Last month, we talked about the ridiculous lack of formal education available to prepare students for the nonprofit sector -- and I, of course, discovered that some students right here at the University of Minnesota made a huge change in the right direction. After reading more about the process these students went through and the ultimate creation of an undergrad public/nonprofit management program, I figured I couldn't do this discussion justice. Enter, Eric, one of the dedicated students who made it happen. Welcome to It's All Good!
About
My name is Eric Larsen, and I am happily approaching the uncertainty of post-college life as of a few days ago. :) My passions are serving others, traveling, building relationships, and experiencing different cultures. I hope to be continually challenged and never stop learning. My life is about discovery, which I periodically blog about here. Please contact me at ericplarsen@gmail.com if you want to continue the conversation. A big thank you to Kate for inviting me to her blog!
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Our society is built around systems. These systems allow us to ‘govern’ our citizens, ‘care’ for our sick, and ‘educate’ our youth. While they have far-reaching capabilities to bring about societal-wide impact, bringing about real change within these systems has proven nearly impossible and/or unbelievably slow. We are all aware of how special interest groups and corporations are replacing the voice of change of citizens, how HMO’s and insurance companies have a grip on our health care system, and how the bureaucratic politics of school districts and universities compromise the attention that students deserve.
Over the last few years, I have dedicated much of what I will call my ‘informal education’ to two main areas of focus: the effectiveness of our education systems and the efficiency of our nonprofit sector. Through internships, volunteering, reading articles, research-action road trips, and other methods of experiential learning outside of the classroom, I am developing a beginner’s expertise in these fields. But what if I wanted to study these at a more professional and in-depth level as an undergraduate? While the graduate school level offers programs such as a Masters in Education or a Masters in Public Policy, there are simply no undergraduate level program equivalents available in these fields of education and nonprofit administration. Our education system is continually requiring more and more layers of degrees to enter interesting professions of public service; therefore reducing the actual time that talented people spend making a difference. If we could find more efficient ways to prepare students as undergraduates for these fields of work, wouldn’t that be a good thing?
This is exactly the thought I was having as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota while studying Finance at the Carlson School of Management. I was starting to engage in nonprofit sector work though a youth leadership and service organization called Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF), and my desire to learn about this sector was not being fulfilled by my formal education. A fellow Finance major Brian Peterson, also involved in STLF, was having similar thoughts so we decided to take action. We wanted to bring an undergraduate nonprofit major to the Carlson School, and in doing so we challenged the bureaucracy and politics we had no idea existed at the university level.
The crazy thing about these bureaucracies is that even when idea is justifiable and all the resources are in place, implementation can face great resistance. This is what we encountered with our idea to bring a formal nonprofit major to one of the Midwest’s premiere business schools. The idea was justifiable for reasons we would continually cite: the nationwide and statewide nonprofit sectors are healthy and effective in addressing society’s social issues and in contributing to the economy (they employ 10% of Minnesota’s workforce); the nonprofit sector is in need of future leaders (Over the next decade nonprofits will need to find some 640,000 new executives, nearly two and a half times the number currently employed according to The Bridgespan Group); and the University of Minnesota is attempting to be known for its service and business innovation according to new strategic positioning outlined by President Bob Bruininks. We knew the resources, teachers, and classes were already in place because both Brian & I were self-designing majors in nonprofit management by combining classes from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs with entrepreneurial-focused classes through Carlson. To us the solution was simple; all it would take to create an official major for undergraduates was some formal collaboration among these two schools.
After a four-month process of writing a proposal, soliciting the input of faculty, and gathering nonprofit community support as outlined by this recent MinnPost article, Brian & I successfully organized an initiative that led to the implementation of the Public/Nonprofit Management major last Fall. Many faculty members commented that push for the major had to come from students because of the complex political structures among the upper-ranks of school leadership. To this day, few outside the initiative actually know that students drove the proposal, and that’s the way Brian & I like it.
That’s because the idea of a nonprofit major has more to do with the potential impact on the local nonprofit sector than personal legacy at our alma mater. If current trends continue, the importance of nonprofit organizations will only grow as they replace social services cut by governments and create new and innovative strategies to address social issues. In many respects, the future wellbeing of our society requires that nonprofits are managed effectively and efficiently. While studies have found that nonprofit leaders are more effective than their corporate counterparts, there is no doubt that the systems of accountability do not yet exist within the sector to prevent wastefulness of valuable resources. Unlike in the for-profit sector, where these inefficiencies merely lead to reduced shareholder value, the impacts on nonprofits can be devastating. Nonprofits reported that people they served would “become or remain homeless, go hungry, lose power or heat in their homes, or even face injury or death due to abuse or unmet health and mental health needs” if their programs underwent increased inefficiencies.
However, the outlook for the future is still bright. Within its first year, twenty to thirty students are already pursuing the major, with more to come as the major gains recognition and credibility. More importantly, Carlson is pioneering the major in the hopes that other local and nationally renowned business schools will follow their leadership. The major is just one piece in the overarching goal of engaging more young leaders in the pressing social issues of our society.
There are many intimidating systems within our society in which change is needed, and doing so can seem like a daunting task. But as Brian & I quickly learned, with passion, initiative, and support, systematic change is possible. So as we all make our way into the public service sector and pursue a career in making a difference, we cannot be afraid to take the action that we know is necessary in ensuring a better society for all.
There we are! Great event, great cause.
There's a class for just about everything else -- 
