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| Providing innovative research, unsurpassed education, and engaged and principled outreach for leaders and potential leaders of the nonprofit community. |
Background
The Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be an interdisciplinary program of research, teaching, and outreach. The Center will seek to expand the capacity of current and future leaders in the nonprofit sector. It will enable them to guide their organizations and collaborating partners in effectively addressing complex and dynamic issues in the communities they serve. Center activities will emphasize community building, collaboration, cultural diversity, and human and family issues. As such the center will provide innovative education, research and applications for non-profit organizations and community practice.
The Need
Wisconsin currently has over 31,000 nonprofit organizations of wAugust 15, 2007t sector is growing, and is increasingly asked to provide a range of services including health, social services, housing, education, and emergency assistance. Nonprofit leaders typically lead community based organizations, foundations, and other NGO groups. Providing leadership to nonprofits presents unique challenges in such areas as marketing, funding, board development, volunteer management, and evaluation. Literature devoted to nonprofit leadership and acknowledging the differences with other types of organizations has emerged in recent years, yet further research is needed to assist nonprofits to respond to their changing environment. Education addressing the special role of nonprofits will prepare current and future leaders of nonprofits. For example, inspiring staff and/or volunteers to effectively achieve common goals of enhancing delivery of some public good is a unique challenge for nonprofit leaders.
The Opportunity
UW-Madison is well-positioned to assume a leadership role in this arena. The campus continues to lead the nation in the number of Peace Corps Volunteers, and the campus has a strong commitment to service learning through the exceptional work of the Morgridge Center. However, what differentiates this proposed center from other “leadership training” programs on campus is the focus on non-governmental nonprofit organizations. And, while there is interest and a few courses across campus, a solid foundation of courses is currently not available to students on this campus who may wish to pursue a career in the growing nonprofit sector.
There is considerable interest among current students and among those working in the nonprofit field who would like to gain further education to prepare for advancement in the organization. Further, after leading successful corporate careers, many people are considering second careers with nonprofits. Although management and leadership skills gained on the job are transferable, successful nonprofit leadership can require substantial retooling.
The Center Development Process
With a small planning group of faculty, staff, graduate students and community leaders, a strategic plan will be developed to explore the potential for establishing a campus curriculum for degree(s) in nonprofit leadership. The planning group will examine all degree options- from undergraduate to graduate- degree vs. certificate. The results will determine the existence of a national market niche, and whether the University of Wisconsin-Madison is prepared to create a Center of high caliber.
The idea has been explored over the past few years as part of a strategic redirection of departments and programs. As the discussions evolved it became clear that engaging in a campus wide discussion would be an asset to the structure and collaborative nature of this Center.
Over the summer of 2006 Dean Douthitt shared the proposal with campus deans and directors to begin identifying faculty and staff who may want to be kept apprised of efforts or participate/teach/contribute to the programs. Key to the project is a census of faculty from all over campus doing research in this area to assess the depth and breadth of ongoing scholarship to provide a baseline for the Center business plan.
Parallel to campus a similar conversation and census will happen in the community. The planning group will work closely with community nonprofit organizations to assess what campus already contributes by way of education or outreach and assess whether a campus center could better coordinate such campus outreach activities. In particular, to examine whether there are any specific outreach needs within the community and state that a Center may fill.
