Courses and faculty for the Institute for Day School Management (IDSM) include:
Strategic Management
Professor Murray Low
B.A., M.B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1976, 1985; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1991. Associate professor and founder of the Entrepreneurship Program, Columbia University Graduate School of Business; director of the Eugene M. Lang Center for Entrepreneurship. Interests in strategic management, and entrepreneurship in independent, corporate, and not-for-profit settings.
This part of the Institute for Day School Management deals with the overall strategic direction of the organization. Particular emphasis is placed on strategy formulation — the process of crafting a course of action that aligns with the organization's mission, its environment, and its internal strengths and weaknesses. The course achieves its aims through a combination of case discussions, lectures, and small group analyses. The course, and the entire program, culminates with a strategic plan developed by participants for their own organization.
Administration and Management
Professor Thomas P. Ference
B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 1963, 1966, 1967. Faculty, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, 1966–1993; founder of the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management, Columbia Business School; faculty director of the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management for Jewish Communal Service, 1976–present. Interests in organizational and personal determinants of career progress, organizational structure and management, decision making, and strategic planning.
This course is concerned with the efficient and effective use of institutional resources in the achievement and fulfillment of institutional mission and values, and the role of the individual in defining the substance and the process of strategy formulation, implementation, and execution. The course will open with a consideration of the challenge to the individual in successfully balancing professional, managerial, and leadership roles in a strategically managed organization. The second part of the course will focus on the governance of the organization and the role of the board. The final portion of the course will deal with concepts and approaches for the creation and operation of effective organizational systems and processes.
Financial Management
Professor Fred Putney
B.B.A., University of Washington, 1961; Ph.D., Stanford University Graduate School of Business, 1968. Executive vice president at Brownson, Rehmus & Foxworth, 1969–present; deputy vice president at Health Sciences Campus, Columbia University, 1970–1981. Interests in accounting and information systems, personal finance and investment planning, and managerial accounting.
The purpose of the accounting, budgeting, and finance component of the Institute for Day School Management is to provide the participant with a basic set of analytical skills and techniques in the financial management of a nonprofit organization. At the end of this series of classes, the participant will know how to use financial statements, budget documents, and other financial and program reports to manage an effective nonprofit organization. Through the use of course readings, case studies, and lectures, participants will learn how financial management assists the nonprofit manager in making operating, budgeting, and strategic decisions. The lectures will also examine some of the contemporary issues of governance and ethics facing the nonprofit sector today.
Marketing and Public Relations
Professor John Winkleman
B.A., Clark University, 1977; graduate, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management Executive-Level Program. Adjunct faculty, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management, 1997–present; founder of public relations and marketing agency for the not-for-profit industry. Interests in marketing issues, including demographics, research, audits, brand identification, crisis communications, public relations, advertising, strategy, and tactics.
This course will focus on the concepts and processes of marketing as applied to how an independent school relates to its various publics. In this sense, marketing includes such activities as public and community relations, customer–client information and education, and organizational identity and image management. The course will address such concerns as market segmentation and demographic shifts, program development and mix, program pricing, customer satisfaction and retention, and competitor–collaborator analysis, including competition for students, faculty, staff, and volunteers. This course will also explore the ways in which effective marketing supports fund development. Through hands-on components, participants will learn how to construct creative market-focused strategies for their schools, including objectives, positioning, and action plans, and to prepare for crisis communications.
Resource Development
Professor Daniel T. Forman
B.S. and B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo; M.S.W., Boston University Graduate School of Social Work; graduate, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management Executive-Level Program. Vice president for institutional advancement at Yeshiva University, 1995–present; executive director of UJA-Federation’s Capital Campaign, 1983–1995. Interests in strategic planning and development.
The course begins with an overview of philanthropy: Why do donors give? What motivates the largest gifts? How we can leverage philanthropy? What are the key factors for fundraising success? How can a case for major support be created? The course then guides participants in creating a comprehensive development plan. The course explores types of fundraising — annual, capital, endowment, and restricted — and a seven-step process for soliciting gifts. It concludes with an exploration of development's role within the institutional structure of day schools, including the executives' and lay leaders' roles and the relationship of marketing and public relations to development.
Personal Leadership
Professor Joann Baney
B.A., University of Chicago; M.B.A., Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Co-founder and vice president of the Professional Development Company; adjunct professor of management communications at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School; adjunct professor with Columbia Executive M.B.A; associate director of the Professional Development Center at Columbia Business School, 1990–1997. Interests in management communications, presentation skills, and interpersonal skills.
Professor Lori A. Roth
B.A., Brandeis University; M.P.P.M., Yale School of Management, 1990; doctoral candidate, Teachers College. Faculty, executive education, Columbia Business School, 2004–present; executive director, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management, 1995–2004. Interests in organizational change, leadership development, conflict resolution, team building, and executive coaching.
These sessions examine the various lenses the executive draws on to execute his or her in the organization: awareness of self, awareness of others, negotiation, mediation, coalition building, and leadership. Through a combination of lectures, case study, role-playing, experiential exercises, and self-report psychometric instruments, participants build emotional intelligence and gain a deep understanding of their personal impact. They learn to direct their enhanced self-awareness toward the development of others through coaching, and toward the development of the organization through leading change. Participants will construct clear leadership messages that draw on personal and institutional values, strategic priorities, and compelling examples from their personal and school histories.
Special Features
360-Degree Feedback and Individual Coaching
Increasingly, high-impact leadership development is achieved through the use of feedback from those who work closely with the individual participant. When offered as part of an educational program, participants have a means to compare their impact as leaders with the best practices they study in the program. Participants will select up to 15 colleagues to receive an online or hard-copy survey through which to offer feedback on behaviors related to four key competency areas: leading the organization, leading as a coach, leading groups, and leading as a person. Participants will receive detailed, confidential reports of their feedback, aggregated by type of respondent (supervisors, peers, and direct reports). Participants will meet with an executive coach to help them derive insights from their feedback and develop action plans for improvement.
Strategic Management Project Groups
A key component of IDSM is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary application project that participants undertake individually and discuss, at intervals, in facilitated small groups. The assignment guides participants in conducting a strategic analysis of their school as a whole or of a division they oversee. In this way, participants are directly supported by a member of the faculty and a small group of peers as they apply program concepts to issues they currently face. Through peer-group discussions, they practice critical reflection on their work, surfacing assumptions they hold about the organization and its potential, and they explore the complex relationship between the individual division or school and the larger context in which it operates. The first two phases of small-group consultation support the project's development, and the final phases support project implementation.
More Information
Read about how the program works, the 2008-2009 program schedule, the participant agreement and costs, and application requirements.
