Presenter Donna Alexander, President & CEO of Advoxum Global Strategies, offers best practices for navigating conflict and crisis. She examines the crucial elements of defining conflict and crisis, identifying, and prioritizing affected stakeholders, utilizing effective communication strategies, and ultimately, executing a plan of action.

After taking over as the president of Hartford Seminary, Joel Lohr, Ph.D., undertook a new strategic plan, which seemed routine. But after bringing in Rick Staisloff of rpk GROUP, he saw an opportunity and charted a course that ended with a revitalized mission and a new name: Hartford International University of Religion and Peace.

Dr. Rebekah Basinger addresses the opportunities and challenges that come with chairing the board of a theological school, which include how to design effective board meetings, enhance board member engagement, and develop the board for long-term effectiveness while giving attention to the board chair and president partnership and the critical importance of call in both roles.

While serving as an interim president of Lancaster Theological Seminary, Dr. David Rowe was challenged with how to merge the school and preserve its mission. Rowe and Elizabeth Palmer Bennett, former CFO at Lancaster, discuss how the development of the merger came about, their observations, and the lessons they learned in the process.

There has been considerable concern about artificial intelligence (AI) and its use in theological higher education, particularly as it relates to cheating. But Greg Henson, president of Kairos University, and Ruth McGillivray, Executive vice president of Northwest Seminary and College, say there's more to it than that. In this episode, they discuss the opportunities for theological schools to explore with AI.

Helen Blier, Ph.D., director of continuing education at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and president of ALLLM, presents compelling reasons why theological schools should consider lifelong learning and continuing education programs as viable entry points into theological schools and essential bridges for ministers actively engaged in the field.

The In Trust Center is pleased to announce a new webinar series focused on change management models. These webinars are presented by rpk GROUP, a national leader in helping institutions create sustainable business models that reflect both mission and market. This series includes two webinars. Webinar 1 provides a change management framework to include best practice for leading change initiatives and common pitfalls to avoid. This session will include a consideration of institutional readiness for change, especially around the use of a strategic finance lens.

Is there a way to help theological schools cut overhead costs and free up resources to focus on mission? That’s the goal of the CHANGE (Configuring Higher Education Administration for Next Generation Excellence) Initiative, one of the projects funded in Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. David Boshart, president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and Dr. Jeff Williams, the project director of the CHANGE Initiative, provide an overview of how a nonprofit organization could provide business offerings to schools, increasing quality of services while allowing schools the space to innovate. Dr. Jeff Williams can be reached here: jwilliams@ambs.edu