Navigating Change: The Podcast From Teibel Education

Gerald Hector is Vice President for Finance and Administration at Ithaca College. In part one of our conversation last week, Gerald shared his insights on the importance of the CBO-CIO relationship, and we expected that to be the extent of our conversation. Then he surprised us with a fantastic pivot. In part two, we take on the power of storytelling in moving the institutional mission forward. From using metaphor to explain complex financial subjects, to his "Dollars & $ence" meetings, now central to his mission around campus financial leadership, Gerald's input is a valuable perspective far beyond his role as a technical finance leader. About Gerald Hector Gerald Hector serves as chief financial officer with administrative oversight to the offices of Auxiliary Services, Digital Instruction and Information Services, Facilities, and Business and Finance, as well as providing support and direction for all of the College's financial endeavors. Links & Notes Enlightening IT — NACUBO Business O

Gerald Hector is Vice President for Finance and Administration at Ithaca College. He serves as chief financial officer with administrative oversight to the offices of Auxiliary Services, Digital Instruction and Information Services, Facilities, and Business and Finance, as well as providing support and direction for all of the College's financial endeavors. But he started in technology, and in his work understanding the requirements of the role, he cultivated a set of skills unique to finance. Today, we’re talking about the CBO-CIO relationship, and the fundamental changes ahead in how we impact our most important constituency: our students. Links & Notes Enlightening IT — NACUBO Business Officer Magazine Navigating the New Normal White Paper — Southern Education Foundation Gerald Hector Series at The HBCU Nation — SoundCloud    

This week we have the second of our live podcasts coming to you from the Western Association of College and University Business Officers Annual Conference in San Francisco. Howard Teibel is joined by the incoming WACUBO presidents in which they share their hopes and insights around the power of a diverse and inclusive association, along with living up to the pressure of the legacy of leaders that has come before.  Our guests this week include…  WACUBO president Jean Vock, currently associate dean at Eller College of Management, University of Arizona WACUBO 2nd vice president, Robert Moore, currently senior vice president, Colorado College WACUBO At Large board member and Future Leaders’ Forum Program Committee Chair Arch Asawa, currently vice president for finance and administration and CFO, Soka University WACUBO 2016 Annual Conference Host Chair Teresa Costantinidis, currently associate vice chancellor for budget and resource management at University of California, San Francisco Thanks to all our guests f

How do you get people to engage in a conversation around failure? According to our guest, “you can see in organizations where iteration and the failure that might come with it is accepted as something that can be positive, and something that can help us get to the destination we’re trying to get to.” Creating a culture of iteration, and adapting toward a state in which you see failure as growth is a challenge, but one worth taking. SVP of First American Education Finance Chad Wiedenhofer joins us today to talk about iteration and growth. How do you trigger conversations around alternative models of financing that business officers should be considering? How do you help lead your institution toward creative new models of revenue generation? These are central to our conversation with Chad today, and certain to open new opportunities for dialog at your institutions.  Links & Notes First American Education Finance The Higher Standard LinkedIn Twitter

In just a few weeks, the Western Association of College and University Business Officers 2016 Annual Conference is set to convene in San Francisco, California. The program is full of incredible speakers and events kicking off Sunday, April 24 with a Keynote by former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and a catalog of university presidents and business officers who are leading the charge for change in their institutions. You can find out more about the conference at wacubo.org.  Ruth Johnston is Associate Vice President at University of Washington. As such, she serves as Chief of Staff for Planning & Management, and leads and facilitates UW's Organizational Excellence, working across the university leading and facilitating strategic planning, process improvements, developing future leaders, measuring performance, and helping to manage change. That background makes Ruth the perfect person to join us for this conversation.  Howard Teibel and Ruth Johnston are among the speakers at this year’s WACUBO a

Risk mitigation is not new, says our guest. "But it's also not easy." And Janice Abraham should know. As CEO of United Educators, a premier risk management and liability insurance company in higher education, Abraham spends her days leading the charge in helping more than 1,300 academic institutions to think of both the upside and downside of all potential horizons. Within the context of academic structures, a robust discussion of risk today must include not just cooperation between academics and administration, but collaboration in preparing for risk scenarios. To what extent is this sort of interaction taking place in best in class institutions today? How far do forward-thinking boards need to go to be involved in risk strategy? These questions and more are on the table in this wide ranging conversation with our very special guest, Janice Abraham. Links & Notes Risk Management: An Accountability Guide for University and College Boards — Janice Abraham (Amazon, iBooks, AGB) United Educators A

At this year’s EACUBO Annual Workshop in Boston, Howard Teibel shared the stage with Bentley University President Gloria Larson in a conversation titled Building and Supporting your Leadership Team that centered on how leadership teams communicate their shared vision for success across the institution.  This week, we have a follow-up conversation between President Larson and Howard Teibel in which they share their observations in a few key areas:  Hear President Larson’s position on the opportunities that come with generational transitions and power of the Millennial “triple bottom line” awareness Learn about the Bentley’s Center for Women in Business, and their role in facing the professional gender gap head on through public-private partnership Get key insights on how to set yourself up for success if you’re on a new team in a new organization from two people who have done it Find out how to stay focused through daily distractions as you evolve in alignment with your strategic goals This is a wide-ranging

In late 2013, our guest, futurist Bryan Alexander, and colleagues crowd-sourced a new metaphor into our higher ed vernacular: The Queen Sacrifice. According to Alexander, The Queen Sacrifice is a strategy in which “a college or university sacrifices one of its most vital elements (faculty, academic offerings) to ward off financial woe.” The perils of a queen sacrifice are plenty, implying both a practical fissure in the institution, and a cultural one. When financial restructuring is on the table, pushing cuts of academic programs shines a spotlight on institutional values and mission, in addition to financial woes. This week on Navigating Change, Bryan Alexander joins us to address a question that eludes the most talented academic strategists: how do you transform academic structures and programs without diminishing the mission? Links & Notes BryanAlexander.org Colleges prepare to sacrifice the queen Future Trends in Technology in Education Rascovar: At Mt. St. Mary’s, Newman was wolf in the hen house R

Want to condition yourself to do 100 push-ups a day? Then start with just one, and do it right after you use the restroom. Such is the advice from Stanford professor BJ Fogg in his TEDxTalk about using tiny habits to launch big change in your life.  The same is true for organizational change. This week on the show, Gail Gregory joins Pete Wright to share the experience of UMass Lowell and their effort to transform the institution, one tiny initiative at a time. Gregory and UMass Lowell’s Lauren Turner published the story of that journey in the Winter 2015-16 edition of CUPA-HR’s Higher Education Workplace magazine. Find the link below.  Links & Notes Forget big change, start with a tiny habit: BJ Fogg at TEDxFremont Are You Ready for Change? Gail Gregory on Workforce Management at UMass Lowell Ron Friedman’s Peak Work Performance Summit

“I never used the words ‘strategic planning’…” Mark Heckler has served as president of Valparaiso University since 2008. In his tenure so far, the institution has achieved some notable wins: expanded facilities, expanded academic programs and a five-year campaign achieving the largest fundraising goal ever achieved by a Lutheran University. Today, Dr. Heckler is overseeing the implementation of the most expansive and comprehensive Strategic Plan in the University’s 150-year history. Today, he joins us on the show to talk about the planning process employed at Valparaiso, and how he and his team created a framework for crafting the next chapter of the institution with an eye toward inclusivity and diversity of perspective.  Links & Notes Valparaiso University

When we talk about good customer service in higher education, what does that mean? Do your teams recoil at the word ‘customer’? Is there a shared interest in delivering quality service across the institution? If any of these questions are challenging for you to answer, don’t worry, you’re not alone. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel shares his insights in working with teams to embrace service across the institution. What does it take to bring a service mindset to your team? How do you help your team to better understand the audience you serve? Better still, how do you create a powerful movement for change — from those who work directly with your students, to those up and beyond your team? Later this month, Howard will deliver Managing Up and Out at the NACUBO 2016 Student Financial Services conference. This presentation is focused on the intricacies of managing relationships beyond direct reports, with supervisors and peers across departments, all in an effort to build smart strategic relationship

"People don’t have a problem with change. They have a problem with the uncertainty that the change — or the anticipation of the change — creates." Howard has returned from the NBOA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles and brings lessons learned from his time with business officers and leaders of independent schools. This year, the presentation focused on three key areas: Leading Change, Decision-Making, and Strategic Communication. The objective, to answer the question: where are you in your career and what do you see your role to be in your school? Are you the finance officer, head, or are you truly a champion for change? Thanks to a rich dialog with questions from group, this was an engaging and inspirational session. This week on the podcast, we’re taking comments from Twitter during the session and responding directly.

  University of Colorado at Boulder is launching the first new college on campus in over 53 years. This is the beginning of an exciting period for the institution, one of building, creating, and supporting growth through bold academic and administrative leadership. What does it take to bring teams together, especially after a period of uncertainty? This week on Navigating Change, we’re talking about making the transition to construction from deconstruction, and building an academic environment where faculty and staff find the support they need to help deliver on their promise of student success at CU’s College of Media, Communication and Information. Links & Notes CMCI at University of Colorado

Burck Smith is the CEO and founder of StraighterLine, an education company that works to solve a major hurdle for many students: cost. They do this by offering accredited courses online for a monthly fee with credits that are guaranteed to transfer within their network of transfer colleges. This week, we welcome Smith to the show to introduce us to the StraighterLine approach and outline why it’s a good fit in the broader higher education ecosystem. In our on-going conversation around the value of transfers and alternative credit pathways, StraighterLine demonstrates an interesting and innovative approach to building capable students online.  Links & Notes StraighterLine.com

According to a study released last Tuesday, only 14% of students who start out in the community college system actually make the leap to a 4-year college and graduate. That the transfer system boasts some leaks is not a surprise to those of us who’ve been working in the field, but that the leak is so significant is stunning.  The reason we want to talk about this statistic this week on Navigating Change, and the transfer system in general, is that we’re seeing an increasing impact on the 4-year colleges, and an increased sense of ownership by these schools that this is not a “Community College Problem” alone — that it’s a challenge of shared ownership and responsibility to address it.  Links & Notes Transfer System from 2-Year to 4-Year Colleges Isn’t Working, Report Says New Report Ranks States Based on Colleges’ Performance in Helping Students Transfer to Four-Year Universities and Earn Bachelor’s Degrees

What does sustainability look like? That’s the question at hand on the show this week, as we navigate the waters of innovation and decision making through strategic use of data. Dr. Teresa Hardee, CFO and CBO at Delaware State University, joins us to share her institution’s story of breaking down silos, encouraging institution-wide participation, and creating a culture of transparency around the numbers.  One of the unique elements of this transformation is DSU’s Data Transformation Team. This team includes faculty and academic leadership, administration, finance, institutional research, marketing and a data scientist. Their role is to serve the institution as a resource in strategic decision making, and foundational support to back up the more creative initiatives they aim to achieve.  Links & Notes Delaware State University Delaware State University Office of Finance & Administration About Dr. Teresa Hardee Currently serving as Delaware State University’s Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Teresa Hardee

This week’s conversation is inspired by two pieces in higher education circles. The first, by Beckie Supiano for the Chronicle, is targeted toward telling the story of college pricing and the overall education market to key constituent audiences. The second, from Daemen College President Gary Olson, attempts to address six common myths around private higher education. Both articles highlight the undercurrent in our industry today- that we have lost ownership of the conversation around higher education in the media, and the tone is shifting to one of economic scandal above opportunity. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright offer a response and continuation of the discussion around the myths of higher education, and invite you to contribute. Share your comments on the blog, or connect with us on Twitter @HowardTeibel or @PeteWright. Links & Notes Six Common Myths About Higher Education by Gary A. Olson How to Talk to Regular People About What’s Happening to College Prices by Beckie Supiano

"Higher ed needs to eat its own dog food,” says Peter Kane, CEO of e-procurement firm Unimarket.   This idea of dog-fooding, the concept that institutions practice extensively in their own operations what they teach in the classroom, has proved to be a challenge in higher education. When we run into internal operational challenges, can we honestly say that we’re as adaptable institutionally as we like to think we are?   This week on the show, Unimarket CEO Peter Kane joins us to share his experience working with innovators in higher education who strive to be as good operationally as they are in the classroom. “Why shouldn't it be as good internally as we're trying to produce externally?” says Kane. “[Institutions] talk about themselves as if it’s really hard work, making change, and yet at the same time are keen to make change for themselves.”    This week on the show, we share the perspective from an experienced practitioner in helping institutions implement change, transform operations, and develop lo