65: Amir Rahnamay-Azar on Collaborative Leadership at Carnegie Mellon

Dr. Amir Rahnamay-Azar, Vice President & CFO, Carnegie Mellon University

Seasoned business officer Amir Rahnamay-Azar joins us on the show this week to share his leadership practices as a new member of the Carnegie Mellon University leadership team. Just celebrating his 1-year anniversary, Amir has developed a strategic plan for his division, illuminating the objectives shared by the institution and how his operation contributes to achieving them. His process for encouraging buy-in and developing a collaborative leadership relationship with the provost is a true highlight of his work, and we encourage you to listen in as Howard Teibel and Pete Wright learn how Amir is shepherding the entrepreneurial into his administrative office. 

About Dr. Amir Rahnamay-Azar
Amir Rahnamay-Azar is the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to serving as CFO, Dr. Rahnamay-Azar was Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  In his role at Georgia Tech, Dr. Rahnamay-Azar managed a wide range of functions, such as the institute’s overall budget, capital planning and space management, institutional research and planning, organizational development, sustainability, real estate development, and financial services. From 1999 to 2010, Amir was at USC and rose through the ranks from Staff Associate and Associate Director of Operations in the Office of Budget and Planning, to Associate Senior Vice President for Operations in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Administration. Amir earned his Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania, and his MBA and bachelor’s degree in business administration from the California State University, Sacramento. 

64: John Walda on the changing role of leadership in Higher Education — Part 2

John Walda, President & CEO of NACUBO

NACUBO President John Walda joins the roundtable this week to share reflections on the NACUBO Annual Meeting 2014 in Seattle and the role of the conference in defining and supporting business officers in their work. In part two of our conversation, we discuss the importance of clarity and function of the business model to higher education, and John outlines a recently-approved research project in which NACUBO will study the impacts of business model weakness. John and Howard share insights around the changing expectations of student achievement in higher education. Finally, John shares his thoughts on the coming year for NACUBO and his role in leading the organization’s public policy initiatives. 

About John Walda

John D. Walda is the President and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in Washington, D.C., where he has served since 2006. He served as president of the Indiana University Board of Trustees, as chair of the Indiana Lottery Commission, as a director and chair of the Association of Governing Boards, and as chair of the Board of Clarian Health Partners (now Indiana University Health). He is a member and past-chair of the Steering Committee for the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, a past Director for the American Council on Education, a director of the Indiana University Foundation and a trustee for Carroll College. Before coming to NACUBO, Walda was a partner in the law firm Bose McKinney & Evans in Indianapolis and was Senior Vice President - Federal Relations for Bose Treacy Associates LLC. Walda has been a member of the American, Montana and Indiana State Bar Associations; American Inns of Court (Master of the Bench); American College of Trial Lawyers (Fellow); NCAA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics; AAU Council on Federal Relations; and NASULGC Council on Government Relations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Walda received both his BA (1972) and JD (1975) from Indiana University. He was elected to the Board of Trustees in May 2011. 

63: John Walda on the changing role of leadership in Higher Education — Part 1

John Walda, President & CEO of NACUBO

NACUBO President John Walda joins the roundtable this week to share reflections on the NACUBO Annual Meeting 2014 in Seattle and the role of the conference in defining and supporting business officers in their work. In part one of our conversation, we discuss the impact of higher education on the country as reflected by speaker Bill Gates, and the role of the business officer as it continues to expand in institutions in our country. NACUBO continues to move the conversation around strategic communication forward and John and Howard both reflect on the necessity of clear and strategic communication to both internal and external audiences in maximizing the value in higher education programs.

About John Walda

John D. Walda is the President and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in Washington, D.C., where he has served since 2006. He served as president of the Indiana University Board of Trustees, as chair of the Indiana Lottery Commission, as a director and chair of the Association of Governing Boards, and as chair of the Board of Clarian Health Partners (now Indiana University Health). He is a member and past-chair of the Steering Committee for the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, a past Director for the American Council on Education, a director of the Indiana University Foundation and a trustee for Carroll College. Before coming to NACUBO, Walda was a partner in the law firm Bose McKinney & Evans in Indianapolis and was Senior Vice President - Federal Relations for Bose Treacy Associates LLC. Walda has been a member of the American, Montana and Indiana State Bar Associations; American Inns of Court (Master of the Bench); American College of Trial Lawyers (Fellow); NCAA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics; AAU Council on Federal Relations; and NASULGC Council on Government Relations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Walda received both his BA (1972) and JD (1975) from Indiana University. He was elected to the Board of Trustees in May 2011. 

60: Conflict and Collaboration

Howard Teibel
President
Teibel Education Consulting

The road to collaboration is paved with complexity. We forget that sitting on teams, driving toward improved processes and structures, fantastic new programs and initiatives, are real people with real emotional ties to the work being done. This can lead to unconscious conflict that impedes growth and progress. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss the opportunities and pitfalls inherent in building strong teams and offer suggestions for cultivating a progressive and productive team environment.

59: NACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting — Preparing for the New Business Officer Program!

Howard Teibel
President
Teibel Education Consulting

Howard Teibel has joined the speaker line-up of this year’s NACUBO New Business Officers Program with his presentation, “Leading, Managing, and Surviving Change.” In this week’s episode of Navigating Change, Howard and Pete Wright explore the program and NACUBO’s aim to help those new to the CBO role develop skills they’ll need to lead in today’s institution.

The role of the chief business officer is evolving. New demands for the CBO call for involvement across the institution to influence and drive change, and these demands call for new skills in leadership, communication, and strategy. Now that exemplary understanding of the complexities of finance is a foregone conclusion, how can those new to this role develop skills for which they may have been heretofore untried? NACUBO has built a rich schedule of speakers and experts to help those new to the CBO role get acquainted to the new demands of finance leadership. 

The New Business Officers Program will be held July 18-19 in the Metropolitan Ballroom of the Sheraton Seattle Hotel. The program is limited to chief business officers and financial officers who report directly to the president and who have been in their current positions for less than three years. For information on the program, please visit NACUBO. 

56: Financial Leadership in the Business Unit with Administrative Management Institute director Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers, Vice President and Treasurer — Carleton College; Director, Administrative Management Institute

We’ve devoted many hours of this show to the role of the business officer of the institution. But today’s guest reminds us that there is great opportunity to guide and support the institution from the individual academic or departmental units. Administrative Management Institute director Fred Rogers has spent the last 21 years working with this body of finance experts in association with EACUBO and Cornell University, building professional development programs that celebrate the great potential of unit level business officers to the institution. Howard Teibel will be presenting on Leadership and Decision-Making at the AMI conference, July 28-August 1 at Cornell University in Ithaca. This week on the show, Fred joins Howard and Pete Wright to share his perspective on AMI, and discuss the critical importance of strategic alignment across the institution. 

55: Reflections on NAEP — Leadership Lessons from Procurement Pros

Fresh from his time with the National Association for Education Procurement, Howard Teibel returns to share his impressions of the 2014 annual meeting. Procurement professionals are in a unique position, with the opportunity to move from the legacy transactional function to being seen as a key strategic partner in administration. But strategy is a new discipline. This week on the show, Howard Teibel joins Pete Wright to share his insights from NAEP, and shares his thoughts for procurement professionals looking to improve their decision making prowess and strategic position in the institution.

52: Mission, Vision, and the Strategic Planning Process

Done right, and your mission, vision, and values statements can become beacons in your institution’s drive toward a powerful strategic plan. Done wrong, it ends up a in a dusty binder buried deep in a drawer. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discussion the nature and importance of your mission and vision statements to the strategic plan, and offer insights for development and structure that will help your teams understand and rally behind your direction. 

51: Communicating for Action with Kelly Fox — WACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting

Kelly Fox, Senior Vice Chancellor and CFO, University of Colorado at Boulder

According to our guest Kelly Fox, Senior Vice Chancellor and CFO from University of Colorado at Boulder, communicating effectively is not just about making sure the leadership team is up to speed. It’s about positioning the most important messages of the institution in the most compelling light for every constituent audience, internal and external. This week on the show, Kelly joins Howard Teibel and Pete Wright to share her insights in effective communication, as Howard and Kelly prepare for their upcoming talk on the subject at the WACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. 

48: Strategic Communication at SACUBO Annual Meeting with Guest Greg Lovins

Greg Lovins, Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, Appalachian State University

According to our special guest Greg Lovins, communication is not always easy for business officers to do. As vice chancellor for business affairs at Appalachian State University, Greg and his team are responsible to ensure the institution is equipped with the information they need to collectively make smart decisions and keen investments. Ensuring buy-in and collaboration among key constituencies is a challenge for the very best communicators, but when the message is loaded with complexity and offers a high opportunity for jargon, clear communication becomes much more difficult. 

Greg will be joining Howard Teibel at the SACUBO Annual Meeting on April 13 in San Antonio, Texas for “Communicating Financial Information Effectively,” a pre-conference session from 12:30 to 1:20 on Sunday, April 13. This week on the show, Greg joins Howard and Pete Wright for an introduction to the interactive discussion they’ll be facilitating next week.  

43: Gearing up for EACUBO 2014 — Reaching Across the Aisle

We’re preparing for the EACUBO 2014 Annual Workshop in just a few weeks, and to help us out, we’re joined by guest Roger Stackpoole, Vice President of Finance & Administration at Le Moyne College. Roger and Howard Teibel will be presenting “Reaching Across the Aisle — CFO and CAO Strategic Partnership,” in which they offer insights and observations on cultivating a spirit of collaboration and cooperation between academic and business leadership. 

This week on the show, Howard and Roger set the stage for their presentation with a discussion on building trust through transparency, shifting responsibility in building a healthy and financially sustainable organization, and cultivating a shared commitment to delivering the mission of the institution. 

We invite you to listen to the show this week, and to begin to craft your questions and comments as Roger and Howard lead what promises to be an exciting, challenging, and participatory presentation in Philadelphia.

About our Guest

Roger Stackpoole is Vice President of Finance & Administration and Treasurer at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. He is a driving force behind sustainability initiatives and strategic planning at Le Moyne College, and is past president of the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers. Learn more about Roger at LeMoyne.edu. 

42: Cultivating a Leadership Culture of Big Ideas in Education

On Monday, March 3, Howard Teibel will be facilitating a conversation with Amanda Ripley, an author of the Time cover story Reinventing Higher Education, and Roger Stackpoole, Vice President of Finance & Administration of LeMoyne College. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright offer a preview of that conversation and share insights from Teibel's experience enabling teams to engage in big ideas with a keen eye on fiscal sustainability. 

Learn more about the panel at NBOA.org — see you in Orlando!

41: What Makes a Great CAO?

Academics represents the heart and soul of the mission of a great institution. And yet, even in service of that mission, the best chief academic officers understand the constraints defined by financial realities. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss traits and characteristics of the best CAOs, and share insights on the spirit of academic collaboration that serves the mission in challenging times. 

40: What Makes a Great CBO?

The relationship between the CBO and the institution is a powerful one. But making the transition between the role of manger to leader becomes representative of the responsibility of the role to the institution beyond the business office. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss the traits of good business officers, and look at how the great ones challenge assumptions and become leaders of strategy.

37: Setting Standards & Managing Expectations

The result of bringing together terrific individuals into a team can be a fantastic, productive foray into high calibre collaboration. Over time, we see formerly high capacity teams begin to fray at the edges, and defining clear standards and expectations both inside the team, and across teams and departments, can help to offset challenges. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss the frustrations that come with accountability, standards, and managing clear expectations across teams. 

36: New Year, Old Woes?

It’s 2014 and we’re slowly coming back to work after a break. But what are we returning to? Today’s headlines on the Chronicle of Higher Ed report backlash against presidents making too much money and the way that information is reported to donors, tough odds on tenure-track jobs, and a New Year’s Eve piece at NPR excoriates online education — a tool for some institutions to revitalize excitement — and enrollment — in their programs. But the nature of change is challenge, and there is much to look forward to in the coming year. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright share thoughts on what’s to come, and how you can approach your challenges as an opportunity for change. 
 

34: The Three Flavors of Transformation

Transformation is a powerful word, one we're tempted to use across our catalog of projects designed to produce change in our teams or organizations. But precision of language counts in our change projects, especially when it comes to setting expectations for teams that are going to be impacted the most. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright talk transformation, and the developmental, transitional, and transformational change we seek.

33: Making Difficult Decisions for Senior Leadership

Decision-making is a difficult skill for any team, but at the senior leadership or board level, making difficult decisions brings with it the weight of the institution. This week on the show Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss the perils of difficult decisions in an industry in great flux, and offer suggestions on how you can diagnose whether your team is tackling the right issues for your organization at the right time.

29: Getting Ready for EACUBO 2013!

EACUBO 2013 Annual Meeting is coming up October 6-9 in Baltimore, MD, and as usual, Teibel Education will be well represented. Howard Teibel will be delivering his latest thoughts on the finance role in strategy in his presentation, "Structuring the Finance Division for Success: Building a Strategic Organization to Support the Institution." In addition, he'll be facilitating an expert panel with Jeff Selingo and a panel of administrators and trustees discussing the changing landscape of higher education in the United States. This week on the show, listen to Howard Teibel and Pete Wright share thoughts on these presentations and more as they get ready for EACUBO 2013!