February 19, 2021

I experienced a convergence of three seemingly unrelated pieces of information this week that enabled me to understand leadership by using a new lens. It is imperative for all of us to take a breath, periodically, and make sure our decisions are aligned with the mission of the organization and our behavior is aligned with the core values.

Like most school leaders, you have been operating in a head down, in the weeds, mindset for almost a year now. My first experience was when The Toughest Leadership Test landed in my inbox and suggested that for CEOs -- and, I would argue, for CFOs -- COVID has been the ultimate leadership test. I was very much intrigued. The article describes “micro-habits” (daily routines and ways of working) that help them and their companies cope personally and professionally. The article describes how some leaders are energized by the challenges, some are taking a step back to reimagine their company and industry, while others are exhausted and craving some downtime.

February 5, 2020

This morning, I spent about an hour with a business officer who was wrestling with some really tough decisions related to the trifecta: enrollment, budget, and personnel. Like many of you are finding, creating a budget for the 2021-2022 academic year is not for the faint of heart. These phone calls have been more the norm since March of last year.

Whenever I am in situations like this, I ask a lot of questions. I find that asking good questions is the best way to get to the heart of the matter and tease out what is really going on and why something is happening at a given moment. When my kids were teenagers, they called me Mrs. 20 Questions because that was my way of coaxing them into talking about what was important to them. They would say, “Mom, that was only 3 questions, you have 17 more!” As if that was going to deter me!

January 8, 2021

Happy New Year!!! Like many of you, I am relieved to say goodbye to 2020 — I have had my fill of all things COVID and am ready to move on to other endeavors! While I am realistic enough to know that we have a long way to go to get the number of COVID cases under control, the new therapeutics and vaccines are exciting prospects. I am feeling hopeful about the new year, so Happy 2021!!!

As you know, I am not one for resolutions, and embrace change as needed rather than waiting for the new year. I much prefer greeting the new year by studying the trends expected for the upcoming year as I begin to plan and set goals for myself and for PAISBOA. Here are some of the things I am thinking about.

December 18, 2020

By the time you read this, most of your school and university community will have left campus or signed off zoom for the day—you made it!!! It is time to celebrate the end of 2020. You finished 2020 just like you started – strong! You planned, pivoted in March, then planned some more in the spring, pivoted again in September, and managed in-person, hybrid, and remote work and learning like the professionals you are!

Like all of you, PAISBOA planned and pivoted more than a few times right along with you, and like you, we started the year strong with many opportunities for our members to gather in person for networking and professional development. By mid-March, we were all working from home and reimagining how our members could network and participate in the professional development they needed to guide their communities into the “new normal.” In addition to meeting the COVID Crisis head on with the Resource Page, we modified our Signature Events to deliver all of the experiences and services you expect from PAISBOA and more.

December 4, 2020

Last evening I attended the second webinar of the series Buckle Your Seatbelts! Navigating the Path to 2021-22 conceived by SAIS, who graciously invited PAISBOA and other independent school associations to partner with them in bringing the program to our members.

Part 1 provided crucial external insight in two key areas:

November 20, 2020

Nothing about this year has been easy, so why should we think the holiday season should be any different? As we prepare for a Thanksgiving that will be remarkably different from past years, I couldn’t help but think of my Dad. My Dad was always a very practical guy, who worked hard, approached life from a glass half-full perspective, and who never took anything for granted. He told me on more than one occasion that I could have it all, just not at the same time, and to count my blessings.

When I saw this quote, I immediately thought of him: “This is not the year to get everything you want. This is the year to appreciate everything you have.” So Dad, here goes…

November 6, 2020 

In chatting with many of you over the past couple of weeks, you are deep into your budgeting process for the next academic year. I heard from you that the modeling or scenario building process has been even more challenging than usual, and there is increased pressure to present a balanced budget in these most uncertain times. Where is that crystal ball when you need it?

An article in the Harvard Business Review, suggests, An Agile Approach to Budgeting for Uncertain Times may be the answer. “Rather than tedious templates, endless financial forecasts, haggling over targets, and battling for resources you may have the opportunity for a clean break.” Here are some suggestions:

October 23, 2020

Since January 2020, PAISBOA (Board, Business Insurance Group Steering Committee, and Staff) has been immersed in Business Insurance — and we have learned a lot! Collectively, we probably know more than we ever wanted or needed to know before, but not nearly enough to become experts by any means. It has been a fascinating process and so important for our members, considering the millions of dollars in assets protected by these policies. We are so grateful for the support and expertise of our insurance partner, Bolton and Company.

For many schools and universities, as we head into November, the budget process for the 2021-2022 academic year looms large. Tuition, salaries and benefits, and financial aid are the big ticket items. Another fairly large budget item is business insurance, and it is never too soon to start educating yourself about the current and future insurance markets. We have heard from some of our members who had renewal dates in July 2020 that they were unprepared for the unprecedented increase in rates they received.

October 10, 2020

Since March, life as we know it has changed dramatically, and independent school and university business officers and their teams have been working ‘round the clock. First to pivot to off-campus learning and work, then to pivot to a hybrid situation of some constituents on and off campus for learning and work, and this month to pivot back to full-time on campus learning and work — it has been a herculean effort for all involved. As one of our business officer colleague shared, “50 days until Thanksgiving, but who’s counting?!”

Every step of the way, PAISBOA has worked side-by-side with members to give you safe spaces to meet and share challenges and successes, like our Monday Morning Coffee Breaks; we post the most up-to-date information on COVID and related topics on the PAISBOA COVID Resources site; and we’ve given you access to professionals and corporate partners who’ve provided financial modeling tools, professional advice and counsel, and even some self-care recommendations to stay strong for our communities.

September 11, 2020

Today is September 11th, and for 39 years, it was simply my brother and sister’s birthday. In 2001, everything changed. Being New Yorkers, we are notoriously tough, and our family was more fortunate than most as my brother arrived home after walking most of the way home from New York City to his home in the suburbs--a little dusty, a little shaken, but happy to be alive. Needless to say, the 40th birthday celebration for the twins was way more subdued than planned, like everything else that evening. The grief was real — we grieved for those who didn’t make it home, we grieved for those who were injured, we grieved for the loss of innocence.

Today is September 11th, and today we grieve for a lost spring and a summer co-opted by COVID 19. An Education Week Survey warns of declines in student enrollment, increased teacher resignations, and growing concerns about academic progress in students. Much of this can be attributed to unresolved grief. According to McKinsey researchers, grief arises from the loss of one or more deep-seeded human needs — attachment, territory, structure, identity, future, meaning, or control. To overcome grief, individuals go through a three-stage process: become aware of the problem; accept the pain of the loss; and, let go of the past and make meaning from the experience. Organizations can help by setting the right tone of openness, recognizing grief when it happens, creating rituals which signal transformation and recovery. As the organization deals openly with grief, it can “transform grief into a creative force that turns loss into inspiration.”

August 21, 2020

Today is likely the last Friday before many of us start getting ready to go back to school. To say the anxiety level is running high is an understatement. Back to school plans have been upended by new guidance so many times, most of you have stopped counting the versions. Many folks are concerned with how to adequately accommodate students and adults both on campus and remotely. Those who have school age children are trying to figure out how they can be in two places at once — working and educating their children in a virtual learning environment. Onboarding new members of the community (students, parents, faculty, staff) is more challenging, and let’s not even get started on sports, lunch, and recess. Suffice it to say, Back to School 2020 is going to be messy, and nobody likes messy!

One way to deal with the mess is to manage stress. William J Koehler Ph.D., LCSW in Ready or Not, Here We Go Back to School, shares that faculty, parents, and students all have concerns about returning to in-person learning in the midst of the COVID pandemic. He offers five suggestions to “navigate through these continuously shifting circumstances, overwhelming feelings, and contradicting demands.”

August 7, 2020

Like many of you, I am an avid reader and usually have a couple of books going at the same time as well as a pile of articles and magazines. I started reading The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson over Memorial Day weekend and just finished. Usually, I zip through books, but with this one, I was compelled to do some outside reading to supplement my knowledge of both the man and the times. I highly recommend it not only because it is an excellent story, but it is a lesson for our time.

June 12, 2020

I had my six-month checkup at the dentist yesterday, and found it to be an oddly comforting experience. Scheduled at the time of my last appointment, pre-COVID-19, I wondered whether I would have to reschedule, but I received a text asking if I would like to confirm, and if so, to expect further instructions about new office protocols. In reviewing the new protocols, my dentist explained the changes that went on behind the scenes to the HVAC system and other systems within the office. He explained what social distancing would look like in the office, and how both the staff and I had some responsibilities in keeping my appointment a safe experience for all of us. Directions were emailed to me on how I was to prepare for the appointment, I was asked to text them when I arrived in the parking lot, and when I was invited in, wearing my mask, it was clear where I was to wait for further instructions. I sanitized my hands, the staff member asked a number of questions about my health, they took my temperature, and measured my oxygen saturation with a fingertip pulse oximeter. I was cleared, and the rest of my appointment proceeded just like every other appointment I have had with them with a thorough teeth cleaning and examination. I was out the door in an hour with another appointment scheduled for December.

You might be thinking TMI, but I share this with you because it illustrates the importance of trust and communication in times of uncertainty. Your schools and universities have built trusting relationships with your students, families, and constituents, delivering a high quality educational experience for many years. You have also built trust through your communications by staying on point, communicating more frequently, and being straightforward, kind, and powerful in your response. You will continue to build trust, with some tweaks, in response to COVID-19 and with some cooperation from your entire learning community.

June 26, 2020

We gathered this past Wednesday for the 2020 PAISBOA Annual Meeting. In his welcoming remarks, Mark Gibbons, Chair of PAISBOA Board of Directors, was clear, “We are you and you are us!” From its inception, PAISBOA works because it was founded by Business Officers, for Business Officers. As we continued with the required annual business meeting for PAISBOA and the PAISBOA Services Corporation; we approved the nominations for the Board of Directors; elected officers; said goodbye to some long-serving directors; honored three retirees who will be greatly missed by their schools and their colleagues; and lastly, we presented the John Batley Award to a most deserving Business Officer. It was just like any other PAISBOA Annual Meeting … except it wasn’t. As one Business Officer commented, “I’ve had been to an annual meeting on a boat, in a helicopter, and in a centrifuge, but this virtual format was a first!” Like all of its members, PAISBOA adapts to meet the challenges brought on by an uncertain future.

Which is why whenever we gather, we have a responsibility to reflect on why we do what we do. PAISBOA’s mission is to stimulate and sustain a passion for providing services and opportunities to empower Business Officers to excel. Our value proposition is to create savings in both time and money while providing useful resources and expanded knowledge to our members. This year more than ever, the Expanding Scope of the Business Office has been acknowledged and buttressed with a wide array of products, toolkits, training, education, networking, and safe spaces for conversations. Like its members, PAISBOA is focused on what lies ahead and moving toward innovation, rather than staying in crisis mode.

May 29, 2020

It is amazing how quickly our consciousness expands to encompass our new normal. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were focused on how COVID-19 was affecting us as individuals, mourning the loss of life as we knew it, lamenting cancelled or postponed rituals and traditions like weddings and graduations, combatting daily zoom fatigue, eating way too many carbs, and generally feeling very sorry for ourselves.

Fast forward to a conversation I had yesterday with Rahel Rosner, a former Business Officer and now the Chief Strategist for the St Paul’s Schools in Maryland, who referenced a McKinsey article that compares the next phase in this process to developing a new “muscle”: an enterprise-wide ability to absorb uncertainty and incorporate lessons into the operating model quickly. We talked about how we are now ready to refocus or reframe the narrative away from the individual to the community, and away from the emergent to the proactive. We are now ready to embrace the next phase with caring, nurturing, hope, and optimism.

May 15, 2020

Please join me in welcoming the newest members of the flock:

• Mercersburg Academy – Mercersburg, PA – Maria Kimsey and Danielle Nordyke
• Sewickley Academy, Pittsburgh PA – Karen McAvoy
• Winchester Thurston School, Pittsburgh PA and Allison Park, PA – David Wollam

Quarantine Fatigue is Real! While exciting at first, being at home with family is not what we expected. Many of us had grandiose plans for cleaning and organizing, getting to projects that we normally don’t have time to complete, engaging in hobbies that have been put on the back burner, getting into a regular exercise routine, just to name a few. I don’t know about you, but I have done exactly none of those things, and I am not apologetic about it. Here’s why -- we are busy with living and working in the new normal – new routines, new responsibilities, new problems to solve, new technology to master, new lessons to teach, well, you get the gist.

May 1, 2020

As we conclude our 7th week of Staying Safe at Home, Together, I am struck by the immense power of our flock. As a relative newcomer to the PAISBOA family, I’ve seen evidence of the mission of PAISBOA -- providing services and opportunities to empower Business Officers to excel, daily. We are living our purpose every day -- to create savings in both time and money while providing useful resources and expanded knowledge to our members. Our core values of integrity, transparency, and loyalty are evinced in every conversation, e-list post, webinar presentation, and email communication. PAISBOA is truly an all for one, one for all experience for every independent school and university, no matter the enrollment, the size of endowment, or composition of the student body. We are truly all in this together.

In the early days of the COVID-19 we were focused on the here and now—pivoting from an in-person teaching, learning, and working model to a remote experience. For many schools, this was a huge undertaking in a very short time requiring leadership that demonstrated calm and optimism with a hefty dose of realism! As we continue to be challenged on many fronts, we no longer have an emergent situation, and our constituents have settled into a rhythm of sorts, albeit an exhausting one.

April 10, 2020

Please join me in welcoming the newest members of the flock:

St. Edmund’s Academy, Pittsburgh PA (Squirrel Hill Neighborhood) – Diana McAllister

March 27, 2020

As we wrap up our second week of social distancing, remote work, and virtual learning, we are all adjusting to the new normal. New routines are established, new learning schedules are in place, and the initial decisions have been made to ensure business continuity for most of our schools and universities. We know that effective leadership is essential for the next phase of decisions that our member schools face in the coming months, and the business officers will have a major role to play in both the decision-making process and in communicating about the decisions.

Described in Leadership in a Crisis: Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak and Future Challenges, “the outbreak has the hallmarks of a ‘landscape scale’ crisis: an unexpected event or sequence of events of enormous scale and overwhelming speed, resulting in a high degree of uncertainty that gives rise to disorientation, a feeling of lost control, and strong emotional disturbance.” The authors indicate, “What leaders need during a crisis is not a predefined response plan but behaviors and mindsets that will prevent them from overreacting to yesterday’s developments and help them to look ahead. Here are the five behaviors and corresponding mindsets to consider:

March 13, 2020

The great thing about being part of the independent school community is that you are not alone in dealing with COVID-19 and the many repercussions related to school/university life and operations. We are all in this together!

PAISBOA continues to monitor COVID-19 and bring you the latest updates and resources from governmental sources, other independent schools associations, our corporate partners, and our PAISBOA Preferred Vendors (PPVs). Rather than inundate you and add to the volume of information coming at you from all directions, we compiled the resources at paisboa.org for you to reference when you need information—on your timetable. Log in to access this information HERE. If you are having difficulty with access, please contact Ron Hill at [email protected], and he will assist you and your colleagues with access to all kinds of helpful information and advice.