Noted author Stephen Covey\u2019s \u201c7 Habits of Highly Effective People\u201d has, no doubt, changed millions of lives.\u00a0 The second habit, \u201cBegin With the End in Mind,\u201d can have a profound effect on many different levels, and is the key to setting personal, organizational, and even spiritual goals (as in answering the question, \u201cWhere are you going to spend eternity \u2013 smoking or non-smoking?\u201d).\u00a0 Covey advocates keeping the goal in focus in order to assure that the traveler is on the right road to achievement.<\/p>\n
But simply setting a goal is not enough.\u00a0 Objectives are the necessary steps that must be achieved on the path to attaining the goal.\u00a0 Personally, I like to think of objectives as \u201cmilestones,\u201d since failure to plan for a stone in the road can make the sojourner trip and fall.\u00a0 The other part of the word (\u201cmile\u201d) is an excellent reminder that the there may be a long way to go to attain the desired objective.\u00a0 Realizing this in the planning process is much better preparation than finding out just how difficult the process is while the journey is in progress.<\/p>\n
What makes matters more difficult is that we\u2019ve been taught to induce knowledge.\u00a0 Most of our 12 years of obligatory schooling is geared toward making us reach a goal \u2013the attainment of a high school diploma.\u00a0 This is all the State requires our children to do.\u00a0 Although the need for higher education (in a college, a trade-school, or specialty training program) is necessary, States\u2019 public education covenant ends after 12th<\/sup> grade.\u00a0 It is only in the last few years of this process that the students actually begin to seriously consider what they will do with the rest of their lives when they don\u2019t have to be subjected to subjects that may hold no personal relevance for them, and lifelong friendships and relationships will be dashed when their friends try to begin their personal discernments.<\/p>\n Through induction, a step-by-step journey is begun, where each step is designed to be built up on the last one.\u00a0 Pre-determined class sessions are planned for the progression \u2013 for instance, Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Calculus\u2026and we\u2019ve got to fit Geometry and Trigonometry in there somewhere too, since the concepts in those areas are necessary for the worlds beyond Calculus.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s the thing \u2013 the \u201cmilestones,\u201d aka \u201cclasses,\u201d are already there.\u00a0 What if they\u2019re not set up?\u00a0 It\u2019s at that point a decision must be made \u2013 do we create the structures necessary to achieve the goals in order to stay just a step ahead of where we are, or do we start and the end, and work backwards?\u00a0 If the possibility exists, the latter is the most prudent choice.<\/p>\n Indeed, in some instances, logic would say this is impossible to do \u2013 you can\u2019t build a building by starting with the roof.\u00a0 Well, the fact of the matter is, in some instances, you CAN!\u00a0 It just depends on the size of structure and the size of the roof.\u00a0 The \u201croof\u201d of a pyramid could be created first, and then hoisted by a crane to top off the structure.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in the design, and in the planning.<\/p>\n Curriculum design specialists know this concept well.\u00a0 Their knowledge would serve advancement individuals well when they are in the process of strategically planning and executing a comprehensive plan for marketing and development.\u00a0 Communication is also critical in order to provide a logical explanation to the observation that \u201cYou\u2019re doing it backwards!\u201d<\/p>\n Consider our Catholic Schools.\u00a0 Most of them are still parish-based, with school administration reporting to a pastor or board of pastors that have had little, if any, formalized training in business administration or financial planning.\u00a0 Fortunately, there are probably parishioners with this expertise that can provide valuable counsel and guidance.\u00a0 The greatest \u201cmillstone\u201d (not to be confused with a milestone) is the subsidy which a parish provides to the school.\u00a0 More and more, parish subsidies to their schools for operational costs are causing an incredible strain on the parish budget, to the point that when a major capital crisis occurs, or debt continues to mount, the \u201cobvious\u201d decision is to close the school.<\/p>\n One of the more progressive solutions to this matter is a full-cost tuition\/needs-based aid model.\u00a0 But simply \u201cbiting the bullet\u201d to implement this solution can also accelerate the road to closure if supporting structures are not in place as part of a comprehensive strategy.<\/p>\n When considering the inductive aspect of enrollment building, the first step that is considered is marketing \u2013 emphasize the positive aspects of the school so that interest is generated, parents visit, enroll their children, receive financial aid based on need, and begin the necessary processes to carry on development activities \u2013 keep lists of alumni, engage community parents and community leader in providing extra funds for the school, and approach businesses and foundations for financial support.\u00a0 Therefore, many of our schools embark on marketing as the first step to changing their fate.\u00a0 But what happens next?\u00a0 Even the most successful marketing efforts may have a detrimental effect if the next steps are not in place to handle the enrollment wave that may result.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look at the Diocese of Greensburg, and how milestones were put in place over the course of the past 16 years (1992 through 2006) to prepare the Catholic schools for the future of a declining number of priests, deteriorating demographics, and a depressed economy in a primarily rural Diocese.<\/p>\n In 1992, a Diocesan endowment fund was created to begin to address students with financial need.\u00a0 In 1996, seminars were held with all the schools of the Diocese facilitated by the Institute for School and Parish Development.\u00a0 Development Core Teams were created, beginning the mindset change from \u201cfundraising\u201d to \u201cdevelopment.\u201d\u00a0 In 2000, plans were put in place to initiate a full-cost tuition\/needs-based aid structure in the elementary schools (a similar phase-in program for tuition in the two diocesan high schools had begun several years earlier).\u00a0 In a true FCT\/NBA model, additional revenues generated from \u201cfull-cost\u201d parents paying more than the cost of education goes to supply aid for those with need.\u00a0 However, this would have raised tuitions in the elementary schools to more than $7000 per student \u2013 quite a jump when many schools were charging $1400 per student in a subsidized model.\u00a0 A plan was promulgated to assess every parish of the Diocese between 3 and 15 percent of their regular income to create a large financial aid pool.\u00a0 Total monies from this fund, as well as the Diocesan endowment fund for tuition assistance, surpassed the amount of calculated need for those applying for aid in the Diocese.\u00a0 Parishes with schools would no longer be spending 50 percent or more of their regular income on school subsidy, but only 15% – allowing for the potential of additional funds to be used to defray parish debt, make improvements to the schools, provide for additional parish services, or help parents with direct aid if additional assistance was necessary.\u00a0 Those parishes with no school but children in a Catholic school at another parish could now share in the responsibility of providing a Catholic school education to their parishioners who chose a Catholic school environment in which to educate their children.\u00a0 In 2004, discussions on a change in governance began to provide accountability on the part of educational leaders, and in 2006, an enrollment estimation and tracking process was developed.\u00a0 By 2008, schools will be ready to reap the benefits of a successful marketing program, since all the milestones will be in place to ensure success.<\/p>\n Have more significant changes occurred in those 16 years?\u00a0 Of course, such as the regionalization of the parishes of Diocese (creating groupings of parishes in a natural arrangement based on the habitual patterns of parishioners of those parishes), the appointment of a new Bishop, the creation of an educational tax credit program by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide an additional source of financial aid, the appointment of excellent educational leaders at individual schools, and a dynamic superintendent of schools that has the vision and support to bring all the elements together.\u00a0 Have difficulties surfaced? Certainly, such as the loss of enrollment since the full cost tuition model was implemented, the continued closure of schools who could not adapt to the new paradigm and the skepticism of some administrators in the implementation years.<\/p>\n It had been posited that it may take 5 years after the implementation of a full-cost tuition model to see a turn-around in declining enrollment trends in the elementary schools, and a 9 years to see a fully functioning system in the new paradigm.\u00a0 This is because it will take 9 years to completely recycle the current enrollment of a K-8 elementary school, graduating those students who had entered Kindergarten at the time of implementation of the new tuition model.\u00a0 The Diocese is currently at that mid-point.\u00a0 Positive signs have been observed, such as the development of waiting lists for primary grades at several of the remaining 15 elementary schools, the call by the current Diocesan strategic planning committee to move in a bold, new direction to regionalize its Catholic schools, and the continued appointment of dynamic, experienced leaders in the schools themselves as well as diocesan administration.\u00a0 If the 2007-2008 school year shows an increase in enrollment, it may be the indication of a renaissance for the Diocese of Greensburg\u2019s Catholic schools.\u00a0 If so, \u201cdoing it backwards\u201d may become the model for moving forward.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2007<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Noted author Stephen Covey\u2019s \u201c7 Habits of Highly Effective People\u201d has, no doubt, changed millions of lives.\u00a0 The second habit, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":56,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-220","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2ggCS-3y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=220"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220\/revisions\/223"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}