PonyFans.com

So apparently we're selling off the Plano campus. Anyone know why? And what are plans for programs like Guildhall?

Heard they are moving into a building being constructed on campus near the new simmons buildings. Likely cheaper to maintain everything in one location - probably a good financial move honestly.

Thanks. It may be short-term, but it seems short-sighted to surrender a campus that is in the heart of one of the fastest growing corporate hubs.

SMU likely has money issues

I believe that the Plano campus was a gift from the Ross Perot.

SMU is strongly pitching the one year full time MBA. It seems like UTD is still predominately a part time MBA option.

In its short life, UTD has done a lot of things right.

I do talk a great deal with university admins and higher education media and all I keep hearing is how great and up-and-coming UTD is. There is a lot of buzz about that school. Sadly, mention SMU and I hear crickets...

I have some international friends in more engineering and software backgrounds who had never heard of SMU but were asking me if I went to school at UTD. We definitely need to strengthen our technical and engineering chops before we are wholly eclipsed by another technical school in our backyard.

I visited that campus a couple of times with autistic men to look into that program there.
They both said the same thing about attending. Neither liked it and saw it as a rip-off to their individual creativity belonging to that nonpareil institute.
One said it's just like the record companies that want to own the art you create and that's why we own our own recording labels to make records and own our own projects.

selling this and moving on is probably the best option

the concept was never strong from the start and it was very weakly implemented

there are only a few programs that a facility in Plano could target and they are:

1. business specifically EMBAs and part time MBAs

2. education programs designed to get teachers advanced degrees and or administrative credentials

3. some advanced HR credentials for people to break a glass ceiling at a LARGE to VERY LARGE company

4. advanced engineering credentials and or CEUs for engineers

A. SMU was never willing to offer the part time or the EMBA option in a way that appealed to the available customer base.....and the EMBA and part time MBA deal seems a bit played out at this point especially in the DFW area where every school under the sun has rushed in (and some rushed right back out) to offer those degrees

SMU never took control of the market when there were many fewer competitors and that cost them

SMU also does not seem to attract the types of faculty that want to have "taught SMU EMBA classes or part time MBA classes" on their resume.....other programs seem to have more prestige on the resume for those potential faculty members Vs SMU

B. SMU was never willing to offer education related programs at a cost that would be appealing to those that did not need "prestige" and instead just needed that degree (or really offer them at all at Plano at any cost)

besides the fact that SMU never seemed to offer these types of classes in Plano there is the issue that if they made them cost effective and attractive to the available customers in Plano they would have diminished the value of those programs on the main campus

C. SMU never seemed to offer classes towards people looking to break a large to very large corporate HR glass ceiling in Plano and again the price point SMU would have offered would have been unattractive to many potential customers or it would have diminished the value on the main campus

D. SMU could have offered these types of engineering programs at an attractive price point back when they first started the Plano campus, but the never did

SMU would not have lowered the value of their main campus programs even with an attractive price point because SMU does not have a large engineering post BS degree presence on the main campus and because they could have targeted working professionals and not just post grads (like an EMBA where you need professional experience)

but SMU never made the effort and I think they could have attracted the needed engineering faculty especially part time or weekends much more easily than they could with business faculty

but it seems SMU never made the effort

looking back SMU should have been much more aggressive with the business programs from the start

SMU should have put less emphasis on education and HR type programs on the main campus and not built them a big nice expensive building and they should have worked FROM Plano BACK TO the main campus in developing those types of programs instead of putting up the big nice building on the main campus and thus pricing themselves out of the Plano market and creating the issue of "value Vs price" between what Plano could charge and what the main campus charges for those types of programs

SMU should have built from graduate downward to undergrad with Plano building the brand at the post grad level and then even helping to offset cost on the main campus for undergrad offerings in education and HR type degrees

SMU should have used post grad engineering and working engineering professional programs to elevate the main campus programs, but they just completely missed the boat

I have always been one to point out that for all the "SMU is so expensive and for the rich" that SMU actually offers a VERY attractive financial aid package and thus for those that are not stupid the REALITY is that the ones that are "rich" at SMU and that are paying full rack rate for tuition they are actually paying the freight for a hell of a lot of students that are FAR FROM RICH

and the more laughable thing about that FACT is the idiots that mock SMU for being a "rich school" would also be the very first ones to demand that the "rich" pay for others......and at SMU that is happening every time a student of means pays full tuition and thus SMU should be lauded for the fact that they keep full tuition high while giving out a VERY GENEROUS financial aid package for a VERY LARGE % of students on campus

but unfortunately SMU does a very poor job of selling that fact especially locally and they do not seem to have any concerns with trying to change that false perception

the Plano campus if done properly could have gone a LONG WAY towards making SMU a much larger part of the DFW educational mind set and it could have done a great deal for community relations if it was set up with the right degrees at the right price and marketed properly

unfortunately SMU has totally dropped the ball on pretty much every possible aspect of that and it is too late to recover IMO and thus selling out and moving on is the right thing to do

What is another private university that offers discounted graduate degree programs online or 15 miles from its main campus? I only know of certificate programs which can be a great revenue source and leverage the main campus prestige. Maybe like the Dispute Resolution Center. I thought the generic office building wasn't great for what you're paying.

I believe UTD pays less for its b-school adjuncts ($3K per semester?) and I had a friend teaching there. He had me guest teach a class -- my first ever -- and he had others come in to guest teach. There didn't seem to be a lot of oversight. UTD is a solid value proposition for a part time MBA relative to U of Dallas and is a cheaper alternative to SMU and UT-Austin's weekend program.

Acquiring more land east of Central seems smart, especially for admin stuff.

I think it’s a bad move to close the campus in Plano. I’m guessing city incentives ended so it didn’t make financial sense but they should have found a way to generate interest. Hell even if it was a discounted freshmen/sophomore feeder would have made sense. I think building a Cox building out there to reach part time MBA would have helped generate new revenue and alum base. If it’s money issues then I’m worried for our school. Seems we are missing a big opportunity with a place like Plano.

It does seem like this is a badly fumbled lost opportunity. It seems that they could have set up business and engineering part-time programs that started there and maybe finished at main campus, had career development programs and certificates and maybe some networking opportunities. We need to provide more programming "thump" for the cost (which is more than competitors) to compete, but that we did not seem to respond to market needs is very troubling for a school who allegedly has a good business and communications program. If we can't sell ourselves. then what good is the degree?

And what about an "Event center?" Yes, I know they had something to lease out rooms, but it was done in a rather unappealing way. I've tried using the services twice in the past, and the materials and staff were rather lackluster for the cost. For room rentals to be successful, there needs to be some sales pizzazz and hospitality, again, a sense of thump for your money. They tried to sell me on a break room. We need to be slick and buttoned-down because we are the more expensive option and it represents the university as a whole.

And finally, if we still have too much space (can a university have too much space?) there are still things that could and should be done with that campus. God forbid we make it a hub of business innovation- a "lab" so our students can get real world experience in the hub of southwestern business. An university entrepreneur incubator program could easily be worked out of there to start student companies using business, advertising and legal students, give them opportunities to develop businesses or coordinate with Plano and Dallas companies and maybe even do spin-offs from university research. There aren't research projects that could use some lab space? There aren't joint projects with companies that couldn't use lab or office space? The advertising institute couldn't coordinate with local companies (and the entrepreneur institute). These programs take a little time to grow, but they can be great PR for the university, allow the university to try some new ideas, and certainly would raise our local profile in heart of Fortune 500 employers and generate income for the school and the community like it is supposed to. You know an idea that worked? Guildhall. We can set up more institutes like that that do not compete with main campus programs, and maybe even enhance them.

If this is a financial "cut and run" move, again, administration and/or board members need to be let go. It is short-sighted without really trying to do something innovative with the space, and I agree, that if we need the money so much that we're selling, I fear for the university's future and again, heads need to roll. The university should be expanding, not shrinking.

Is it a coincidence that the appraisal district has the property (4 buildings and land) assessed at $27,000,000 and the IPF is coming in around $27,000,000?????

smupony94 wrote:Is it a coincidence that the appraisal district has the property (4 buildings and land) assessed at $27,000,000 and the IPF is coming in around $27,000,000?????

Is the campus going to be able to breathe properly with these additional facilities and courses being moved onto the main campus?