Management Development Program (MDP)

Gain critical skills and strategies that can help you navigate complex higher education landscapes – particularly as you assume new leadership responsibilities.

Overview

Higher education managers face a wide array of leadership and managerial challenges — from planning and implementing strategic action to allocating financial resources and enacting the vision of senior leadership. To succeed, administrators need skills that enable them to work throughout the institutional hierarchy while staying true to their own personal and professional identities.

The Management Development Program (MDP), a five-day program  held on Harvard’s Cambridge, Massachusetts campus, helps higher education managers acquire the knowledge and insight needed to think more strategically, balance competing demands, and engage in more forward-thinking leadership.

Program Details

Designed for early-career leaders, MDP provides participants with the critical skills and mindsets needed to navigate complex institutional environments. Topics will include leadership effectiveness, negotiation tactics, fiscal decision-making, equity and inclusivity, ethics, and strategic planning. 

A combination of case studies, small group discussions, interactive presentations, and immersive experiences will help you learn how to incorporate broader strategic considerations into your management decisions.

Throughout MDP, you will have the opportunity to learn and network with a diverse and dynamic cohort, deepen your working relationships through regular roundtable discussions, and continue these connections through a post-MDP participant webinar.

Learning Goals

• Develop the capacity for you and your team to build greater individual and group effectiveness
• Learn the frameworks, tools, and skills to manage negotiations effectively
• Navigate fiscal decision-making by becoming familiar with higher education financial structures and economic concepts 
• Take proactive steps to transform colleges and universities into truly inclusive institutions, foster success for all students, and support faculty and staff from a range of backgrounds
• Explore characteristics of effective and ethical leadership
• Gain skills for planning, implementing, and evaluating a strategic direction for your department or unit
• Maximize meeting planning to improve how you work with colleagues
• Establish connections and develop a lasting network with peers from around the world and throughout the United States

Who Should Attend

• Early-career college and university administrators responsible for the strategic direction, administrative management, and local leadership of their respective departments and areas, including: 
• Deans (also associate/assistant deans)
• Department chairs
• Program directors
• Managing directors

Fees & Policies

The comprehensive tuition includes all instructional materials, refreshments, and most meals. Participants receive a certificate of participation at the close of the program. Payment or a purchase order must be received within 30 days of program acceptance, or upon receipt of the invoice if acceptance is within 30 days prior to the start of the program. Click here for more information on payment and financial aid.

Please click here for more information on our refund and withdrawal policies.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education reserves the right to change faculty or cancel programs at its discretion. In the unlikely event of program changes, the school is not responsible for non-refundable travel arrangements or other planning expenses incurred.