Building strong management skills

Capacity building is the way of the future, says Fraser McDonald, who  teaches and provides pastoral care for Unitec’s Graduate Diploma in Not-for-Profit Management.

“This course attracts utterly committed, community-based people,” he says. “The course offers eight modules, with intensive six-day classes and practical assignments based on the needs of their own organisation.

“These are busy people, already working as managers or board members, so we get them to pace their learning over a three-year period.”

Ten of those students are now receiving scholarships under the MPEI project. In total, 24 students will be given scholarships over the next five years.

The scholarships go specifically to those working in the Pacific community. The first 10 scholarships include people from the Fijian, Tongan, Tokelauan, Samoan, Cook Island and Indo-Fijian communities.   

As well as considering the ethnic mix, the Trust’s selection committee asked Unitec to provide scholarships for managers and board members of early childhood centres. For them, the diploma course offers a unique opportunity for capacity building and leadership development.

“Even though we have ASB Community Trust funding for the scholarships, we still ask the ECE board’s to pay 20% of the course fee,” says Fraser. “That means that there’s a commitment from the organisation and we know they will value the course.”
With hundreds of Pacific early childhood centres in the Greater Auckland area, marketing the diploma has been a big job. Selecting the scholarship recipients has been even harder.

“As well as looking at the ethnic mix, we had to look at which organisations would benefit most,” says Fraser.  “We looked at the academic level of those coming in and the strength of their centre. In a number of cases we were so impressed by their success that we decided they didn’t need a scholarship.”

Fraser says that was a hard decision to make. There was a wide range of applicants all with great skills and attributes that make them good leaders and managers. The selection panel could have chosen academic high-flyers who already had strong management skills and were sure to succeed. That would have looked good on paper, but would not have made the sector stronger. Instead, they have chosen participants who had different skills and experience to contribute to their studies and whose centres will benefit from some management training and support.

The courses include the practical skills to lead teams in the workplace, to recruit, retain and empower a diverse workforce of volunteers and paid staff. Other modules cover fundraising and revenue generating opportunities,financial management, influencing public policy and achieving social change and the role of governance and management in a not-for-profit environment.   

Participants develop their analytical abilities and become self-reliant, confident leaders. Armed with an understanding of the history, culture and ethics of the not-for-profit sector, the graduates take away skills that encourage life-long learning.

An essential part of the Trust’s sponsorship funding is the pastoral care Fraser provides. He calls it “creating a whanau”, with support during the enrolment process, academic support between papers and extra tutorials in a stand-alone study group.