Programs in Development

THE SCHOOL OF LEADERSIP AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

In 1981 WBSI created the highly regarded School of Management and Strategic Studies, the first program ever to employ online distance education, thereby launching this now burgeoning field.

For over a decade the SMSS brought together senior executives from all areas of the economy, and a faculty consisting of outstanding educators and researchers—the SMSS. Together they created a powerful network of leaders communicating in relevant, detailed, thoughtful, and personal ways.

In times of uncertainty and crisis, new leadership approaches are vitally necessary. WBSI believes that now is the time to bring back a newly designed version of the SMSS to address the challenges facing the global community, both economically and socially. With an innovative new curriculum, and a faculty made up, once again, of the top leaders in their fields, the new SMSS will once again make available the wisdom of these leaders to a new generation of senior executives whose actions and decisions will shape the future.

THE CENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION

WBSI has long been dedicated to the belief that an innovative new design of the education system is crucial. In order to serve the students and the communities in which they live, bold and creative steps need to be undertaken at every level of educational endeavor.

The Center for the Future of Education is the instrument with which the Institute hopes to address the various problems that have been troublesome, ignored, or not generally recognized for decades. Among the goals of the Center will be to form task forces made up of key leaders in the educational field, and to design research and development programs to address the challenges facing our educational system today. Because of WBSI's history as pioneers in the field of online distance education, this is the area where we will first concentrate our efforts.

The deliberations and findings of the Task Forces and the results of the research and development projects will be distributed to policy makers and the public with the goal of effecting positive changes in the educational system.

THE DESIGN LEADERSHIP FORUM

The Design Leadership Forum will be composed entirely of eminent leaders focusing on the future of architecture and design. Drawn from many fields, and meeting in residential gatherings, with a continuing Internet discussion to intensify and deepen the deliberations, DLF Fellows will examine the role of design in building a better world. They will analyze the global needs for design intervention, the potential contribution design professions can make to meet those needs, the changing economic and social context in which design professions operate, the relevant scientific and technological advances that could shape new methods of design, the new media that could extend the reach and power of the design professions, and creative approaches to overcoming barriers to change.

Their deliberations will be constantly guided by the intent to bring about the policies and practices necessary to take the professions of architecture and design to new heights of achievement.