School Management:
Administrative & Financial Management • Compensation Program Analysis & Benchmarking
Enrollment & Tuition Management • Business Operations Assessment
Insurance & Benefits Management
Funding for Operations:
Operating Budget Analysis • Tuition & Salary Benchmarking
Marketing:
Market & Constituency Surveys • Publications Design & Development
Communications & Public Relations
Admissions/Communications/Marketing Program Assessment
ISC Archives:
Insights Newsletter
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Administrative & Financial Management
Different schools have different administrative organizational requirements. Oftentimes the structure for each "department" is unique to that school's mission and attributes. A number of ISC consultants are experienced administrators who can assist in providing your school with the organizational tools necessary for maximum productivity. These services include an in-depth assessment of current activities.
School's are also businesses whose staff require a high degree of knowledge of acceptable business practices. ISC can provide a review of business office operations including: budgetary process, staffing, policy and procedures, and finances.
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Compensation Program Analysis & Benchmarking
In helping schools study their faculty and/or administrator compensation, ISC:
- Works with the Head/Board to define the project’s parameters and objectives.
- Analyzes the school’s historical salary and benefit data.
- Helps the school create a group of comparison schools with validly similar characteristics.
- Drafts a survey form for the school’s approval.
- Gathers information and survey data from the defined group of comparison schools and from available databases.
- Analyzes the data to extract salient indicators and benchmarking comparisons.
- Builds a spreadsheet model that arrays the data in meaningful ways.
- Presents a comprehensive report in writing and PowerPoint to the Head/Board with a set of recommendations that position the administration and Board to monitor the compensation program effectively against its own objectives and independent school benchmarks.
We recommend that schools view employee compensation with full awareness of the variables on both sides of the operating budget that will affect its ability to fund salaries and benefits at the desired level going forward.
As a component of a Compensation Program Analysis, ISC can also inventory faculty and staff attitudes, opinions, and preferences on the benefits and salary issues and conduct focus groups with them to validate their perspectives.
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Enrollment & Tuition Management
Enrollment at most independent schools provide at least 80% of annual income. A consistent, long-term plan for enrollment stabilization and objectives can provide a school with a predictable and manageable growth. This is essential to planned hiring and retention of faculty.
Coupled with planned enrollment management is the need to manage tuition levels. Today's "marketplace" requires independent schools to have predictable, and reasonable, tuition. ISC can provide experienced consultants who can advise your school on determining what enrollment and tuition levels are best.
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Business Operations Assessment
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Insurance & Benefits Management
Attracting and retaining a quality faculty and managing the increasingly complex matters of health care, pension plans and school insurance can be costly, risky and time-consuming. School Harbor understands this and is committed to providing independent schools with customized, quality products and services in each of these areas.
School Harbor's goal is to be the key resource for meeting the insurance and benefits needs of your faculty and staff. It's knowledge of the unique requirements of the independent school community is what sets School Harbor apart from other brokers and agencies.
For more information, please visit the School Harbor web site.
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Operating Budget Analysis
Independent school operating budgets are usually more often built upon the previous year’s budget template than using a zero-based approach. This can result over time in skewing expense lines, and a lack of acute awareness of "budget creep".
The advantages to a school of having ISC review its operating budget is to gain an objective appraisal of whether the income and expense categories are in line with standard practice, if they line up with strategic planning priorities, and/or are out of balance relative to standard budgeting practices.
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Tuition & Salary Benchmarking
When schools consider changes in tuition charges that might have consequences in the marketplace, or want an objective analysis and benchmarking of compensation metrics, ISC can provide experienced consulting insights.
We have access to up-to-date data from several sources and can help a school compare its position to other school populations, both regionally and nationally.
ISC will also provide an objective analysis of a school’s overall compensation program to insure equity in salary and benefit administration by experience, position and gender.
In both areas, school administrators and boards are often "too close to the forest to see the trees", and will benefit from ISC’s perspective and research.
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Market & Constituency Surveys
While the well being of a school is ultimately the responsibility of the Board of Trustees, there are a variety of constituent groups who are interested in and share in the day-to-day health of a school...parents, graduates and community members who understand the school's educational and economic importance. Whether in anticipation of a major fundraising campaign or in improving the school's communications with its constituency, an independent and professionally conducted survey can serve a most valuable purpose. A school's view of itself and how it is doing in serving the marketplace can be very different from how the marketplace views the school. The market survey can offer insight into what your constituency sees as strengths, areas for improvement, and priorities for your school, allowing you greater understanding of your market's needs and wants. A possible accompaniment to a survey, a market study can also include demographic and competitive analyses relative to your community and area.
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Publications Design & Development
An effective marketing and communications program is essential to the growth and identity of the independent school. Strong marketing tools and a plan of implementation are important for building public awareness and an institutional identity, presenting a positive and appropriate image, and communicating with constituent groups. And, an organized approach to marketing gives the impression of a sound institution.
Because of ISC’s extensive experience in helping schools develop and grow, as seen by the numerous services we offer, we are able to bring a unique marketing perspective to the range of issues and opportunities facing independent schools. In addition, with over 13 years experience of developing and producing communications and marketing solutions for educational institutions all over the United States, ISC is well suited to assist any school with its admissions and development marketing needs.
ISC Services:
1. Publications Development & Production
• Research
• Graphic Design & Concept Development
• Copywriting & Editing
• Photography & Art Direction
• Print Coordination
2. Institutional Identity
• Logo/Wordmark & Crest Development
• Letterhead & Stationery Design
3. Marketing Plan & Advertising
• Development & Implementation
• Ad Design & Placement
4. Communications Audit
5. Web Page Development
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Communications & Public Relations
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Admissions/Communications
Marketing Program Assessment
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