Bishop Dunne is the only one that offers a high quality education in a catholic environment with a rigorous curriculum

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIn that area, among five schools listed as unacceptable, Bishop Dunne is the only one thatoffers a high quality education in a catholic environment with a rigorous curriculum.One objective of Embracing Our Mission ~ Shaping Our Future is to assert our rightful place asthe standard-bearers for Catholic education in the United States by providing the financialsupport needed to realize the goals of the Catholic Schools’ Strategic Plan. The Plan seeks totransform our schools by creating a system that meets the overall needs of today’s students andanticipates those of the children of tomorrow. This plan consists of a number of factorsincluding New Academic and Leadership Initiatives, Tuition Assistance, and Facilities Upgrades.INTRODUCTIONHistoryEstablished in 1961, Bishop Dunne Catholic School (Dunne) began under the name Our Ladyof Good Counsel High School. The Sisters of St. Mary of Namur had established two girls’ highschools in Dallas, TX; Our Lady of Good Counsel Academy and St. Edward’s Academy. At therequest of the Diocese of Dallas, the Sisters agreed to close the two high schools and invitestudents from them to be part of a new entity, a diocesan sponsored high school. The Sistersagreed to continue staffing the girls’ section of the institution, while the Brothers of the SacredHeart were invited to staff the boys’ section of the school. The school opened with theaccreditation and as a continuation of Our Lady of Good Counsel, although boys were nowwelcome. In 1963, the name of the school was officially changed to Bishop Dunne in honor ofBishop Edward Joseph Dunne, the second Bishop of Dallas. In 1969, the school officiallybecame coeducational.PresentToday, Dunne is recognized as a top college preparatory middle/high school in the Oak Cliffarea. It is the only Catholic school with grades 6 through 12 to hold an exemplary accreditationrating from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and by the TexasCatholic Conference Education Department (TCCED). The administration consists of 51.5faculty members; 11 admin; 5 support staff; 6.5 office staff; 3 maintenance personnel; 3guidance counselors and 4 advancement staff. As of the 2014-2015 school year, approximately604 students joined Bishop Dunne’s alumni in receiving an unparalleled learning experience.FutureDunne aspires to be recognized as an elite school in the United States by creating a system thatmeets the overall needs of today’s students and anticipates those of the children of tomorrow.With the Business Plan, Dunne expects a strengthen alliance with Notre Dame. This alliancewill increase competitiveness while strategic planning will build self-sufficiency.Dunne has graduated 100% of its seniors since 2001 and all move forward with secondaryeducation with several qualifying for merit based scholarships. This is a testament of thecommitment and dedication by Dunne and its faculty to be a school of excellence with a strongfocus on its mission, Catholic identity and academic distinction. Dunne has injected hope andpurpose into the lives of countless students and will reach thousands more.Mission and ValuesDunne was created with a vision to equip and empower students of diverse backgrounds withthe scholastic tools and spiritual foundation to achieve excellence in leadership, integrity, andpurpose. Dunne continually achieves its mission by being an inclusive school. A commonmisconception is that "inclusion" means the placement of students with disabilities in generaleducation classes. Inclusion means they have incorporated fundamental change in the way theschool community supports and addresses the individual needs of each child. Dunne hascreated an environment in which every student, including those who do not have disabilities,has the opportunity to flourish at their own pace.One of the most important principles of inclusive education is that no two learners are alike, andso great emphasis is placed on creating opportunities for students to learn and be assessed in avariety of ways. The faculty considers a range of learning modalities (visual, auditory,kinesthetic, etc.) when designing group or individual instruction. In inclusive schools, theestablishment of such a climate benefits everyone by fostering an environment where studentsand their families are valued exactly for who they are.ENGAGEMENTPurposeThe University of Dallas’ Summer 2015 Capstone class was engaged to develop a businessplan to express a purpose in a way that translates into results. Dunne has taken steps toimprove its brand. However, without a solid roadmap for direction, the school is facingchallenges. In an effort to gain traction, Dunne hopes to gain market share by capitalizing on itsalliance with the University of Notre Dame. Since 1994, the school has forged a closerelationship with Notre Dame, working in partnership to form teaching professionals through theAlliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. Dunne has helped graduate the largest numberof Notre Dame ACE students in the country. Furthermore, several ACE graduates elect toremain with Dunne upon graduation. This alliance has led to an increased acceptance andattendance of Dunne students year over year at Notre Dame. Before granting permission to usethe fighting irish monika, Notre Dame wishes to review Dunne’ business plan.ExpectationThe consultants have agreed to include the following within the Plan: deficit management(including accounts receivable), strategy for student enrollment expansion, and a five-yearfinancial budget. The plan will also include the school’s mission, vision, marketing, goals, andaction plans. These main elements will provide direction to the school community for the nextfive years and assist in aligning Dunne’s goals within its financial capacity.ExecutionThe research performed on Dunne was qualitative and quantitative. The most significantinformation came from the primary source in the form of a tour of the facilities and by conductinga structured interview with the Principle, Kate Dailey and CFO, Dwayne Freisen. The tourprovided first hand access to the environment in which the school operates, proving helpful inscanning for opportunities to evaluate costs related to renovations and the benefits in whichthey serve. The structured interview allowed the consultants to gather and analyze primary data,specifically financial needs and compliance requirements to operate a school in the state ofTexas. Further research was conducted through examination of Dunne’s website and Wikipediapage. Use of these websites provided a host of information including history, culture,networking, and pricing.Further, a contrast and comparison was done on six institutions across the country. Aquestionnaire was created and given to the schools via telephone calls, email, and physicalinterview. In addition, independent assessments were conducted on the institutions from variousresources to examine how these institutions have transitioned weaknesses into strengths. Thisallowed the consultants to gather information on past alternatives that were implemented byother schools in the country when faced with financial constraints. Along with the five privateCatholic Schools, information was gathered from the University of Dallas’ International Office toobtain information on how to initiate an international student program. Majority of the informationwas gathered from www.http://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/schools.In preparing the five year budget, secondary research was used pertaining to past historicalfinancial data. The historical data was then used to construct a five year budget based onassumptions of future costs, future cash inflows, and past historical trends. In addition tocreating a budget, A website design company(http://bleudesigns.com/) was contacted for arequest for pricing on enhancing and maintaining the current website.ENGAGEMENT FULFILLMENTThe great diversity of Dunne families reflects the face of modern America: the student body andfaculty encompasses a wide range of ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic status. Dunne isextraordinarily successful in making a difference in the lives of students, especially low incomechildren at risk of not graduating by ensuring college readiness, college acceptance, and collegesuccess. The effectiveness of the program is evidenced by an increase in the number ofstudents enrolled in the Advanced Placement classes, and students’ improved scores in APexams. Advanced Placement, ACT, and SAT scores are well above the national norms,especially for African-American and Hispanic students.However, this success has come at a significant cost. Of the 604 students enrolled,approximately 50% of the students receive tuition assistance. This is driven by the fact that thepercentage of Dallas residents living below the poverty line grew from 18 percent in 2004 to 24percent in 2014, and household income in Dallas grew at 1.6 percent compared to the stateaverage of 2.6 percent. Financial need for Dunne families has grown to $3 million compared tothe $1.6 million distributed in 2014-2015 and many Dunne families have very limited resourcesto contribute to annual funds and campaigns. Through this time, Dunne has continued to standby its mission by offering students a chance to succeed while digging a deeper financial hole.The middle school tuition rate is $11,200 per year while the high school tuition rate is $14,330.For some families, this amount is greater than 50% of their annual salary. To combat thedeficit, Dunne has attempted to fundraise the shortfall. While successful in 2014, the results ofprevious years have resulted in an operating loss – which is unsustainable. It is obvious, aresiliency plan is necessary for stability and operational efficiency purposes. To achieve this,Dunne must effectively manage its finances, optimize revenue steams,understand the marketdemand, and explore options for student enrollment expansion.Financial Management: Accounts ReceivableDunne must confront its accounts receivable problem for the school’s survival and continuedsuccess. The overall challenge is that the school seeks to remain inclusive and mission drivenwhile business operations do not seem to be a priority. To fully optimize the mission, it mustoperate effectively and tackle its weaknesses or there may no longer be a school with a missionto promote.A lagging accounts receivable contributes to an enormous part of the deficit – the school’saccounts receivable turnover rate of 3.77 or 97 days reflects Dunne’s inefficiency in collectionefforts. Approximately 92% of the aging accounts receivable is more than 60 to 90 days. Thishas led to insufficient cash flow. While Dunne has been immensely successful in grant writing,it is equally important to maintain a strong financial position should a need for commercialborrowing arise. Late payments on tuition should be disincentivized by tacking on daily fees atan absorbent rate such as $25 per day. In addition, Dunne can implement a more effectivetuition and fees collection policy through incentives. Timely payment can be encouraged onterms such as 10/15 net 30. Offering discount options would improve the cash flow for Dunneand improve the accounts receivable turnover rate. It is important to understand this becauseonce an account receivable account becomes delinquent for 120 days, the chances of collectionare significantly reduced.As enrollment rises, the need for tuition assistance has increased exponentially. And beingmission driven, Dunne stands to its social ideology by assisting those in need. During the2010-2011 school year, accounts receivable rose from $161,752 to $1,039,364. This drasticincrease was caused mainly due to a policy change in billing practices, however it highlights thedemand by families of Dunne students. Presently, tuition assistance is serviced through a thirdparty financing agreement in which monthly installments are paid. The application fee for thisservice is $50 per student which is well below market rate. Since there is a constant financialneed by families to attend Dunne, the application fee rate should be a minimum of $100.Assuming 50 percent, or 302 students apply for financial assistance, an extra $15,000 a yearcould be raised. These funds could be used to reduce the deficit or redistributed asscholarships.Financial Management: Cost ControlDunne’s community is a sanctuary for faculty and staff to celebrate faith and perform faithfulacts of service. As a result of uncontrollable circumstances, Dunne administrators have madegrave sacrifices to maintain a sound educational environment with high academic standards.For three of the last four years, salaries have been frozen and the school had the lowest teacherattribution in the diocese. In order to compete within targeted labor markets to achieve businesssuccess, the school must allocate a reasonable salary that won’t have a negative impact on thedeficit but articulates Dunne’s strategy to attract, retain, and productively employ talentedpersonnel.In 2013, Bishop Dunne Catholic School received a $6.7 million grant from Bishop Kevin Farrell.The school used the donation to renovate infrastructure including a completely new HVACsystem. The intent of the new HVAC system was to reduce energy costs and improve overalloperational efficiency of the building. However, the outdated single-pane aluminum windowscaused a continuous fluctuation in temperature throughout the building. The result has been agreater usage of the new HVAC system and significantly increased energy costs. Each dollarspent on increased electrical costs eliminates utilization of those funds elsewhere. The cost toreplace all windows is estimated to be $1 million dollars. For effective cost control, it is vital forDunne to prioritize window replacement since replacement will decrease utility expense by 15%.Revenue Streams: Community RewardsRevenue Streams: NetworkingHistorically, Dunne has failed to focus on generating Income from various sources. Continuousstreams of revenue will help tremendously in building reserves to ultimately fund deferredprojects, overhead costs, and fulfill other commitments. Dunne can generate additional revenueby leaning on its alumni association, hosting social events and through intelligent marketingtechniques. Capital will be required to initiate the process however once cash inflow begins itwill become a vital component of Dunne’s success.First and foremost, a significant portion of capital – an estimated $30,000 – is needed on anoverhaul of the school’s website. Bleudesigns.com reviewed Dunne’s website on our behalf andissued it a C grading. In their research of social media traffic, Dunne had a total of 33 sharesbroken down as follow: 24 facebook, 3 Twitter, and 6 LinkedIn. In today’s environment awebsite visit and social media feeds are considered the “first impression.” Thus it is necessaryfor the website to capture a vistors attention through use of graphics and/or music that expressthe school’s mission, theme, and culture while subtly informing users they are “missing out.”Current students, potential students, and alumni should feel informed and want to stayconnected.Networking opportunities must be strategic. Events should be highlighted on the website – bothon the main page and alumni section, announced through various media outlines, and insurrounding Catholic churches. Ice cream socials are a good technique to refresh parents andpotential students in the spring and summer months and come at a reasonable price for thehost. Other options include offering community career day, professional skills, parents day out,community picnics and entrepreneurship seminars. These suggestions generate traffic whileincreasing visibility. Through that exposure, increased donations, sponsors, and enrollment aresure to follow.Compare and ContrastAlthough, compared to other competitor of other Catholic schools, Bishop Dunne has built itsadvantages in South Dallas, the school also can learn other innovative methods that otherschools have been adopted in conquering financial challenges.One of our recommendation that we would provide is to adopt work study program which CristoRey Network has been carried for years. Cristo Rey’s business model has proven to be aneffective way to fulfill and sustain its operations without receiving any government funding forschool operations(WSJ, 2010). In 2013-2014, students attended Cristo Rey Network earned$44 million toward their education (Cristo Rey, 2015). Under the Corporate Work Study Program(CWSP), the school will provide students with various types of professional jobs, such asaccounting, bank, human resources, and etc. Students will learn on the jobs, gaining knowledgeand experiences accordingly. Most importantly, students earn money to support their study.Although families contribute to the cost of education, students can earn close to 60% of the costof education by participating the CWSP. Parents pay less than 10%. The CWSP pay goestoward school costs, and the tuitions are often less than $100 a month for those most in need,which helps Cristo Rey keep tuition low (The Dallas Morning News, 2013).International Student RecruitmentInternational students—Lily (why)Increasing student enrollment is the best solution to improve revenue streams. According to theInstitute of International Education (IIE) study on international secondary students, in 2014 therewas an incremental increase on international student enrollment throughout the world. TheUnited States (U.S.) is one of the most desired destination country. By attending secondaryeducational institutions in the US, international students are better prepared in academics,language, and cultural skills for postsecondary study (U.S. News, 2012). In October 2013 therewere 73,019 international students pursuing a secondary-level education in the U.S., with48,632 or 67 percent of these enrolled for a full diploma, and 33 percent enrolled in exchangeprograms (IIE, 2014). The majority of these international students originated from China, SouthKorea, and Germany, which constitute 32.3%, 12% and 9.8% respectively for secondaryeducations in 2013.Given the visa restrictions of SEVP, the home school, public elementary and/or middle school,and some type of publicly funded adult education program are not eligible to apply for the SEVPcertification to enroll international students with F or M visa. Also, current U.S. visa policiesrestrict F-1 students to no more than one year of study in public schools (IIE, 2014). It indicatesthat private schools have great opportunities of enrolling international students who normallyhave long-term goals and will study in U.S. for multiple years. In 2014, the number ofinternational students enrolled directly in U.S. secondary programs more than tripled from fall2004 to fall 2013 (SEVP, 2013). Among them, about 95% of the international students choose toattend private schools (IIE, 2014).For private schools facing declining enrollments or financial challenges, the tuition-payinginternational students will help to provide supplemental income. It will generate cultural andeconomic benefits not only for the school but also the communities that host internationalstudents. International students are paying more than domestic students. Depending on locationand school type, tuition rates at private schools vary significantly. In 2013, non-religiouslyaffiliated private schools often charges annual tuition for more than $30,000 per year, whilereligiously affiliated schools charge tuitions between $10,000 and $15,000 per year (NationalCenter for Education Statistics, 2013). Take Bishop McDevitt High School for example, in 20152016, they charge international students $9,530 for tuitions and fees, while the amount fordomestic students are about $7,700 per year. Beside higher tuition rate that internationalstudents pay, they are also pay additional fees to agencies, medical care, guardianship while inthe U.S., or supplemental courses in study skills and English language courses, etc.The school’s responsibilities are mainly focuses on students’ performance in school during thewhole process. There are various types of agencies both in origin country and US to affiliateschools to recruit and take care of the students. For example, most schools only acceptinternational high school students through Council on Standards for International EducationalTravel (CSIET), which is a not-for-profit organization committed to quality internationaleducational travel and exchange for youth at the high school level. CSIET-approved agencyworks closely between students and the schools during the whole process with particularstandards for their services. Agencies will be responsible for identify a host family if the schoolsdon’t provide boarding, monitoring students activities both in school and after school, and forproviding all support needed. The agency also coordinates with the family transportationrequirements. The host family works with the agency to monitor the activities of the studentoutside of school, for example, is the student happy in his host family, is the student performingup to expectations in school, is he making friends, is he at ease both at home and in school.The agency will contact both the student and the host family on a regular basis to be sure thatall is going well.Write about esl or toefl- LilyInternational students are also expected to have meet specific application requirements, suchas age, GPA, English language, etc. Different schools may have different standards, but mostU.S. schools accept SLEP (TOEFL Junior test), and TOEFL iBT. Different schools may havevery rigorous requirement on students’ spoken language, as they believe it will affect student’ssuccess in an American upper school or college. Some school requires international students totake ESL classes at a cost beside the regular curriculum. In CIEE high school plus program,there are 53 private day schools. Among them, about 60% schools (32 out of 53) provide ESLclasses, and 40% schools (21 out of 53) don’t. However, there’s no clear correlation betweenoffering ESL class and requirements of SLEP score. Admissions are frequently different case bycase. For example, Bishop McDevitt High School, in addition to the ESL programs offered, eachinternational student must take at least the first five units of Rosetta Stone English, which isconsidered one of the best computer-based language teaching programs. The program is foruse by any person not just students and is available in most languages spoken throughout theworld. International students may prefer the schools that provide more support services.Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certification (how)To recruit international students, an institution must first apply for a Student and ExchangeVisitor Program (SEVP) certification. SEVP certification would allow Dunne to issue Forms I-20,“Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” to prospective international students.Once a Form I-20 is issued, an international student is free to apply for a student visa to enterthe United States.The first step involved in obtaining SEVP certification would require Bishop Dunne filing Form I17, “Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student” and obtaincertification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Form I-17 must be filed in theStudent and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) at a cost of $1,700 per student.Additional processing fees amount to an $655 for DHS officials to perform an on-site audit. Theobjective of the audit is to confirm the following points regarding Dunne and its program:The school is operational and has been instructing students in the courses/programs forwhich it is seeking approval.The school has the necessary facilities, adequate finances and qualified personnelrequired to teach and operate the program.The school meets all state requirements to operate as an institution of learning or isexempt from all such state requirements.The school provides instruction in programs that lead to a degree or a professional,educational or vocational objective.In addition to Form I-17, Dunne would be required to file Form I-17A, “Record of DesignatedSchool Officials”. This form will indicate the designated school officials (DSOs) responsible forissuing I-20’s. It also requires acknowledge that resources and training needed to perform theresponsibilities will be provided. Each individual nominated to be a DSO must sign the Form I17A certifying familiarity with relevant regulat…