Week 1: Evaluating Mission Statements
Theresa Osendorf University of Arizona Global Campus
MGT450: Strategic Planning for Organizations
Professor Robin McCart
September 13, 2021
The History, Industry, Mission, and Vision
The modern-day new nonprofit University of Arizona Global Campus was once known as the former for-profit Ashford University. Its history dates back to 1918, when the Catholic Church expressed the need to have higher education centers. At the time, education was offered only using physical classrooms. However, over the years, the situation changed. Through series of mergers and changes in leadership, the university has adapted to newer versions that led to its current state, now known as The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC,2021). In 2005 Bridgepoint Education, Inc. purchased the catholic university and renamed it Ashford University. Shortly after that, in 2007, the brick-and-mortar campus expanded its program and began offering online classes. The name Ashford University was adopted from 2005 to early 2020. In 2020, a transaction transpired between the parent company of Ashford University, Zovio Inc., and The University of Arizona to create a nonprofit entity (UAGC, 2021). The name was once again changed to The University of Arizona Global Campus. The institution offers online classes across the globe hence enabling the university to meet its purpose in society.
University of Arizona Global Campus is in the higher education industry. The organization has an established mission and value statement. Their mission statement defines their purpose as to provide high-quality, accessible, affordable, innovative, educational programs that meet the diverse needs of individuals pursuing advancement in their lives, professions, and communities. In support of its mission statement, the university is guided by five core values: quality, equity, empowerment, guidance, and ingenuity (UAGC, 2021). Through their values, mission, and all campus engagements, the university aims to make education accessible to as many people as possible fairly and equitably. The university has excellent internal leadership comprised of professionals that have been in the industry for years. It is the strength of their internal leadership team that has helped the organization to remain highly competitive. Some of the major competitors are; University of Phoenix, Washington Governors University, and Purdue University Global.
University Strategy Challenges
Recent news is that The University of Arizona University Global Campus has faced a series of ethical issues (Rocio Hernandez, 2020). The application of unethical practices, especially on the part of leadership, has exposed the institution to significant losses, especially after the acquisition of Ashford University. The issue had created room for many students to exit the institution with hefty unpaid debts, which is affecting the institutions economic/financial stability. One of the unethical issues was the acquisition of Ashford while the institution had huge debts. Most commonly, an acquisition should be made only after the company being acquired has cleared its path. This is important to ensure that the acquiring party does not get affected by acquiring the company debt and would achieve the intended purpose.
The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), formally known as Ashford University, has faced a series of challenges that negatively affected the reputation. For instance, in 2019, the parent company to Ashford University, Bridgepoint, Inc., was named in a class-action lawsuit. This lawsuit was filed due to allegations of the university increasing student enrollment using unethical manners. According to the case filed on August 25, 2019, the university had created partnerships with numerous corporations offering their employees a full-tuition grant FTG. The FTG program accounted for approximately 10% of the student enrollment. (Pomerantz LLP, 2019). The lawsuit stated that Bridgepoint maintained deficient accounting controls, resulting in errors related to accounts receivable and inaccurate revenue projections.
According to Del Bianco, & Mason, (2021); another major issue affecting the institution strategy is Specific Learning Disorders. This is a significant challenge because the university has a strategy of making a positive impact in the lives of all the students getting enrolled for the purpose of achieving their academic goals and objectives. It is a norm at the university to record students with disabilities like Attention and Learning Disorders and place them in the right program to help attain the proper education milestones. It is challenging that as online university programs have been increasingly diversified, offering unique and reliable online programs for students with Attention and Learning Disorders has become almost impossible. As a matter of reality, although the program provides online tutors, many students suffer from learning disabilities and have been unable to complete their education, resulting in poor graduation rates.
Despite the negative reputation surrounding Ashford University, it appears they have taken steps to refurbish their image. Fortunately, The University of Arizona came up with a market development strategy to penetrate an existing market by purchasing Ashford University, thus offering students an online higher education platform (Abraham 2012). By following a strategic business model, UAGC is taking strides to provide a quality, affordable education to students looking to have the flexibility to complete their degree online.
References
Abraham, S. C. (2012). Strategic Management for Organizations. Log on to constellation. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUMGT450.12.2/sections/copyright.
About UAGC: Uagc: University of Arizona Global Campus. UAGC. (2021). Retrieved September 12, 2021, from https://www.uagc.edu/about.
Del Bianco, N., & Mason, L. G. (2021). Specific Learning Disorders in Higher Education: The University of Arizona case study. Education Sciences & Society-Open Access, 12(1).
NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions, Inc. . (2019, April 25). SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Bridgepoint Education, Inc. of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline BPI. University of Arizona Global Campus Library. Retrieved September 11, 2021, from https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/shareholder-alert-xa0-pomerantz-law-firm-reminds/docview/2214157059/se-2?accountid=32521.
Hernandez, R. (2020, December 9). Analysis finds ethical issues with newly formed University of Arizona Global Campus. KJZZ. Retrieved September 12, 2021, from https://kjzz.org/content/1641785/analysis-finds-ethical-issues-newly-formed-university-arizona-global-campus.
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