Five Steps in Responding to Sexual Harassment Claims

Business and Operations // April 11, 2016

Sexual harassment and assault claims need to be treated swiftly and delicately. Failure to manage sexual claims appropriately can lead to fines and lawsuits. The following five steps will help your school reduce its legal risks.

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Depression Awareness: Gender Differences

Business and Operations // April 11, 2016

Depression is a very real disease. Melancholy moments are something we all deal with from time to time, however, clinical depression is depression lingering for two or more weeks that significantly interferes with daily life—and is not an emotional state we all experience at one time or another. It does not discriminate. Depression affects people of all ages, nationalities, genders, and religious orientations. And, it’s costly. Each year, employers spend billions in sick time and medical costs related to depression.

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Helping Students Find Summer Work

Business and Operations // March 31, 2016

As March turns to April, the summer season feels closer than ever—which means your students may be anticipating seasonal employment. Perhaps you’ve heard murmurings from faculty or parents that the school should formalize relationships with community employers of students. Such a project requires a large initial output of resources and research, and must be properly maintained from year to year. Still, a database helping your students find and connect with mission-appropriate employers might help more than just the newly employed in the long run. With that in mind, we’ve got some key points for the Business Office to hit while collecting resources for would-be student workers.

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Ask ISM’s Health Care Reform Specialist

Business and Operations // March 31, 2016

Q: I received a legal-looking letter from The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asking for information about a Medicare Beneficiary or Spouse. Is this letter legitimate, and do I have to do something with it?

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6 Resources From the Business Manager e-List

Business and Operations // March 31, 2016

Conversations abound on the Business Manager e-List, as private school administrators swap stories and resources with their peers. We’ve collected six of the most relevant crowdsourced points from the e-List over the last few months, hoping that your Business Office will find some useful gems for future use.

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Three Lessons Mount St. Mary’s Can Teach Private School Heads

School Heads // March 22, 2016

Higher education roiled this spring in the wake of the scandal from Mount St. Mary’s University, a private Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In January 2016, the school’s student newspaper The Mountain Echo ran a special edition featuring the student retention plan of President Simon Newman. In addition to potentially unethical use of incoming student data to encourage freshmen to leave early, the President allegedly told a professor that “this is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies ... put a Glock to their heads.”

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Eight Discussions from the Heads e-List

School Heads // March 22, 2016

School Heads from around the world congregate on our e-Lists to find crowdsourced answers to common problems only their peers would understand. If you’re curious to see what your fellow Heads have been talking about this year, read on for the fruits from nine lively discussions ranging from arming your teachers to considering alumni fundraisers.

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When Board Committees Fail

Board of Trustees // March 17, 2016

Committees are the linchpins of an effective Board. When Board meetings are well-attended, purposeful, and gratifying, this foundation usually grows out of understanding and applying the principles of properly establishing committees. The key to success is identifying, recruiting, and managing strong leaders—a critical role shared by the Board President, the Committee on Trustees, and the School Head. Committees are only as strong as the people who lead them.

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When the School Head Is the Problem

Board of Trustees // March 17, 2016

Back in the summer of 2015, President Simon Newman of Mount St. Mary’s University developed a plan to improve the institution’s student retention numbers by culling 20–25 first-year students before the end of September. The federal government requires colleges and universities to submit the number of enrollees each semester, and the Mount’s cutoff date was September 25. The President’s office created a student survey to administer during freshman orientation, specifically designed to determine who to dismiss. The rationale was artificially to boost retention by 4%–5%.

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Five Steps to Excellent Student Assemblies

Academic Leadership // March 15, 2016

Student assemblies change students’ lives—or they can be something akin to a waking nightmare. Finding the right “educational performers” or motivational speakers that do a wonderful job of inspiring and teaching your students within your budget and who mesh with your school’s mission can be a trial, though. This month, we’ve listed the five steps that should lead you to host the transformational student assemblies that will become wonderful memories your students treasure long after they leave your school.

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