Apr

Help Wanted – The Future of the Workforce

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:00:00 -0500

As we speculate about Michigan’s future and the economy, we also need to look at the future today’s students will inherit. In this interconnected world, the changes may be global but they will have an impact locally.

Dr. James Canton, this year’s MSBO Conference keynote speaker states, “Talent wars, an aging population, diversity, sustainability and agility are just a few markers of the New Workforce.” Canton, in his recently published book, The Extreme Future: The Top Trends that will Shape the World in the Next 20 Years, states the major trends are climate and energy, medicine, and innovations as well as trends in the workplace.

Canton’s “Top Ten Workforce Trends”:

A global war for Smart Talent will be the top driver of competitive advantage, as educated, skilled and experienced employees will be in demand.
The aging of the population in America and Europe will have a dramatic effect on society and the economy impacting productivity, knowledge and growth.
An increase in women in the U.S. workforce will change the policies, power and positioning of organizations. Women will alter the strategies of boardrooms, industries and markets.
A diverse savvy workforce will be required to understand and align with the diversity in the global marketplace. Diversity will be a critical competency for leaders and employees.
Finding, training and retaining high-tech skilled employees from a global talent pool will be the greatest challenge for every organization.
Incorporating innovation into the organizational DNA will be a key driver of future competitive advantage.
Building a sustainable, healthy and green workplace will be an essential capability for retaining talent and attracting the future workforce.
Preparing employees to meet the challenges of a complex and stressful future, where accelerated change and risks can be managed effectively with high performance agility, will be vitally important.
An organization that is committed to employee development, continual education and training, will return to the organization new skills and new competencies.
Attracting the next workforce, or preparing the current one, will require a new workforce culture to better understand transnational teams, online collaboration, globalization and business process transformation.

As you read through the top workforce trends, it is easy to see that the future is now. For example:

A recent Michigan League for Human Services report shows that, “nearly 16 percent of all Michigan businesses started between 1996 and 2007 were started by an immigrant. In Detroit, 9 percent of the population is foreign-born, but contributes 11 percent to the economy.”
The US Department of Labor states that in 2009, women accounted for 51% of all workers in the high-paying management, professional and related occupations.
Perform a quick Google search on online business collaboration and you’ll see the internet is popping with affordable applications that allow businesses to adapt to the changing business process architecture… from online document software that allows for document management/storage for data, reports, and proposals to software that allows real time collaboration (online meetings and brainstorming), creating a virtual workspace for project teams.
Check out InnovationPoint, a non-traditional consulting firm from the San Francisco Bay area, serving businesses such as Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, Disney, Frito-Lay, JP Morgan Chase, Kimberly-Clark, Levi, Lowes Pepsi-Co, Power Bar, Visa, Wells Fargo and others in the UK, Denmark, Germany and South Korea. The company’s focused services on Strategic Innovation not only help businesses with growth strategy and road mapping, but take a non-traditional approach to creating an organization sustainable for innovation… working directly with employees to learn short- and long-term approaches for creating new capabilities based on emerging innovation and best practices.

The trends Canton describes are already revealing themselves in business and industry. Even if we have reservations about his predictions, as individuals in the business of educating students, we can’t ignore them. Our children are born it seems, already hard-wired into technology. They are a tech-savvy generation and already global communicators. They are in many ways, already adapted to this future Canton talks about. As we consider the catch-phrases of Canton’s trends: altering boardroom strategies, alignment with a diverse global market, high-tech employee retention, innovative organizational DNA, accelerated change and risk, workforce culture with a global view…we must ask ourselves if we are providing students the education they need to be successful in their future. Or, are we educating students to our comfort level versus providing them with the educational structure that will stimulate and support innovation, cooperation, creativity, strategic thinking and the development of individual talents?

Perhaps we need to ask ourselves, Is the educational system in this country being driven with the right goals in mind? If we continue to provide status quo education for our children, will we have prepared them for the future these trends would indicate?

School Financial Data: _Highly Effective _Effective ___Ineffective

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:00:00 -0500

Is school financial data Highly Effective, Effective or Ineffective as it is connected to student achievement information? According to a January 6, 2011 memorandum from Sally Vaughn, Deputy Superintendent/ Chief Academic Officer, MDE and Thomas Howell, Director of Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI), highly effective, effective and ineffective are the terms we are to use in our Registry of Educational Personnel (REP) reports regarding Michigan’s Educator Evaluations. The end result: Michigan students’ academic growth information will be linked to the educators who provide numerous hours of education.

As an individual who admittedly enjoys data and the benefits of improvement through the use of quality data, this has caused me to rethink how financial information is utilized. I ponder the type of evaluation that education financial information would receive in regards to the above stated criteria, highly effective, effective or ineffective.

The list is exhaustive - the Michigan School Accounting Manual (Bulletin 1022), Revised School Code, State School Aid Act, Uniform and Budgeting Accounting Act, Governmental Accounting Standards Board, No Child Left Behind, America Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Individual with Disability Education Act, United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, Pupil Transportation Act, Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and Pupil Accounting Manual - just to name some, definitely not all, of the information that determines many of our day to day actions. As I think about all the laws, rules, and regulations we follow on a day-to-day basis; it is still hard to give most of our financial information an effective or even highly effective evaluation.

The current format of financial information is hard to link to our students’ success or lack of success. We can provide information on how much is spent on salaries, benefits and supplies all the way down to the building level. Expenses can be traced back to basic education, special education, supplemental education, support services for students, support services for instructional staff, administration, business services, operation and maintenance, transportation, district support services, community support services, and specific state or federal revenue sources that provide for expenses. Can we tell how much is spent for a specific core subject at a building and tie this back to summative or even formative student assessments? Within a district this information may be available but as a state or even a nation, do we really know the amount of resources provided to teach our children reading, writing, mathematics, science or social studies? Our children are assessed in these areas throughout their education but we currently have no way of knowing the financial resources used to teach them.

As improvements continue to be made to the education of our children, it’s my hope all areas of education can be categorized as Highly Effective.

MSBO Update

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:00:00 -0500

MSBO Executive Director David Martell talks about state school aid, the Governor’s upcoming special education message, MSBO Board elections, and next week’s MSBO Annual Conference & Exhibit Show.

April 2011 Column from MSBO on Vimeo.

Count Down to MSBO’s Annual Conference and Exhibit Show

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:00:00 -0500

As usual, the MSBO Conference offers many valuable sessions with great ideas that will more than pay for your attendance. Sessions focus on all levels of experience from those just starting out to veterans. Check out the conference brochure.

Don’t worry if you haven’t registered yet, you can always register onsite beginning with the Pre-Conferences Tuesday, April 26. The full Conference begins Wednesday, April 27 and continue thru April 28th. Online registrationclosed at 5 pm on Thursday, April 21.

From start to finish, this year’s conference continues to offer the best professional development value available to Michigan school business officials.

We have two Super Sessions this year including Michigan’s Budget Director John E. Nixon and a Legislative Panel Discussion moderated Senior Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick, as well as this year’s keynoter, futurist, author and visionary business advisory James Canton.

Don’t miss out! We look forward to seeing you in Grand Rapids.

MSBO's Business Manager/CPA Workshop – June 08, 2011, Lansing, MI

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0500

Ah….Spring has sprung and before you know it, June will be jumping! With the shock of the Governor’s proposal settling in, wouldn’t it be great to have some solid information you can count on? Wait no more! The 2011 MSBO Business Manager/CPA Workshop will be held at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center June 8, 2011.

There isn’t another workshop of this magnitude specifically designed to assist both the school business manager and audit staff to prepare for the upcoming school audit season.

This year’s agenda is packed with more sessions than in the past, focused on relevant, straight forward and to the point discussions. Representatives from the Michigan Department of Education, audit firms and practitioners will be on hand to provide the latest information you’ll need to have a successful audit.

We’ll have updates on ARRA funding and reporting, Education Jobs Funding, a State Aid Update, monitoring and internal control considerations, OMB Compliance Guidance, proper account coding and reporting, an economic update, Emergency Manager and auditor relations, and an IRS audit update.

New this year, we’re expanding the discussion of the annual Accounting and Auditing Alert as well as allocating time to review the updated Michigan School Auditing Manual. For the CPA’s in attendance, we have a session designed to satisfy one CPE credit in ethics! All in all, you have an opportunity to gain 8 hours of CPE for your licensure at this one-day event.

By popular demand, there will be an “Early Bird” session offered to discuss an AICPA Government Audit Quality Center update.

Please see the online brochure and registration. Also please note that the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center has accommodations available for June 7, 2011 for early arrivals. Please contact them at 1-800-875-5090 for reservations and be sure to mention MSBO for our special rate expires May 7, 2011.
For more information, contact Robert Dwan at 517-327-2581 for details.

Good News! – MSBO Transportation Benchmarking Survey Deadline Extended

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:00:00 -0500

The deadline for submitting the MSBO Transportation Benchmarking Survey has been extended to April 29.

Understanding transportation costs and how they compare with other district costs is essential in evaluating efficiency and provides a foundation for analysis of how districts provide service. We need maximum participation to ensure meaningful results of this survey. It should not take long to fill out. We recommend that you print off the survey in advance and fill it out – then use that to input the information in the online survey.

MSBO is working with Management Partnership Services (MPS) to conduct this survey. Any questions should be directed to Tim Ammon at 888.518.3377 x702, or tammon@mpsconsultant.com.

Online survey

Printed Survey form

Developing an Educator Evaluation System: Guidelines for School Districts and Unions

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Get a clear understanding of the relationship between student growth and achievement and educator performance and achievement, and how to develop a system that meets the needs of both labor and management at this Developing an Educator Evaluation System workshop. Participants will learn the processes needed for developing their own unique system, rather than trying to simply adopt a model that may not be suitable for their school district’s needs. Workshops will be held around the state, there is no fee or registration required. For more information, contact Bob Harris at 517 281-6656 or email at bbbharris@aol.com.

Scheduled locations include:

May 3, 2011 • 3:00 - 6:00 pm • Kent ISD in the Coldwater Room
2930 Knapp St. N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49525-4518
Phone: 616 364-1333
www.kentisd.org

May 4, 2011 • 9 – 10 am • Middle Cities event at Lansing Community College, West Campus
For Middle Cities members
Contact MCEA for more information.

May 11, 2011 • 3:00 - 7:00 pm • Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center
104 Conservation Drive, Roscommon, MI 48653
Phone: 989 821-6200
www.michigan.gov/dnr: Click on RAM on the left side of the web page to access the center's website. This is the DNR center on the north side of Higgins Lake.

May 12, 2011 • 4:00 - 7:00 pm • Oakland Schools, Conference room A
2111 Pontiac Lake Rd., Waterford, MI 48328 - 2736
Phone: 248 209-2000
www.oakland.k12.mi.us

June 21-22, 2011 • 2-day session on Educator Evaluation Summer Leadership Workshop • Northern Michigan University
Jamrich Hall, Marquette, MI 49855
To register or for more information on this session, contact Marquette Alger RESA at 321 E. Ohio St., Marquette, MI 49855
Phone: 906 266-5100
www.maresa.org

These workshops are sponsored by the Education Alliance of Michigan through a grant from the Federal Mediation Conciliation Services. MSBO Executive Director David Martell serves on the Education Alliance board.

ASBO International Update

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:00:00 -0500

ASBO Pinnacle Awards Spotlight Innovation
The Pinnacle Awards recognize outstanding practices and new ideas – from every field of school business management – that make a difference in schools and in the profession. This is the perfect opportunity to present your team's project while contributing to the profession. The deadline for this year’s Pinnacle Awards is May 1.

Last year’s winners included MSBO member Sharon Raschke, Ed.D. Executive Director of Finance and Business at Dexter Community Schools for the: The 4-Bucket Plan: A Better 403(b) Retirement Plan.

Bridges to the Future Scholarship
The Bridges to the Future Scholarship is a wonderful opportunity for new and aspiring school business officials to network with colleagues, participate in professional development, and explore the variety of school business management resources ASBO International offers. ASBO International and Met Life (Bridges to the Future Scholarship
sponsor) award 20 scholarships of $2,000 for attendance to ASBO International's Annual Meeting and Exhibits.

A number of MSBO members have received this scholarship in recent years.

Scholarship Benefits include:

Opportunity to attend the association's Annual Meeting and Exhibits
Pre-conference workshop and networking luncheon at the annual meeting specifically for Bridges recipients
Free access to ASBO's Live Learning Center that will capture more than 75 hours of professional development from the 2009 Annual Meeting.

Do You Qualify?

The scholarship applicant must be a school business official who has been in the profession for five years or less and who is an ASBO International member at the time the scholarship application is submitted.

Apply Before June 1, 2011.

Download the brochure and application

Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2010: Outreach to Households on the Availability of Summer Food Service Program Meals

Admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:00:00 -0500

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 establishes requirements for conducting outreach to households on the availability of Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) meals.

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is facilitating working relationships between School Food Authorities and SFSP service institutions to ensure that schools help promote the availability of meals for children during the summer months. Outreach activities could include developing or disseminating printed or electronic materials to families of school children prior to the end of the school year, which provide information on the availability and location of SFSP meals.

In late May, the MDE will list its 2011 SFSP sponsors on the SFSP webpage at www.michigan.gov/sfsp. At a minimum, MDE encourages your district to provide a link to the information on your school district website. MDE also encourages your district to promote this webpage on your year-end menus.

The SFSP Outreach Toolkit for Sponsors and Feeding Sites includes fliers, letters to parents, and other materials that may help schools raise program awareness among students and their families. The SFSP toolkit is available at www.summerfood.usda.gov/library/toolkit.pdf.

For more information, contact Grants Coordination and School Support, School Nutrition Programs at 517-373-3347 or email to mde-schoolnutrition@michigan.gov.

The Value of Education

Admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:00:00 -0500

I recently read an article that appeared in the November/December issue of DBusiness magazine by Lou Glazer entitled, “The Path to Prosperity. The article contained many interesting statistics about the value of education. This may not come as a surprise to many of us, but according to Mr. Glazer the characteristics of high prosperity states are a high proportion of adults who possess a four-year college degree. The article quotes Rich Karlgaard, the publisher of Forbes magazine, who says that the most valuable natural resource for the 21st Century is brains. Wherever smart people go, he says, robust economic activity will follow. So where does Michigan rank in this important category? Michigan ranks 34 out of 50 states in terms of four-year degree attainment.

Michigan enjoyed being a prosperous state for many years because the manufacturing industries in our state provided good paying jobs that required relatively low skill. We know that all that has changed, and today manufacturing makes up only about 10 percent of the total workforce in the United States. The way to prosperity is to focus on and attract those jobs that are knowledge based and require the attainment of a four-year degree. According to the article, “of the top 10 states in college attainment, nine are also in the top 12 in per-capita income.” According to a table prepared by the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at the University of New Mexico from data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Michigan has fallen from 20 to 37 in terms of per-capita income from 1990 to 2008. It is obvious to see why Michigan has been struggling with its economy when one reads this statistic.

Another interesting argument that was discussed in the article centered on taxes and the size of government. Mr. Glazer discussed the economic performance of states such as Alabama and points out that “the low-tax, anti-union, low-education attainment environment in the South was successful in attracting low-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing for a while, but as we’re seeing today, that is not the way to build a sustainable, prosperous economy. Low taxes and labor costs are helpful, but they’ll only take a state so far.” So, what is important for a state to invest in to attract high quality talent that pays high wages that, in turn provides much needed revenues to the state treasury? The answer may lie in looking at those industries that have seen the most job growth over the last decade, which are health care and education. Both of these industries have the basic requisite of a four-year college degree.

I write about the importance of a four-year college degree because, as the article indicates, “the path to prosperity is the broad knowledge-based economy defined as industries where 30 percent or more of the employees have a four-year college degree.” Attainment of the much needed college degree also, in my opinion, depends upon a strong system of public schools that provide the basis for students to succeed in college. We need strong schools that are capable of providing our students not only the basic skills, but also the advanced skills required to compete with students from other states and other countries. A solid educational base, beginning at kindergarten and continuing through twelfth grade and beyond, is a requirement for success in the corporate world. With a properly trained workforce, Michigan will be able to compete for jobs that will provide growth to the economy in the 21st Century. Let us all advocate for a strong educational system for all of Michigan’s children.

Apr