This scavenger hunt idea was developed by Josh Powers of Indiana State University.

Goal: Play VU to a specific point in time and save the game. Distribute the saved game file to students and ask them to find various answers to specific questions about the institution featured in the saved game.

  Students will have to dig through various screens to find what they need.

An example of this process is below:

 

Saved Game:  RSUt0

 

Before starting time going in the game, answer these questions:

 

How many departments does this institution have?  11

 

What is the faculty research performance rating for the Computer Science Department?  41

 

What is the institution’s total enrollment?  3314

 

How many distance learners are there at the institution?  79

 

Which department has the highest student enrollment?

 

What percentage of traditional students live in the residence halls?  59%

 

At the institutional level, what class type (e.g., small seminar, large lecture, etc.) deviates most from the norm from institution’s like this one and by how much?

 

Distance learning courses under by 91%

 

Which revenue item at YR1 Actual was most over projections and by how much?

 

Gross & net tuition revenue and by $292,000.

 

On the budget plan page, what is real financial aid growth targeted to increase?  1.5%

 

What was the win/loss record of last year’s women’s basketball team?  11-19

 

Is parking demand outpacing supply?  NO

 

How many traditional undergraduates applied for this year’s entering  class?  2307

How many of those were admitted?  955

How many matriculated (enrolled)?  836

 

What is the faculty hiring priority for new blood in the Education Department?  High

 

Starting at 25% and moving up in 10% increments, how much money does it take to get Samuel Sharman in the Biology Department to retire early?   (45% to 55%)  or $30,309 vs. ?

Make the following setting changes and run the game for one year:

 

For the Biology Department, bump up small seminars to 90%, faculty research to a priority 1, and faculty course prep. to a priority 10.

 

In the Admissions and Financial Aid Office, bump up the target admit rate for traditional undergrads to 2,006 and drop merit aid to 0.

 

At the end of the first year, make the following setting changes and run the game for a second year:

 

What did your Board tell you were concern areas?

 

Alumni Giving, Institutional Prestige, Scholarship Broadly Defined, and Student Morale.

 

In the Resource Allocation section, set the real growth rate for tuition to 5% at a Required Priority.  Set real financial aid growth to –5% also at a Required Priority.  Optimize and hit next.

 

Leave the Budget Allocation screen alone.  Optimize and hit next.

 

Hire 7 new faculty in History (set target for that department at 10 and you should get 9 as a result when you optimize).

 

Make no other changes!

 

At the end of the second year, make no setting changes but immediately stop the game after the optimization process before running the game for another year.

 

In the Admissions and Financial Aid Office, bump up the admit rate for traditional undergrads to 2,050.

 

At the end of the third year but before the optimization process, answer this question:

 

Is the institution experiencing a surplus or a deficit?  Deficit

 

What was your performance as judged by the Board?  Weak

 

Make no setting changes but immediately stop the game after the optimization process before running the game for another year and answer these questions:

 

Is the prestige of the Biology Department trending up or down?  Slightly down

How about the quality rating for doctoral students?  Down sharply

 

What’s up with undergraduate selectivity?  Fluctuating widely