Four pillars of an educational institution’s existence

 

Imagine the institution is a car, and I prefer the car analogy rather than “ship” because most people will never get on a ship but will have driven in some kind of four wheeled vehicles.

These pillars are not necessarily in order, but they most definitely need to be in balance in order to steer correctly.

·        Financial stability

·        Enrollment

·        Accreditation

·        Retention (of students and staff)

From time to time the tires must be changed; sometimes it is one because of a flat, sometimes it is all four tires because they have expired. You also must check the pressure and tread of each tire on a regular basis.

Can everyone in the school answer these questions with some degree of certainty, or at least know how to readily find the answers (students included):

1.      Does the school have a strategic plan? If not, why not?

2.      How do you measure the benchmarks on your strategic plan (if you have one)?

3.      What is the mission of the school?

4.      What is the vision of the school?

5.      Do you have enough funding to complete the fiscal year?

6.      How many alumni do you have, and do you have an alumni database?

7.      How many teachers stay more than 2 years?

8.      How many students transfer out after a year?

9.      Are you in compliance with your accreditor and when is your next accreditation visit?

10.   Can you name the council person of the neighborhood where your campus is located?

Seems basic right? However, so many schools’ administrators cannot answer all these questions (or know where to find the information), let alone staff and students. This information should not be a secret.

If you can quantify everything on this one sheet of paper, then you are in decent shape. The question is can you?

Dr Flavius Akerele III

The ETeam