Learn more about the Muehlstein Institute:
Our Participants
Fellows in the Muehlstein Institute generally range in age from 25 to 40, have been working in the field of Jewish communal service approximately two to seven years, and have completed at least one full year of employment within their sponsoring agency by the start of the institute. Appropriate candidates have professional job responsibilities that afford them an opportunity to apply the learning from the institute to their work settings. Educational credentials include a bachelor's degree and, in many cases, a master's degree.
Identified by their organizations as emerging professional leaders, fellows represent a variety of professional disciplines and a veritable cross-section of Jewish communal agency settings. As such, they bring to the institute a rich array of backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge bases through which all learn and benefit. The small group size assures individual attention and fosters interaction among fellows from these various sectors.
The institute takes place over an 18-month period, and requires approximately 26 to 28 days of release time from work, as well as several evening and Sunday programs. Fellows are expected to make every effort to participate in all aspects of the institute program.
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Retreats
The opening four-day retreat is designed to build a learning community and introduce specific themes of the learning components. The retreat, which includes three days of leadership training designed and facilitated by the Rockwood Leadership Program, will take place in a rustic setting approximately two to three hours from New York City. A Shabbat retreat, designed to continue the process of building a learning community, will take place over the summer after the second semester of the Muehlstein Institute. An overnight closing retreat will provide a synthesis of all the learning components as well as an opportunity to celebrate individual and group accomplishments.
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Formal Learning
The formal learning components are presented through a combination of lectures, case studies, assessments, role-playing, and exercises. The participatory and interactive format promotes practical application of the course content to the agency setting. Facilitated conversations concerning professional skills and workplace-related issues provide the opportunity to discuss new techniques, skills, and knowledge, and to convey obstacles and successes.
Not-for-Profit Management Curriculum
The curriculum is divided into several modules. A tentative outline of each section follows.
Leading the Organization
- Introduction to Management and Leadership Techniques
- Strategic Planning and Thinking
- Improving Organizational Performance
- Leading and Managing Change
- Developing a Leadership Credo
Personal and Interpersonal Competencies
- Understanding Style Differences
- Key Interpersonal Skills for Organizational Effectiveness
- Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills
- Working in Teams
Essential Tools for Effective Managers
- Budgeting and Financial Management
- Fundraising
- Project Management
Jewish Communal Service Curriculum
History of the Jewish community and its institutions, understanding the Jewish organizational structure and its activities, Jewish values and their impact on communal priorities, personal values and communal responsibility, and contemporary issues facing the Jewish community.
Career Management Curriculum
Envisioning your career, investing in yourself, the art of strategic networking, mentoring readiness, proactively managing your career, identifying and overcoming obstacles, and career action planning.
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Experiential Learning
Mentoring Program
Fellows will learn the skills necessary to create a network of developmental relationships with peers, subordinates, supervisors, senior professionals in other organizations, and others. As part of this process, each fellow will be encouraged to develop at least one mentoring relationship with a more seasoned professional who will assume a number of important roles, including that of a sounding board, career guide, and coach.
Salon Series
A cross-section of successful professional and volunteer leaders will address current issues and themes in Jewish communal life, as well as share their career paths, histories, and recommendations for career development through facilitated salon-style conversations.
Resource Library
In addition to textbooks and other reading materials used in the classroom, books and publication subscriptions related to not-for-profit management and Jewish communal life will be provided to each fellow.
Overseas Seminar
In the final semester of the program, Muehlstein fellows will broaden their understanding of global Jewish communal concerns and challenges during an overseas experience within a selected community in the former Soviet Union, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, or Israel.
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Self-Directed Learning
Electives
Fellows will have opportunities to select from among several areas of special focus for more in-depth learning. Topics offered may include managing staff and teams, fundraising essentials, project development and management, and presentation and delivery skills.
Action Learning Projects
To reinforce and evaluate learning, each fellow will work as part of a team to develop and execute a project that incorporates key learning elements and has practical applications for one or more sponsoring agencies or the Jewish communal sector in general. The project will evolve with support from other fellows and a faculty advisor and will reflect both the particular interests of fellows and the mission and needs of the sponsoring organizations.
Continuing Learning Grants
In consultation with the institute director, fellows will have the opportunity to customize their learning by choosing one or more of the following experiences: 1) enrollment in a continuing education program; 2) attendance at a professional conference; 3) individual coaching provided by a certified executive coach; or 4) a one- to two-day immersion visit with professionals at a federation and in allied agencies in a major Northeastern city.
Fellows will receive grants of up to $750.
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Graduation and Alumni Support
A graduation ceremony will take place after the conclusion of all institute components. Following graduation, informal alumni programming and ongoing career guidance will be provided.
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Timing and Location
Most day sessions will take place on Mondays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at one or more Manhattan locations. Most evening sessions will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at UJA-Federation of New York.
Please note: Over the course of the 18-month institute, fellows should not miss more than three sessions. In addition, participation in the orientation, opening retreat, learning-partnership orientation, overseas seminar (including orientation and debriefing), and concluding retreat, as well as completion of a group action-learning project, are required for satisfactory completion of the program.
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