Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/42073
Helping donors understand the many ways their money can be used to improve our programs is not easy. Yes, a new state-of-the-art building is highly visible for both the university and its benefactors— and it might help the school climb in the rankings. But funding for a new scholarship, an international program, or an endowed chair can have an even greater impact on students and ensure that donors leave a lasting mark. As we worked to revise our program, we received guidance from colleagues, faculty, and board members on many questions. What changes can we make with relatively little effort? What changes will yield the great- est impact? What changes support the vision and mis- sion of our program and university? The answers we received helped form the basis for our strategic plan. Once the strategic initiatives were drafted, we shared them with the board and PAC members and potential donors—a critical step for effective fund raising. Producing and monitoring pilots. Education is no dif- ferent from any other business when it comes to the chal- lenge of making important decisions. When do we imple- ment a new program? Should we wait until the program is endowed? How do we define a critical mass of sup- port? How do we predict and measure student demand? I'm a big fan of incremental improvement—of intro- ducing new programs as pilots, monitoring them, and reporting to stakeholders on their progress. This allows for stages of continuous improvement and provides opportunities to tweak details at every stage. It also allows schools to share information about program pilots with donors, who might be considering large gifts to fund programs that appear poised for success. Redistributing and raising resources. All the institutions I've visited are scrambling for—and competing for— donations. For every new initiative our undergraduate school proposed, we were told, "Great idea. Now see if you can find a donor who agrees." Thus, in planning new initiatives, we worked closely with our development office and advisory boards to raise funds. We looked for opportunities to speak at board meetings and alumni events, and we prepared the elevator pitch for each proposed initiative. As the leading advocate for these initiatives, I needed to be knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and visible. Listening to students early and often. Since students are our primary constituents, we feel it's important that we give them opportunities to share their thoughts with us. We recently started a new tradition called "bagels with the dean," during which students are invited to meet with me, as well as the undergraduate program staff. At this time, students can express their concerns, ask us questions, and receive timely advice. The event originally attracted 50 students and now brings in as many as 300 each week. This informal coffee hour has already resulted in improved communications—and increased accessibility to our staff. It is important for administrators to create forums to communicate with students. These might be focus groups, Facebook pages, blogs, or chat rooms. Our student focus groups were useful for gathering input on specific initiatives, and our Facebook page allowed students in the first-year seminar to share comments and criticisms. Recent student feedback has led directly to visible curricular enhancements and changes in our advising process. If schools focus on improving student learning, not on improving their standings in the rankings, any of the strategies here can have an enormous impact on a business program. Administrators simply need to consider the important questions. Are we meeting our primary learning objectives? Are we delivering the best possible program to our students? For business schools to be successful, we must understand the identities of our schools. We need to focus on ways to differentiate ourselves by developing curricula that align with our missions and support our students' efforts to be effective learners. We owe it to our students to design and deliver innovative and pro- gressive programs. Norean R. Sharpe is senior associate dean at Georgetown Uni- versity's McDonough School of Business in Washington, D.C. BizEd September/October 2011 73 DAJ/GLOW IMAGES