides UVA, VT, WM, ODU, VCU, GMU?

Sounds like they don't want to serve the students they currently do and chase prestige instead. But to what end?

[Anonymous]

Seems unnecessary

[Anonymous]

14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

+1
Good for them. It’s a great school and plans on continuing to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

JMU has very large fundraising goals, that’s where the majority of funding will come from. The new president has a reputation of getting transformational goals across the finish line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

+1. JMU is a very popular school and serves a lot of bright kids who are shut out of UVA and WM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like they don't want to serve the students they currently do and chase prestige instead. But to what end?

Did you miss this part of the plan?

Receive recognition for being #1 in the country for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

+1. JMU is a very popular school and serves a lot of bright kids who are shut out of UVA and WM.

But there are many JMU students who aren't UVA/WM shutouts and it's a shame that future students like them will have to attend schools like ODU/Radford/GMU instead because the administration chose to chase shutouts. Unless that 40% acceptance rate involves yield protect that's what this all screams to me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

+1. JMU is a very popular school and serves a lot of bright kids who are shut out of UVA and WM.

But there are many JMU students who aren't UVA/WM shutouts and it's a shame that future students like them will have to attend schools like ODU/Radford/GMU instead because the administration chose to chase shutouts. Unless that 40% acceptance rate involves yield protect that's what this all screams to me

Following up: My concern is that publics in VA are continuing to chase lower acceptance rates and become less and accessible for the state population as a whole. Why do they need to lower their acceptance rate that much amidst a demographic cliff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

+1. JMU is a very popular school and serves a lot of bright kids who are shut out of UVA and WM.

But there are many JMU students who aren't UVA/WM shutouts and it's a shame that future students like them will have to attend schools like ODU/Radford/GMU instead because the administration chose to chase shutouts. Unless that 40% acceptance rate involves yield protect that's what this all screams to me

Following up: My concern is that publics in VA are continuing to chase lower acceptance rates and become less and accessible for the state population as a whole. Why do they need to lower their acceptance rate that much amidst a demographic cliff?

How can JMU maintain stable enrollment if they want to reject so many applicants (who are currently being accepted) in the future? They would have to attract a LOT of new applicants, which seems unlikely with the high school population starting to decline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

+1. JMU is a very popular school and serves a lot of bright kids who are shut out of UVA and WM.

But there are many JMU students who aren't UVA/WM shutouts and it's a shame that future students like them will have to attend schools like ODU/Radford/GMU instead because the administration chose to chase shutouts. Unless that 40% acceptance rate involves yield protect that's what this all screams to me

Following up: My concern is that publics in VA are continuing to chase lower acceptance rates and become less and accessible for the state population as a whole. Why do they need to lower their acceptance rate that much amidst a demographic cliff?

How can JMU maintain stable enrollment if they want to reject so many applicants (who are currently being accepted) in the future? They would have to attract a LOT of new applicants, which seems unlikely with the high school population starting to decline.

JMU applications have been up every year for four years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 years from now there will be fewer universities still operating. JMU is obviously planning to remain one of the ones still operating. So, they are targeting areas of improvement that will allow them to be around in 2040. Wise move with reasonable goals.

Lower acceptance rate doesn't really go along with fewer universities. And which VA colleges would have to close to support funding their pet project of tripling housing capacity?

There are already certain VA schools no one wants to attend. Is that JMU’s fault? Makes more sense to close the ones that are losing students year after year.

+1. JMU is a very popular school and serves a lot of bright kids who are shut out of UVA and WM.

But there are many JMU students who aren't UVA/WM shutouts and it's a shame that future students like them will have to attend schools like ODU/Radford/GMU instead because the administration chose to chase shutouts. Unless that 40% acceptance rate involves yield protect that's what this all screams to me

Following up: My concern is that publics in VA are continuing to chase lower acceptance rates and become less and accessible for the state population as a whole. Why do they need to lower their acceptance rate that much amidst a demographic cliff?

How can JMU maintain stable enrollment if they want to reject so many applicants (who are currently being accepted) in the future? They would have to attract a LOT of new applicants, which seems unlikely with the high school population starting to decline.

JMU applications have been up every year for four years.

DP: Are you a marketing agent for the school?

That doesn't at all counter what they're saying. Their yield rate is only 18%. To get from 75% to 40% their applications would nearly have to double, or yield would have to go up substantially. And this year is the peak of the high school population so who even knows what will happen with application numbers next year.

Either they convince a ton of students who would never have any chance of getting into JMU to apply or you raise the admitted students profile and frankly would be dumb to assume that more students that use JMU as their safety would start picking them more.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t JMU have an acceptance rate of around 40 percent in the late 80s/early 90s? Maybe the thought is JMU will be established enough as a university to have the same acceptance rate it had in the past.