10-10-08
College Issue 2008
DePaul's Management Program, 3 Years Later
In 2005 Criss Henderson, executive director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Alan Salzenstein, theatre impresario, started an MFA program at DePaul University geared toward training future arts administrators to fill the roles currently occupied by founding executives. (PerformInk, June 10, 2005)
Arts administration, as an academic field, is only about 20 years in the making. However, as arts executives retire, their organizations are finding that they need leaders with a “more sophisticated skill set,” as described by Salzenstein.
“The realization has come forward that moving up the ladder internally is not necessarily the most successful way to train leaders nowadays,” says Salzenstein. “As the new crop of leaders take the helm, they are coming with a whole different background.” Business, law and communications are just a few of the subjects with which today’s arts leaders need to be familiar.
Ryan Butts, currently Director of Development and Marketing for House Theatre, graduated in June of 2007 and had already been working with House for a few months. The biggest skill he took away from the program was the ability to look at a large organization with an entrepreneurial spirit. “I run up and down a ladder all day,” he said, and explained that he runs up the ladder to take a look at the organization's overall needs, and then he runs down again to actually do the work. “Criss runs CST in a very entrepreneurial way,” he noted, and this clearly rubbed off on those in the program.
The DePaul program brings together elements of the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in DePaul’s College of Commerce, the Masters of Public Services Graduate Program and a full-time job at CST to create something like a two-year on-the-job training program. The program borrows from both the DePaul MBA and Public Service graduate programs, which pulls together the unique set of skills needed to run a successful arts organization. Butts found it interesting, and said, “You spend one evening with people who want to be in a Fortune 500 company and the next with people who want to run a health care service…Criss said 'The skill set you get now, you won't realize you've got until three years from now.' And he was right.”
The first year of study focuses on organizational leadership and communications, fundraising and an overview of financial principals. In the second year students delve more into board relations, law and organizational dynamics, while electives help them figure out what aspect of arts leadership might best suit their interests. For each of the two years, a “synthesis seminar” helps each participant integrate coursework and practical experience into a coherent individual process for arts leadership.
It is the synthesis seminar that sets this program apart from others. While programs elsewhere offer a strong academic component and a strong internship, or practical, component, none, according to Salzenstein, endeavors to integrate the two.
Henderson describes the program as “a dual commitment.” Students find themselves immersed in both the theory and practice of running an organization. It’s that practical experience that is crucial to this program because, as Henderson explained, “No business theory is going to make sense of management in the1 arts.”
Over the past few years, Henderson and Salzenstein have had many successes with the program. Henderson was thrilled to see the fellows embrace the practical learning portion by taking ownership of CST’s annual gala, which is responsible for raising $750,000 each year. The premise was to make sure the fellows had a “real-time leadership opportunity during the program,” and they exceeded all expectations.
Salzenstein was surprised at how quickly the program became known and accepted by those seeking admission. He conservatively estimated that they receive 60-70 applications each year for only two available positions. He also noted the diversity of age, academic background, work experience, geographic location and other factors in the applicants.
“That says a lot about those looking for entre in to this field. I assumed that the majority of our applicants would come from an undergrad theatre program, but the great majority come from those who have been in the work force for a while.”
One of the great surprises to Henderson is the interview process each year. “We bring 12 of the most talented emerging leaders to Chicago for a two and a half day boot camp. And what’s been most interesting is the bonding that has occurred…I should have probably expected it, but it is a great honor to sit among those finalists.”
Salzenstein concurred, noting that the bonds created during those two days often have carried over long past their time in Chicago.
In the end, though, they can only choose two, and it comes down to deciding whom the program can best serve rather than who can best serve the program. “It’s a nice size,” says Salzenstein, allowing them the flexibility to individualize the program to the greatest extent possible. “I think the dynamic of two students per year is a successful number to work with.”
No plans for expansion are in the works, either. From the start the idea was to have four fellows in the program at a time. “They are not interns in any way shape or form,” says Henderson. “They are full-time employees.”
However, Henderson did mention the possibility of an arts leadership summit—a one or two day gathering of “interesting people with interesting views on arts leadership as a way to extend the learning and opportunities [to other arts leaders] without committing to the full two year program.”
One of the central tenets of the program is the ability to get a mid- to upper-management job in the arts upon graduation. Arts Leadership graduates have gone on to work at Steppenwolf, House Theatre, CST and the School of Music at the University of Chicago. Henderson says he is “pleased to see the diversity of choices they’ve made.”