MARKET-DRIVEN FOCUS

"We start out with a very market-based approach," explains Vice President of Marketing Dave Gilbert when talking about Capella’s basic marketing philosophy. "We start out with who are the learners and why are they coming to us? What do they hope to get out of this experience? From that, we work with the academic side of the house to make sure we are delivering programs that meet those needs."

Beyond the Sheepskin
Meeting a learner’s needs is more than a piece of paper, Gilbert says, adding that "the credential is important, but it is a whole skill-set that learners need." An example of this way of thinking can be found inside Capella’s MS in Information Technology program, where "we went out and talked with employers and people in the IT world" who explained that although earning a master’s degree is of vital importance, having the appropriate professional certification will ultimately get a prospective employee’s foot in the door as well as enhance a current employee’s ability to move up in his or her career path.

Surveys and Focus Groups

When Gilbert says that Capella went out and talked with people in the marketplace, he’s referring to Capella’s customary practice of conducting focus groups and surveys to help bring in information that can facilitate change in its curriculums. "We do a lot of purchase-decision surveys, a lot of learner-satisfaction surveys; we do a lot more research than most academic institutions would be likely to do." With regard to focus groups, Capella President Mike Offerman added that "we live on those."

For the MS in IT program, such surveys and focus groups led to changes in the curriculum that now allow learners to do one of two things, says Gilbert. "If you have those certificates, it gives you credit for having them, and then the course of study focuses more on where you need more depth and breath. If you don’t have those certificates, the curriculum is designed so that not only do you earn a degree, you also study what you need to pass the Cisco and Microsoft certification exams, for example."

Finally, when the education product has been developed to meet the needs of the marketplace - as in the MS in IT program and most recently in Capella’s newly revamped MBA program (see page 6) - advertising and public relations move into high "to go after learners with a combination of everything from print, to online, to local seminars, to one-on-one meetings," says Gilbert. "But it really starts with this learner focus that is behind everything that we do here."