Management Development Program

The NAFSA Management Development Program is the most trusted and proven training program for managers and leaders serving the international education field. This program will enable you to gain competencies to achieve long-term success.

Gain skills transferrable to your role.

While the MDP uses a university setting in various case studies and examples, the underlying management principles and skills are generally transferable to all situations in the field of international education. The program touches on topics such as scanning your environment for potential changes and improvements, working with your supervisor by “managing up,” identifying potential connections and resources in other departments and organizations, and identifying strategies for managing your underperforming employees and your star employees. 

Leverage a flipped classroom model to maximize learning potential.

The virtual environment and curriculum are designed for exchange and interaction not only between participants and trainers, but amongst participants themselves. The flipped classroom model allows participants to reflect on what they’ve learned in the online modules before coming to the live virtual discussions. This leads to rich conversation amongst participants and trainers alike. You’ll benefit from the experience of your trainers while also relating to the current issues your fellow participants are facing and brainstorming solutions together.

Develop critical decision making skills.

If you’re often making critical management decisions for your team or office, the MDP can provide tools and frameworks to help you. Within the MDP you’ll gain tools to help you navigate performance management, manage change, and successfully advocate for your program or office’s needs.

Build a network of international educators from your MDP cohort.

The structure of the MDP is designed to maximize collaboration with your fellow participants and the expert MDP Trainers alike. You’ll work with your peers in small groups to deepen your knowledge of the content. You’ll get key insight from experienced MDP trainers. Most importantly, you’ll build relationships with your MDP cohort. 

• Seven online modules of interactive asynchronous self-paced coursework with reflection exercises, case studies, and management tools.
• Eight synchronous live virtual sessions to accompany each online module and a final culmination session to action plan for the future. Live sessions are led by experienced eMDP trainers.
• One NAFSA eLearning Express course from the series Responsive Management for Uncertain Times.
• SLII® Concepts, and introduction to the most widely used leadership training program in the world (SLII® by the Ken Blanchard® Companies), including an online leadership skills self-assessment, workbook, self-paced coursework, and sessions facilitated by experienced IE managers and experts.

Over the course of this comprehensive program, participants will learn about the key skills needed to become a more efficient and effective international education manager. The curriculum is reality-based, grounded in theory but focused on application. The content leverages participants' management experiences to illustrate concepts and identify solutions. To encourage participant sharing and learning from everyone's expertise and experience, class size is limited! 

Module 1: Seeing Your Program in the Larger Context

• Anticipate and react to environmental factors.
• Conduct an environmental scan to assess external opportunities and triggering factors.
• Build capacity to manage the impact of environmental factors.

Module 2: Organizational Culture

• Examine the impact of organizational culture on your IE program.
• Analyze your own organization's politics.
• Assess and bridge gaps in financial responsibility.

Module 3: Your Managerial Style and the Needs of Your Staff

Building the skills of a situation leader through SLII® Concepts:

• Discover your preferred management style and explore management styles available to leaders.
• Identify the support needs of your staff regarding specific tasks.
• Match your managerial approach to individual needs.

Module 4: Performance Management

• Apply a performance management model to programs and staff.
• Identify opportunities to improve approaches to performance management.
• Develop a personal performance plan to manage both under-performing and high-performing employees.

Module 5: Managing Change

• Develop a systematic approach to managing change.
• Apply model to a past or an ongoing change effort.
• Determine the impact on your team.

Module 6: Increasing Support for Your Program

• Align program goals to institutional goals.
• Conduct a stakeholder analysis.
• Improve advocacy with stakeholders and decision-makers.

Module 7: Sustaining Yourself as a Manager

• Exchange insights and strategies for balancing work and life.
• Generate ideas and actions to manage stress more effectively.
• Review and identify the strategies and tools from eMDP most likely to increase your effectiveness as an IE manager.

Closing

• Create an action plan to move forward