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News Washington News Welcome to the March, 2002 edition of Washington News, the Washington Services newsletter. Washington News is published each second month and is designed to alert clients and others to developments in international school and university administration. Read on for client consulting activity, development and marketing news items and a featured article on "The Minefield of Staff Selection". Washington Services works with schools and universities internationally assisting them with alumni relations, fundraising, marketing, feasibility studies and governance opportunities. In this edition
Recent Consulting Activity (return to top) In recent times Washington Services has been engaged by a range of local and international clients, some of the more rewarding assignments being: SFS seoul foreign school Seoul Foreign School, South Korea - Review of the prospects for a Development function. The Seoul Foreign School and its Seoul Foreign British School affiliate enjoy well deserved reputations as the international schools of first choice in South Korea. Consultant Frank Opray assisted the SFS in assessing how the establishment of a Development function could enhance philanthropic support for the school. A Development Office has subsequently been established, a Director of Development recruited and the process of donor engagement is underway. THE IRELAND FUNDS The Ireland Funds, Boston, USA - Feasibility relative to promoting philanthropy for Irish reconciliation causes in Australia. The Ireland Funds successfully harness philanthropic support world wide for a broad range of humanitarian causes in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The key focus of the work they do is the promotion of reconciliation and education with the objective of conflict resolution in Ireland. Consultant Frank Opray assisted the Ireland Funds explore the prospects for a much expanded programme of philanthropy in Australia. State Library of Victoria, Australia - Acquisition of sponsorship support for an infant reading programme. The State Library of Victoria is proposing to deliver a "Baby Book" kit to each Victorian family with a new-born baby. Evidence from similar long running programmes in the UK and elsewhere suggest that children as young as three months can benefit by having books read to them and that these benefits can translate into lifelong literacy skills. Consultants David Hunt and Frank Opray are assisting in the assembly of sponsorship funding for this important programme. Washington Services recently participated in the annual meeting of the Heads of FOBISSEA schools, (Federation of British International Schools in South East Asia). The conference was held on the island of Penang, Malaysia and was graciously hosted by John Jones, Head of St Christopher's International Primary School. The venue was the recently magnificently restored Eastern & Oriental Hotel, Penang. Addressing the over 20 Heads of schools from throughout the region we were able to outline the work we do in assisting schools in their alumni relations, marketing and fundraising endeavours.
Washington Services' Principal, Frank Opray, will be presenting two sessions on fundraising in international schools at the April ECIS Administors' conference in Budapest. These will focus on using annual giving as a means of donor development and on the all important factor of ensuring a development function is in fact bringing in major gifts. Development and Marketing News Items (return to top) Foundations Giving Internationally - How to Locate Them? The web now provides an excellent and timely source of information on trusts and foundations and their international giving criteria. International schools and universities can access this valuable resource through three well constructed and helpful sites. These recommended sites are: The Foundation Centre at http://fdncenter.org which provides a comprehensive listing of American foundations, their size and giving guidelines, The European Foundation Centre at www.efc.be which provides a similar service for European foundations, and WINGS, (Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support), at www.wingsweb.org which lists 85 grantmaking associations worldwide and which provides access to the member foundations within each, together with information on the global philanthropic scene. University of Melbourne - A Global University Experience for International students at "International House" In February this year International House, a residential college at The University of Melbourne, welcomed 123 new first year students on a day filled with exuberance and fun from the Students' Club Orientation Week Committee. The shyness of the 65 new Australian students (from places like Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Warrnambool, Mildura, Darwin, Launceston and Hobart) was sensitively treated as they met the overseas contingent of a similar size who came from many different countries, especially Asian. This year International House will consist of 250 students from over 30 different countries, roughly half of whom are Australian. Most students attend The University of Melbourne, RMIT University or Monash University's Pharmacy College. If you consider that your graduating students would benefit by the intellectual stimulus of having a very real international experience while studying in Melbourne, or to enable them to make life-long friends from all over the world, consider advising them to become a resident at International House, Melbourne. For more information, please see the college's web site: http://www.ihouse.unimelb.edu.au or contact Gillian Farrell on gfarrell@ihouse.unimelb.edu.au Web Site Affiliate Programs In our January 2002 newsletter we spoke about web site optimisation techniques designed to position school and university sites preferentially, (in the top 5 to 7 sites), on the most oft used web search engines. The vendors who offer these services generally also advise on how to graft affiliate programs onto a web site. This entails linkages to sites which may be seeking to attract like audiences, eg international real estate or re-location firms and international schools. A browser visiting re-location firm sites might for example click on a linkage to an international school in the country of destination and its enrolment page. The tracking process which can be applied to such linking enables the school, in that example, to pay a "spotters fee" to the re-location firm for the introduction to the browser. Higher rates of payment can be applied the further the browser delves into the school's site. Introductions to vendors of this service can be made by Washington Services. Featured Article - The Minefield of Staff Selection (return to top) David Hunt, the author of this article, is a Washington Services' associate consultant who served for 13 years as Principal of an independent school in Melbourne, Australia. He regards his major contribution to his school during that time to be the quality of the staff he recruited. He takes pride in the fact that six of those appointees have gone on to be Principals of other independent schools. Arguably the most important task of a school Principal, staff selection is a powerful tool to strengthen the teaching program, build quality into curriculum decisions, add depth to the sporting and co-curricular program, build staff morale and help promote active career planning. Anything we want to achieve in a school, will happen sooner and more effectively if sound staffing policies and procedures are in place. The Principal who delegates staffing, gives someone else control of shaping the school’s personality. That isn’t to say that others in the team have no part in staff selection. They should contribute but the Principal’s vision needs to be overriding in all staff decisions. Well! In one paragraph I may have already alienated half the readers of Washington News because recruitment is a huge task. More and more, principals are handing over a large part, sometimes the entire Human Resources function, to expert and trusted deputies. It’s not something I would do. Let me draft a scenario to explain why. A Typical Scenario You have a vacancy in the Science Faculty. Your senior physics teacher has been headhunted to become Director of Studies in another school. Quite a promotion, to skip the Head of Department’s rung on the ladder! How do you react? I would be inclined to boast about the quality of our staff, about how other schools regard our people as leadership potential. Of course privately, I would have to do a bit of self-examination. Did we lose Jane because we weren’t offering a job with sufficient challenge? On the other hand, has the promotion come about because we did just that; offering Jane the opportunity for genuine and challenging professional growth. Will she look back on her time in this school and be grateful for a Principal and Head of Department who were both mentors, who valued and multiplied her skills and gave her the opportunity to enhance her C.V. But after all the self-analysis, how should we go about filling the vacancy? Jane was pretty special. Apart from being a top teacher and a first rate scientist she was also a tennis coach. She had a special interest in the environment and established the “Student Greens”, a group that has become a very important influence on the ethical development of our youngsters. In the Staff Association she broadened thinking from terms and conditions of employment, to codes of professional conduct and self-regulation. It’s obvious we can’t expect to find a replica of Jane, someone who will be able to do all the things she did. So how do we advertise? Where do we begin? Take a look at the Job Description for the position to which Jane was appointed seven years ago. Look at how she’s grown in the job and write up a new Job Description of what she does today? Daunting isn’t it? No one would apply for that job! Here’s where we have the opportunity to enrich the work and provide increased job satisfaction for others. There will be people on staff eager to add to their workload by picking up some of Jane's co-curricular activities. With a little internal negotiation the actual shape of the vacancy will be clarified. You still need a replacement in senior physics but you can now go out and recruit the “best” person offering, from the field of quality applicants. How would you go about the search? If you aren’t under a time constraint, before you follow the usual processes, try an informal headhunt. It costs nothing and is often successful. Update the Job Description, provide copies to staff and invite them to send the information to colleagues in other places. Don’t overlook the fact that the right person may already be on staff, waiting in the wings so to speak. This process will be an invitation to them. But don’t make the mistake of filling the job internally, without external advertisement. It could be interpreted as patronage and that puts you and the appointee at a disadvantage. If there is genuine competition for the post and if the selection process is handled well, everyone concerned will be pleased to see that the job went to the best person. The appointee will be respected and the position will be valued. How should the selection be made? I began by implying that the Principal should coordinate the process, but share the responsibility and involve others, not just senior staff. A senior colleague can sift applications given appropriate criteria, and eliminate obviously unsuitable candidates. You might have a short list of a dozen, even a score, of good prospects. Put together a panel that represents the administration, the faculty concerned, and the rank and file staff – not just senior staff. Have them meet and discuss the applications before they talk to the applicants. Informal conversations between peers will yield much more reliable information than a formal interview and there is no doubt the balanced opinion of a range of staff will tell you which applicants will fit the ethos of your school. When that process is complete have the panel rank the short list in order. Conclusions and Questions As a Principal I have never been happy to approve the appointment of a preferred candidate. You may be appointing a really good person, but you could be missing someone even better so you really do need to study the top rankers to confirm the final interview list. When do you consult with referees? I think it should be done before interviews are finalised. A referees comments may cause you to add a person to the interview list or to remove another. Who should talk to the referees? Who are the most trusted referees? In these days of privacy legislation will the continued use of referees and the reports they provide be feasible? How valuable is a paper reference. What about the ambiguous statement: “anyone who gets Mr Jones to work for him will be fortunate indeed”? The whole recruitment process is a minefield but there are great long term rewards for schools that get the process right.
Further Information (return to top) For further information and all other enquiries regarding Washington Services' consultancy services, please contact Frank Opray at: frank@opray.net Washington Services [ About Us | Our Products | Sporting Clubs |Email Form | Related Sites ] Copyright © 1998-2007 Washington Services. All Rights Reserved. |
