Goals:

1. To provide feedback on a set of tools that are being developed to help schools better understand their institution's financial outlooks.
2. To expand awareness of how programmatic and institutional finances are related.
3. To provide input on a tool to determine the financial "worth" of any educational program.

Hosts:

• Deborah H. C. Gin, Director of Research and Faculty Development, The Association of Theological Schools
• Chris Meinzer, Senior Director and COO, The Association of Theological Schools

TUESDAY, MAY 13

8:00 a.m.     
Breakfast|Patio Room (Outside)

8:30 a.m.     
Welcome, Introductions, and Purposes of the Research Group|Patio Room

9:00 a.m.     
Context — The Industry and Framework

• Mission
• Models
• Money

10:00 a.m.
Context — The Project

• Review of the year's work
• Progress since the last meeting

10:30 a.m.
Break

10:45 a.m.
Introducing the Tool — Financial Viability Tool (FVT)|Patio Room

• Purposes
• Components
• Data sources
• Why these data

Reflections and Notes

• What questions might the FVT spark in your school?
• Collect your notes and reflections for afternoon lab time.

12:00 p.m
Lunch and Walk Break|Patio Room (Outside)

1:30 p.m.     
Lab Time|Patio Room   
- Financial Viability Tool Walkthrough
- Playing with your own school's Institutional FVT—Coaches available
- Note possible adjustments for your context
- Consider the value and use of the FVT at your school

• What conversations do you imagine will come out of using the tool?
• With whom?
• What potential does the tool have to encourage broader conversations about Mission, Models, and Money in your institution?                                            

4:00 p.m.
Recap of the Day

4:30 p.m.
Break

6:00 p.m.
Dinner|Patio Room (Outside)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14

8:00 a.m.     
Breakfast|Patio Room (Outside)

8:30 a.m.     
Seeing the FVT with Fresh Eyes|Patio Room

• What are the possibilities and challenges with the tool?
• What new realizations?
• What additional tweaks or nuances?

9:45 a.m.     
Break

10:00 a.m.
Breakout Groups for Vetting the Tool — by Type of School|Patio Room, Pacific Room, and Palm Room

• In each breakout: Create a list of the Top Ten Institutional Questions the FVT helps to raise for any school of your type.

Discussion|Patio Room

• What nuance does the Institutional FVT address that we could not before?
• What nuance does the Institutional FVT still not address?
• Do the Top Ten questions converge? What are the differences?

11:45 a.m.
Break

12:00 p.m
Lunch and Walk Break|Patio Room (Outside)

1:30 p.m.
Feedback on Programmatic Financial Viability Prototype

• Introducing the prototype
• Assumptions and limitations
• School example                                              

2:30 p.m.
Breakout Groups for Providing Feedback—by Program Type|Patio Room, Pacific Room, and Palm Room

• What elements should be part of the calculation?
• What outputs would be helpful to determine financial value of an educational program?
• What manipulatable inputs are essential?

Discussion|Patio Room

• What possibilities and challenges arise in your institution?
• How would you build your own programmatic FVT tool?

4:00 p.m.
Next Steps

4:30 p.m.
Break (or Continued Lab Time, if desired)

6:00 p.m.
Dinner and Adjournment|Patio Room (Outside)