|
With an unpredictable economy, changing workforce and increasingly competitive independent school market, keeping St. Margaret’s on the forefront of girls’ boarding education is a process rather than a task, said management consultant Carrie Baldwin ‘81.
So when the Board of Governors Vice-Chair volunteered to help St. Margaret’s develop its latest five-year strategic plan, she approached it from the mindset of a journey. The route and the people who traveled it were just as important as the destination.
“I’m sure (Head of School) Margaret Broad and her cabinet could have come up with a plan by themselves. They’re savvy businesspeople and they’re running the school, so I’m sure it would have been a very good plan. But I wonder how long it would have lasted, without real buy-in.
Be Competitive
Goal 1: Athletic Complex
“What made this planning process succeed were the people we involved, and how we engaged them. The result is a plan that won’t sit on the shelf.”
The nine-month process drew in more than 75 alumnae, parents, faculty, staff and community members. Participants were selected for their expertise and matched to task forces that focused on key areas of the school’s operations. Fundraising executives, for example, focused on advancement and investment managers took on financial resources.
It all began where everything does at SMS––with an affirmation of the school’s mission; in this case, an official endorsement by the Board of Governors.
“We believe in who we are,” Ms. Baldwin said. “The question is, how can we equip ourselves to carry out our mission in a rapidly changing world?”
To help planners arrive at answers, she employed the Awareness-Education-Alignment model that she learned in her days with Accenture and now applies to her own firm’s clients, including Pepsi-Cola North America, Frito Lay and Charles Schwab.
Coordinate Efforts
Goal 2: Development Plan
Ms. Baldwin gathered internal and external data, including benchmarking information from aspirant schools, to create an assessment of the school’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. With board and cabinet input, she also drew up a list of planning assumptions that included such statements as “We will remain an Episcopal boarding and day school for girls on the Rappahannock River” and “Our enrollment profile serves us well in today’s market and the market we envision for the future.”
Mrs. Broad, her cabinet, and a steering committee that included administrators and board members helped fine-tune the SWOT analysis and planning assumptions. Each task force commented on the analysis and assumptions in conference calls that preceded a two-day planning retreat in early February.
Task force members “went deep” into their assigned areas at the retreat, Ms. Baldwin said, to come up with goals that would keep St. Margaret’s moving ahead. Many flip chart pages later, the meeting room still was buzzing with energy as each group shared its recommendations and saw how they created synergy with others.
Strengthen our base
Goal 3: Increase Endowment
The final step in the planning process came later in the spring, when Ms. Baldwin challenged each task force to identify no more than two priorities that it wanted to bring to the Board of Governors for inclusion in the first phase of strategic plan implementation
“It was the highlight of my professional work this year to get a group of people together not just to agree on a plan,” Ms. Baldwin said, “but to take it even further and have a healthy discussion about what to tackle first. That kind of an honest assessment of the school and its needs today would have been impossible without the contributions and collaboration from the February planning sessions.”
Work already has begun on several of the six priorities that the board approved in May for the strategic plan’s first phase. |
Partners in Planning
Personnel: Chair, Michelle Faulkner, P’01; Liaison; Head of School Margaret Broad. Elizabeth “Sissy” Crowther ’75, Foundation Board member John Parrott, Dean for School Life Keith Krusz, Liz Martin P’09.
Academic Program: Chair, Clara MacKenzie Smiley ’67; Liaison, Assistant Head for School Life Cathy Sgroi. International Program Director Leslie Bohon, Lee Boudreaux ’86, Michaux Tayloe Chopski ’93, College Counselor Mollie Conklin, Director of Studies ViAnn Farmer, Debi Boyd Krulak ’90, math teacher Faith Martin, Kay Gwaltney Remick ’57, Wanda Ryan P’01 ’06.
Co-Curricular Program: Chair, Jill McCuan P’04; Liaison, Dean of Faculty George McDowell. Jeff Armor, Board of Governors member Giovanna Athias P’05, Activities Director Cupper Dickinson P’06, Yaisha Harding ’99, Board of Governors member Michelle LaRose ’89, Director of Residence Natasha Kollaros McClain ’93, Ken Miller P’07, Board of Governors member Sharon Tomnitz P’04.
Advancement: Chair, Ward Orem P’05; Liaison, Director of Development Maureen Neal. Carrie Baldwin ’81, Jenni Booker ’93, Director of Annual Giving Marie Graves, Board of Governors member Fay Gibian Lohr ’62, Board of Governors member Fred Moring, Jim Kissel P’07, Joan Cunningham Kessler ’70, Cindy Lyon-Vaiden ’71, Penny deBordenave Saffer ’56, Alumnae Director Carol Smith, History Department Head Louise Velletri.
Enrollment/Marketing: Chair, Randy Watts; Liaison, Assistant Head for External Affairs Kimberly McDowell.
Board of Governors member Trudi Barton Allcott ’77, Alumnae President Courtenay Tayloe Altaffer ’66 P’92, SMS Webmaster David Broad, Director of Marketing Jenni Brockman, science teacher Sara Acree Brooks ’79 P’07 ’09, Betty Rawls-Lang ’64, Karen Payton P’06, Foundation Board Chair Janie Whitt Sellers ’71, Board of Governors member Cacky Williamson West ’81.
Facilities and Campus: Chair, Nita Enoch ’71; Liaison, Chief Financial Officer Nancy Smith. Bobby Beasley P’09, Librarian Dale Harter, Foundation Board member George Longest, Jr., Heather Wood Mantz ’87, Board of Governors member Patrick McCuan P’04, Lesley Moseley ’89, Foundation Board member Al Pollard P’83.
Financial Resources: Chair, L.H. Ginn III; Liaisons, Margaret Broad and Nancy Smith. Lauren Block ’97, Monte Gladding, Frank Hundley, Board of Governors member Debbie Newman P’06 ’10, Board of Governors member Ann Peck ’75, Board of Governors member Joe Shearin, Masha Skuratovskaya ’94, Brooke Trible Weinmann ’75.
Governance: Chair, Margaret Ray ’61; Liaison, Chaplain Candine Johnson. Board of Governors member Merrie Nash Boone ’62, President of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia David Charlton, Board of Governors member Sheri Hummel P’07, Susie Robinson Mote ’60, Martha Frisby Rasin ’65, Curriculum Coordinator Grace Rhinesmith P’85, History Department Head Shannon Spears.
|
