UNH Launches Programs to Train Next Gen Executives

Talking to human resources directors at state agencies, nonprofits and private companies, Daniel McCarthy kept hearing the same concern: Boomers are retiring in a few short years, leaving many CEO and top management positions open, and HR directors are worried those next in line aren't ready. So McCarthy, director of executive development programs at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of NH, led a team to create new training programs.

Starting this year, the college will offer two four-and-a-half-day open enrollment programs for individuals interested in entering senior leadership: The UNH Next Level Executive Development Program and the Women's Leadership Development Program. Both courses cost $4,500 and will be offered twice this year. They will be capped at 30 students to ensure time for individual attention.

These programs build on the 10 to 20 customized executive management programs the school designs for individual businesses each year, including BAE Systems in Nashua and Velcro in Manchester.

The challenge for custom programs is you have to be a certain size company to have those programs and be able to afford them. You look at New Hampshire and there are a lot of small businesses that we just weren't able to reach, says McCarthy. UNH is looking into scholarships for nonprofit leaders. UNH graduates will receive 10 percent off.

Both classes include panel discussions, speakers and small group sessions. The UNH Next Level Executive Development Program, geared to recently or soon-to-be promoted executives, covers strategic thinking, executive presentation skills and leading change. The Women's Leadership Development Program, aimed at established executives, focuses on challenges women face including finding female mentors in leadership and overcoming gender biases.

Both programs will be taught at the new Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, set to open this year, in furtherance of its vision of bringing students and entrepreneurs together to network and share knowledge. The Paul College is designed to leadership training, McCarthy says. These rooms are smaller, have more comfortable chairs and feel more like a boardroom as opposed to a classroom, says McCarthy.

McCarthy hopes to develop two new programs annually. For more information, visit wsbe.unh.edu/executive-development-programs.