CEO Notebook
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Boards and Trustees
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Leadership
Last year during the NBOA Business Officer Institute, a business officer approached me and said, "My head of school does not want me to attend trustee meetings." My stunned response: "That's a problem." I would conjectur
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Awesome, simply awesome. Days after the 2015 NBOA Annual Meeting, I'm still feeling the energy of the 1,000-plus independent school leaders who joined us in Boston, and especially the hundreds who heard "Excellence by De
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I anticipate many wonderful moments at NBOA's 2015 Annual Meeting next week, not least among them the unveiling of the definitive narrative of the profession. "By the Numbers and Beyond: Independent School Business Opera
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CEO Notebook
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Cash Management
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Leadership
One of my favorite programs during the NBOA Annual Meeting is the NBOA Awards Lunch. The only national recognition program of its kind, this wonderful event doesn't just recognize individual achievement in independent sc
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CEO Notebook
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Boards and Trustees
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Planning
I was recently asked to share the biggest change I’ve observed in the business officer profession since 2010, when I became NBOA’s chief executive. My immediate thought was how your role has been elevated wel
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I've always enjoyed end-of-the-year lists of the top songs, most fascinating people and major news events that will be forever associated with the last 12 months. For my final CEO Notebook of the year, I've decided to re
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CEO Notebook
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Communication
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Enrollment
My first administrative role in education was in student affairs at The Ohio State University. As an undergraduate, I had enjoyed an incredible four-year residential experience, and I wanted to work in a profession that
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CEO Notebook
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Human Resources
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Planning
Last week, more than 30 business officers from across the country gathered to discuss the issues of greatest importance among their peers at NBOA's Conference on the Business Office (COBO). "This event symbolizes the nat
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One of the compelling ideas to come out of NBOA's Spectrum Project Report is that leadership, plain and simple, quite often makes the difference between a high-performing independent school and all others. The report, wh
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Here's a litmus test on online and blended learning in independent schools: Do you consider technology a tool that brings individuals together or keeps them apart?
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CEO Notebook
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Culture
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Risk Management
Sometimes our busiest times are also our best times for breaking out of routines. This is apparent to me now, as I (like all of you) merge into the jam-packed agenda of the new school year. Two weeks ago, while speaking
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CEO Notebook
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Communication
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Technology
At the 2011 NBOA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Michael Horn wowed hundreds of business officers with provocative predictions about technology's imminent impact on the delivery of education at independent schools. Y
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CEO Notebook
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Human Resources
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Membership
As summer ends, I find myself thinking about the school year ahead and, by association, the NBOA year ahead. More than the programs, webinars and new initiatives NBOA will undertake, I'm struck by a significant detail of
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I have been surprisingly moved by the loss of Robin Williams. While my personal favorite performance was the Genie in Aladdin, I was most inspired by his 1989 role in Dead Poets Society. His character, English teacher Jo
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CEO Notebook
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Culture
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Risk Management
Last month I attended the NACUBO Annual Meeting in Seattle. It was a coming home of sorts, as I worked for the association for nearly a decade before joining NBOA. Besides re-connecting with former colleagues and friends
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I admit it. I've become a "tweeter." In fact, the other day an NBOA member commented, "You tweet A LOT." I took it as a compliment. Here's why.
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It takes a village ... you can’t go it alone ... swim with a buddy ... the list goes on and on. If we know we are stronger as a group than individually, why do we so often insist on keeping key information in the hands o
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CEO Notebook
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Communication
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Employee Benefits
As summer approaches, many of you will see the energy and excitement of students replaced with the very different energy and excitement of campers. Your calendar for the coming months is filled with year-end closings, fa
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"Only the head of school and the business officer leave school each night knowing the good, the bad and the ugly of what went on that day."
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CEO Notebook
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Boards and Trustees
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Communication
I’ve been reading a lot of articles, blogs and social media posts to help identify information for NBOA’s own social networks—information that I think will resonate with our membership. Sometimes I come
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