July 22, 2008
New nonprofit management degree launched
Too few leaders. That’s the challenge facing the nonprofit world as baby boomers prepare to retire.
But the solution isn’t simple. How should the leaders of tomorrow be trained? The day-to-day world of nonprofit management is changing so quickly that if managers are to succeed, they’ll need to be armed with skills that don’t fit easily into a single discipline.
That’s where a new graduate certificate in nonprofit management comes in. It’s as interdisciplinary as the nonprofit field itself.
There are about 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States, from universities and hospitals to arts centers to homeless shelters. “The sector is increasingly diverse,” says Anna Amirkhanyan, School of Public Affairs (SPA), who is director of the new certificate program.
From huge multimillion dollar enterprises to tiny charities, they must survive in a climate that is a hybrid of the business world and the public sector. Their leaders need to know such business skills as marketing, accounting, and human resource management. But they also need to comply with government requirements and regulations.
That’s why some courses in the new program fall under the auspices of Kogod, such as Accounting, while others are in the School of Public Affairs (SPA). Still others, like Public Communication Management, are in the purview of the School of Communication. Students also take electives in the fields where they’ll need specialized skills, whether it’s arts management in the College of Arts and Sciences or international development at the School of International Service.
It’s the only interdisciplinary nonprofit management program in the Washington, D.C., area, and also the most extensive, at 18 credits, Amirkhanyan says.
Although it just launched, it already has one graduate. Mohammed Abu Asaker, SIS/MA ’07, knew the program was being developed as he finished his degree and intentionally took all the required courses. He has now returned to the Gaza Strip to run the nonprofit he founded, Tomorrow International, prepared with all the latest knowledge about nonprofit management.
