Higher Education Consulting
Transformation in higher education is our business.
For more than a decade we have provided large and small higher education institutions with strategic and organizational consulting services.
Our knowledgeable and actionable approaches enhance creativity and innovation, create greater transparency, identify efficiencies and improve use of resources and enhance culture, all in service of the university mission. We offer a range of consulting services and often several of these services are combined for maximum benefit.
If you are looking for a partner to transform your organization or go to the next phase of growth, contact us today.
Strategic Plans
Our approach to the strategic planning process inspires your leadership, faculty, and community to co-create a positive future vision and measurable goals.
Facilitated co-creation is central to our approach. Our decades of experience working with leading educational institutions in multiple roles have taught us that the key to planning success is finding and unleashing the energy already on campus. We will provide external views and research, deep listening, facilitated sessions, strategic planning tools, and an in-depth understanding of the university context and innovation potential to support our clients in imagining their future and owning their strategic plan. Our process is designed to uncover opportunities for mission-aligned growth and next-level leadership.
Some of the tools we use include:
In-depth, expert benchmarking and background research designed to spark innovation and ideation
Internal and external scans that identify core strengths as well as key challenges and uncertainties
Extensive interviews of both internal and external stakeholders to build engagement and buy-in and to capture current thinking on forward-focused ideas and plans
Facilitated workshops built on design thinking, scenario planning, and brand-building methodologies to ignite ideation and then create focus and alignment
Facilitated goalsetting using an “objectives and key results” (OKR) framework
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A scientific institute with an interdisciplinary focus had achieved its initial goals and needed support to create a vision for its next decade. We conducted interviews, online and in-person workshops, and external benchmarking to map the environment, identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and evaluate multiple future scenarios. This work was then brought together in a vision document for faculty input and buy-in, and then a full strategic plan was delivered.
Organizational Assessments
Understand what your people do. Get actionable recommendations for improving group, department, or school performance.
An organizational assessment is an impartial, external look at how one or several departments, offices, or groups are structured and how well they are operating—all in service to your strategic plan. In an organizational assessment, we do 1:1, confidential interviews with every member of the group(s) plus key stakeholders. Assessments and recommendations are tailored to your context and desired future state. Resultant data is distilled into a detailed, actionable report.
Examples of topics that might be explored in an organizational assessment include: productivity and performance; morale and climate; systems, communications, and processes; role clarity and needed capabilities; leadership; organizational structure; and organizational dependencies and redundancies.
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A medical school dean seeking to strengthen the leadership and operations of three large offices that reported to her came to us for an organizational assessment. Working closely with the dean and senior human resources professionals, we conducted individual assessments of each of the offices, providing detailed recommendations on organizational structure, operations, and leadership opportunities. As are result the dean has greater clarity on organizational strengths, improvement priorities, and a clear action plan in terms of improving operations.
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A graduate student affairs organization that gained new leadership during COVID was struggling with overwork and leadership challenges. Through a series of interviews and workshops we supported the responsible deans to reconstitute and enhance the organization and create professional development opportunities for the team.
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A School of Design and Architecture at an R1 university had grown organically and the dean was looking for ways to consolidate and centralize administrative activities for enhanced performance and cost effectiveness after returning to campus post COVID. We interviewed all of the staff and provided an updated organizational structure designed to enhance staff engagement and also take advantage of university shared services.
Organizational Culture Surveys
A culture survey provides a data-rich picture of what an organization needs to do to achieve its goals.
A culture survey provides detailed data that supports inclusive problem-solving and culture change, and tracks improvements over time. Strong and aligned organizational cultures support high performance, engagement, and employee recruitment and retention.
We use the Denison Culture Survey, developed by the organizational scholar and IMD professor emeritus Daniel Denison. This tool measures four key drivers of high performance: mission, adaptability, involvement, and consistency, and provides results that are benchmarked against other similar organizations.
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A business school challenged by morale issues and faced with an accreditation challenge came to us looking for support to align faculty and deepen their engagement. Working closely with human resources, we conducted a culture survey and interviewed all faculty and staff. The resulting recommendations served as the basis for a two-day team-building workshop that we conducted on site. One year later, a new culture survey showed an increase across every measure, with an overall average increase of 43 points.
Executive & Professional Education Strategy
Develop, grow, evaluate, and benchmark your professional and executive education offerings.
Many universities look to professional and executive education as ways to generate revenues and engage with corporate partners. With more than 20 years’ experience in this field, we can help you create, grow, consolidate, evaluate, and benchmark your professional and executive education offerings, developing strategic plans that are informed both by internal stakeholders and market opportunities for growth.
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An executive and professional organization came to us looking to design new and innovative offerings to increase revenues. We conducted a benchmarking study and an environmental scan, interviewed current and past clients, stakeholders and staff, and developed a two-year strategic plan for growth.
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A major research lab was looking to increase the scope and profitability of its online professional offerings. We did an in-depth analysis of the profitability, expenses, staff support and external partnership opportunities and made recommendations that set the programs up for their next stage of growth.
Workshops & Offsites
We offer workshops and offsites as part of our coaching and consulting services. Our workshops are practical, hands-on, and grounded in adult development theory and deep expertise in executive education. Workshops are customized to specific client needs and can include articles, simulations and case studies as part of the teaching experience. Examples of topics from past workshops include: Strengths-Based Leadership, Authentic Leadership, Managing Team Conflict, High Performance Goals for Growth, Leading Virtual Teams , Emotional Intelligence, The Human Side of Leading Change and The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team.
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A university president in her third year wanted a unique and impactful offsite for her senior leadership team. We developed a custom two-day workshop focused on inspiration, development, and taking action on the strategic plan. This was followed by a second workshop in the following year to enhance accountability.
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Today’s academic leaders are charged with not only navigating the complexities of educational institutions but also inspiring and motivating their faculty colleagues and administrative teams to strive for excellence amidst volatility and uncertainty. Leaders who do this effectively demonstrate a unique blend of skills, attributes, and values that allow them to create an environment conducive to growth, innovation, and success.