IAFM 2010

The Institute for Advanced Financial Management:
A think tank for experienced business officers

When great minds get together, amazing things happen.

At this year’s Institute for Advanced Financial Management, a diverse group of independent school professionals gathered to discuss the toughest issue of our time: school sustainability. Their intention was to both examine and create “game-changing” ideas for our community. Participants included business officers (both very experienced and relatively new), heads of school, development directors, and others representing both boarding and day schools, co-ed and single gender schools, a variety of enrollments, and all regions of the country.

The program featured three engaging speakers: Pat Bassett, President of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Terry Moore, Director of Consultants for Independent School Management (ISM), and Jim Honan, Senior Lecturer on Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The conference included small and large group discussions that focused on challenging and somewhat controversial statements, also known as “debatable propositions,” which sparked conversation and new thinking.

We encourage you to download the following documents and presentations from the conference:

• NBOA’s Report on Independent School Financial Sustainability, a whitepaper summarizing the discussions, ideas, and follow-up steps from the conference

• Igniting the Vision, an NBOA PowerPoint presentation summarizing the major points from the conference

• Direction? Full Steam Ahead, the ISM and Measuring Success PowerPoint presented at the conference by Terry Moore, Director of Consultants, ISM (see below for additional slides, “Full Steam Ahead Part 2”)

• Debatable Propositions by NBOA—the original six debatable propositions shared at the conference

• IAFM Reading Material, a collection of key papers and articles on financial sustainability

Below are links to more presentations from the conference:

• The New Normal: A Game-Changing Model for Financially Sustainable Schools by Patrick F. Bassett, President, NAIS. NAIS members can click on the link above, log in, and download the presentation. Non-members can email charles@nais.org to request a copy of the presentation.

• Full Steam Ahead Part 2: Cutting-Edge Research and Opinion for Excellent Independent Schools by ISM and Measuring Success. Available for free public download.