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momentumA StrAtegic PlAn ProgreSS rePort 2008-2009

Toward 2011 and Becoming the Premier School of Professional Psychology in the World

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Five Years, Six Priorities, A Single Goal }It is a goal that has evolved, symbolizing and foreshadowing the next phase of our

institution’s evolution. In the two years since our strategic plan was crafted, we have

broadened our perspective and heightened our aspirations.

Realizing our goal of becoming the premier school of professional psychology in the world

is a monumental undertaking with the potential for far-reaching impact—on our students

and employees; on our partners, clients, and communities; and on the field of psychology.

We have now completed the second year of our five-year strategic plan, once again moving

purposefully and quickly, making steady progress toward satisfying each priority and edging

closer to our vision. But while momentum is great, so too is the vigilance with which we

evaluate and improve our performance by monitoring details, resources, and feedback.

to become the premier school of professional psychology in the world.

Milestones

… to the West Coast, with new campuses in Los Angeles, Irvine, and Westwood, and the addition of two of Southern California’s largest community counseling centers.

… globally, with the establishment of a China Office, and the development of a transformative paraprofessional training program to advance psychology in developing countries.

… virtually, with an Online Campus serving students from more than 40 states and several countries.

Priority one }

Extend The Chicago School’s culture of innovation beyond traditional academic programs and create new opportunities that support continued financial stability and success.

e x pa n d i n g our horizons...

next steps

• Opening an East Coast campus, scheduled for fall 2010.

• Development of new applied psychology degrees that prepare professionals in a wide range of fields to incorporate psychology into their existing work.

• Addition of a degree in Marital and Family Therapy and a specialization in Psychodynamic Psychology in Southern California.

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E 5close-up } Matthew Moosey, Online Student

Matthew Moosey, a Chicago School student pursuing a degree in Forensic Psychology, is a master at balancing graduate studies with a full-time job. Not all that unusual, perhaps, but Matthew—or lst Lt. Moosey, as his fellow troops call him—commands a tank platoon in Iraq. His is a situation that powerfully illustrates the role online learning can play in an increasingly global society.

A West Point graduate who is completing his second tour in the Middle East, Lt. Moosey began considering a master’s degree in psychology after realizing how much time he spends counseling his soldiers. It is an interaction he enjoys, one in which he wants to excel. The Chicago School’s Online Campus is providing the solution by combining applied psychology instruction with the flexibility of anytime, anywhere learning.

“ Soldiers today have real-time connectivity with what’s happening at home,” he says, explaining that the stress of dealing with loved ones’ everyday problems adds significantly to the overwhelming anxieties that accompany prolonged conflict. “I do not exaggerate when I say that what is learned from my online education quickly gets applied every day in my work.”

Priority tWo }

Manage growth so that adequate resources are generated and quality can be maintained across all programs.

Milestones

… through the recruitment of world-class faculty who can spearhead new initiatives and contribute to strategic growth.

… through long-range plans for technology, facilities, and staffing.

… through prudent financial management that relies on ambitious, yet attainable, enrollment goals and annual revenue surpluses.

… through the development of academic offerings that reach new markets and address new needs.

… through the use of a “vital signs” protocol that allows us to monitor the viability of individual academic programs, and make timely decisions about the expansion or sunsetting of programs.

… through investment in systems and processes that streamline functions in major administrative areas, including marketing, admission, and accounting.

g row i n g smart...

next steps

• Establishment of an operating endowment to fund future opportunities.

• Strategic positioning of the three Southern California campuses for coordinated, timely, incremental growth.

• Creation of TCS Global, which will facilitate the acquisition of alternative sources of capital and the development of joint

international ventures.

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E 7close-up } Denise ross, Faculty

In 2007, Dr. Denise Ross left a comfortable Ivy League teaching position and traveled west—to The Chicago School and its three-year-old Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program. While her work at Columbia University Teacher’s College was both rewarding and challenging, the Chicago position was one she couldn’t pass up: to be part of an innovative ABA program still in its infancy, to work with other leading ABA scholars, and to start her own laboratory school for underserved urban children.

It was a win-win-win—for Dr. Ross, TCS, and the Chicago Public Schools. In September 2009, Garfield Park Preparatory Academy, to be operated entirely by The Chicago School, is scheduled to open on the city’s west side as one of CPS’ Renaissance 2010 schools. As Dr. Ross envisioned, the use of ABA techniques will be central to the school’s philosophy. The expertise she brought with her from Columbia has been instrumental in developing plans for the school, the first of its kind in Illinois.

“It will be a wonderful opportunity for our students, who will complete their field training at the Garfield Park school, and for the children who will benefit from behavior analysis techniques. We will be in a position to ensure consistency in the application of ABA,” she says, “something that’s difficult to do without a dedicated lab school.”

r a i s i n g the bar...

Milestones

… through an academic program review process that allows us to assess—and continuously improve—student learning.

… through the development of a process for assessing the effectiveness of administrative offices and student support functions.

… through increased support for faculty scholarship and the development of a process for tracking scholarly contributions to the field.

… by positioning The Chicago School as a leader in Latino mental health and cross-cultural psychology.

… through innovative service-learning courses that integrate classroom learning with direct community service and opportunities for self reflection.

… through a new Faculty Institute and ongoing workshops and webinars that support faculty in the use of creative and effective teaching strategies.

Priority tHree }

Continue to raise the standard of excellence in academic programs.

next steps

• Articulation of The Chicago School Model of Psychology Education that builds on the Boulder and Vail models and positions TCS as the premier school of professional psychology in the world.

• Expansion of our practitioner-based doctoral philosophy to include Ph.D. programs in International Psychology and Organizational Leadership.

• Collaboration with the Chicago Public School system to provide high-quality field training opportunities for students in Applied Behavior Analysis and other TCS programs.

• Expansion of professional development opportunities to faculty at the California and Online campuses.

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E 9close-up } eric Mosse, On-Ground Student

The feedback that Eric Mosse received on his first attempt to evaluate a company’s employee retention problems told him that his work had fallen a bit short. As a student in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology program completing a required assessment center project, he had explored a variety of issues relevant to the issue, but had neglected to take one important factor—diversity —into consideration. The oversight was pointed out by faculty who reviewed his report and, while

the critique surprised him, it also made him—and the faculty teaching him—wonder what could have been done differently to ensure his mastery of this critical competency.

It’s a question frequently posed as The Chicago School ramps up its focus on academic program review and the continuous improvement of student learning. What can we do better? How can we be sure that changes made in the classroom will improve a student’s professional readiness?

Mosse’s experience is testament to the difference this attention to assessment can make in educa-tional outcomes. Now completing an internship with a small consulting firm, Mosse makes sure that diversity consciousness is always an integral part of any workplace evaluation he performs.

“The company I’m working with now has had trouble retaining women,” he says. “There’s a disconnect between the managers—mostly single men—and the mothers with children at home who work for them. Diversity awareness needs to play a central role in any solution that we suggest.”

pav i n g the way for our graduates...

Milestones

… through enhancement of the Center for Academic Excellence to increase emphasis on writing and professional preparation.

… through eGo, a robust online community that facilitates anytime, anywhere commun-ication and interaction among faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

… through continued expansion of practicum and internship opportunities that prepare students for the professional environment.

… through the use of specialized software programs that help students and alumni prepare for careers and become more competitive in the marketplace.

… through greater opportunities for alumni to remain informed, enhance professional credentials, and build connections in the psychology community.

… through program-specific advisory boards that bring together leaders in the profession to ensure academic quality and provide professional opportunities for students and graduates.

Priority four }

Increase support for students and alumni.

next steps

• Development of an online referral network to connect students to psychology practitioners and alumni practitioners to potential clients.

• Development of Southern California practi-cum and internship sites that emulate the successful community engagement efforts in Chicago.

• Expansion of existing support programs to students and alumni at our newly affiliated California Graduate Institute campuses.

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E 11close-up } Susanne francis-thornton, Alumna

As one of 13 organizations hand-picked by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to provide social and emotional counseling services to underserved children, Cornerstone Counseling Center draws extensively upon its ties to The Chicago School. At the center’s helm is Dr. Susanne Francis-Thornton (Psy.D.’03), executive director, psychologist, TCS alumna. Her own psychotherapy skills, learned during her years as a student, are put to daily use, as are those of her current crop of practicum

students and interns, many of whom are working toward TCS degrees.

“As a student, and now as an alumna, I have had the opportunity to benefit from the school’s focus on diversity and community engagement,” Dr. Francis-Thornton says. She is fortunate, she adds, to have a continuous supply of Chicago School students—who come prepared to work with underserved urban children—to provide much of the CPS counseling, as well as a range of mental health services to the center’s diverse clientele.

“The Chicago School supports students in the task of combining a passion—like mine for working with at-risk urban populations—with the professional skills necessary to meet the needs of all types of populations,” she says.

i n v e s t i n g in our own...

Milestones

… by benchmarking benefits and compen- sation to ensure that our employees remain at or above median levels of peer institutions.

… by continually reviewing our menu of employee benefits to ensure that they are competitive, flexible, and affordable.

… through professional development and growth opportunities for all employees.

… through programs that address wellness and work-life balance issues.

… by expanding our Chicago Campus by 68 percent to ensure that students, faculty, and staff have appropriate work and study space.

Priority five }

Become known as the “Employer of Choice” in higher education.

next steps

• Completion of a workforce planning analysis with strategies to further develop our talent pool and provide succession plans for major functional units.

• Addition of office space and technology upgrades for faculty in Southern California.

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E 13close-up } Anne Galioto, Staff

Staff meetings get a little more planning from Dr. Anne Galioto these days. As director of placement and training, she always has a full agenda, but lately she has added a couple of standing items, aimed primarily at providing consistency to the discussions.

Her new perspective comes from a two-week Management Development Program she attended in June at Harvard University. Offered as part

of the Harvard Institute for Higher Education, the training program is for mid-level managers who have demonstrated leadership potential. Dr. Galioto was one of about 100 attendees representing a broad spectrum of responsibilities and departments from institutions across the country and internationally.

“The institute really broadened my perspective and enhanced my management skills by focusing on all different aspects of leadership,” she says, adding that it helped her understand herself better and to recognize her own strengths and weaknesses.

“Now I push myself to do the parts of my job that don’t come quite so naturally. I take the time to talk informally with my staff, and to understand what’s going on in their lives, rather than focusing only on the job that needs to get done.”

c o l l a b o r at i n g for change...

Milestones

… by becoming the first school of profess-ional psychology named to the President’s Honor Roll for Community Service.

… by increasing the value of pro-bono and low-cost services provided to the community to a record $24 million, representing more than 600,000 hours of service.

… through the continued use of high-impact teams of faculty and students who work with partner agencies to provide powerful outcomes and lasting change.

… by broadening our community to include diverse populations and cultures around the world.

Priority Six }

Create and develop new partnerships with external constituencies.

next steps

• Development of partnerships to support the Southern California campuses.

• Become the first independent graduate school to join the Campus Compact, which fosters community service opportunities for students and partnerships between academic institutions and their communities.

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E 15close-up } Larry and Marilyn Cohen,

Donors, Former Trustee

Larry Cohen likes to talk about the ripples created by a pebble tossed into the water. When he and his wife Marilyn established the Naomi Ruth Cohen Charitable Foundation in 2002, it was with the two-fold purpose of honoring their daughter’s memory and educating the public about the stigma of mental illness. It’s that series of ripples—those grateful phone calls from community members who have benefited from the

foundation’s educational projects—that give their original gesture true meaning.

“People are afraid to talk about mental illness, or to acknowledge their shame and embarrassment when it touches their families,” Larry Cohen says. “It means a lot when I know that a person won’t have to go through what we went through.”

In 2008, the Cohens took their foundation a step further. They formalized a partnership with The Chicago School—a collaboration that had resulted in a series of community mental health conferences and once involved Marilyn Cohen as a TCS trustee. Foundation assets were transferred to the school, representing the largest gift in TCS history, and the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Education at The Chicago School was born.

“Our hope is that this gift and this partnership will result in ripples that can help many people dealing with the realities of mental illness.” Larry Cohen says.

Integrating theory, professional practice, and innovation, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology provides an excellent education for careers in psychology and related behavioral and health sciences. The school is committed to service and embraces the diverse communities of our society.

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