SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis is common in strategic planning as it allows an organization to take stock periodically of what it does well and what it needs to improve while also considering external forces that may help or hinder its ability to meet its mission (the opportunities and threats).

The last time JMU did a university-wide SWOT analysis was in 2018; the last time it developed a strategic plan. With the current plan set to end in June 2026 and with the search underway for a new president, the Board of Visitors has requested that a new SWOT analysis be conducted to inform the university’s next strategic plan and provide valuable insights for JMU’s next president and its Board of Visitors on key issues requiring vision and direction.

Minimally, the survey can be completed in less than 10 minutes, but it may take up to 20 minutes if you choose to complete the entire survey. After responding to statements about two of the four SWOT elements, which are randomly assigned to you, you’ll be given an option to finish the survey or respond to the remaining sets of items. Therefore, the amount of time it takes you depends on how much you wish to contribute.

We are asking anyone with a current or past affiliation to JMU to provide input, which includes all students, employees (current and former), affiliates, board members, alumni, community members, and family/parents of JMU students or graduates.

We welcome anyone with an affiliation to JMU to take the survey. Because we are asking a diverse group of stakeholders to respond, there will likely be some statements that you don’t have any knowledge about. If you don’t have an informed opinion on a particular statement, you will be able to select “No basis to judge.” You may find that you have to use this response multiple times, which is completely okay. Your desire to take this survey shows your investment in JMU and its future and any feedback you can provide will be useful.

Maybe! The survey linked on this webpage is the second phase of the current SWOT analysis. In phase one (January – March), members of various leadership and advisory groups on campus were asked to provide their input on JMU’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats facing the university over the next five to seven years. If you provided input during that process, your responses likely helped form the SWOT elements in the current survey. This survey is different, however, and your participation is still very much needed.

During the initial phase of this SWOT analysis, respondents identified over 1,700 strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. We have used a process to synthesize those responses into the most common themes, which means that your response may have influenced one of the themes or perhaps was not shared widely enough across the groups surveyed in phase one to become a top theme. However, for each SWOT element in the survey, you will have the opportunity to recommend additional ideas, which will be considered when analyzing results. Please consult the next FAQ (How did you come up with SWOT statements in this survey?) for additional details on the process that was used to craft the statements.

From January to March, the Executive Director for Planning, Analytics and Institutional Research surveyed and/or met with over a dozen leadership and advisory groups including students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Over 1,700 individual strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were provided during this process. The JMU Office of Planning, Analytics and Institutional Research used qualitative analysis to produce an initial set of common themes from these 1,700 elements, which were then refined by the University Planning Team, JMU Division Heads, and the JMU Board of Visitors. The results of this work form the statements provided in the survey.