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??? Frequently Asked Questions ???
What would you like to know about The Aspen Group International?
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What type of clients do you serve? |
Does The Aspen Group have a specialty that distinguishes it from other similar organizations? |
Why are you so high on Policy Governance? |
Why school boards? |
Have you worked with any very large (or very small) organizations? |
Who actually does Aspen's work? |
Do the two of you always work together? |
What is the cost of your services? |
What are your business hours? |
Where are you located? |
How do I contact you? |
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| Q: |
What type of clients do you serve? |
| A: |
Virtually all our clients are government or non-profit boards and their CEOs. We occasionally accept engagements with related entities, but in all instances our work focuses on top-level organizational performance.
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| Q: |
Does The Aspen Group have a specialty that distinguishes it from other similar organizations? |
| A: |
We specialize in serving clients who choose to move into Policy Governance®, John Carver's governance model. A substantial portion of our work is with public school boards, although we enjoy and do work with other types of government and non-profit organizations as well.
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| Q: |
Why are you so high on Policy Governance? |
| A: |
Between the Aspen partners, we have more than 50 years' experience in working with boards to help them perform better. Policy Governance is the most logical, most promising "system" of governence we have found. It is the only model we know of that embodies all the elements that both boards and organizations need to perform to their highest level of effectiveness. After years of frustration trying in traditional ways to help boards produce lasting systemic improvement, we discovered Policy Governance, and we now are convinced that the model is by far the best means for boards to create and sustain a meaningful new culture for themselves and their organizations. It is the only governing system that makes sense to us.
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| Q: |
Why school boards? |
| A: |
School boards present a special governance challenge: they usually are political, the organizations they serve are usually very complex, they account for substantial amounts of public revenue, and the clients they serve--children--are of top concern to the public whose tax dollars pay for schools' services. We believe the performance of these supremely important boards must be excellent and properly focused, or else the performance of the the organizations they govern and the children they serve will suffer. Both of us have come from careers in the field, and understand well both the challenges faced by school boards and the solutions to them.
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| Q: |
Have you worked with any very large (or very small) organizations? |
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We have served clients with annual budgets ranging from $200,000 to more than $1 billion, from employing fewer than 10 employees to more than 25,000. This we have discovered over and over: regardless of the size or complexity of the organization, or even its type, a board is a board. All have unique challenges, and all these unique characteristics must be understood and accommodated. But when the issues that face boards are reduced to their lowest common denominator, there are many more commonalities among boards than there are differences.
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| Q: |
Who actually does Aspen's work? |
| A: |
Most of our work is performed by our two principals, Linda J. Dawson, President, and Dr. Randy Quinn, Founding Partner. Linda is based in Philadelphia, and Randy works out of Aspen's Castle Rock, Colorado office. In rare instances, depending on the nature of the work and Aspen's obligations at the time, associates are utilized. In all instances, Aspen associates are superbly qualified and skilled in the areas in which they perform.
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| Q: |
Do the two of you always work together? |
| A: |
It depends on the nature of the work. For more complex projects, we try to work as a team. We have found that our very different styles strengthen the quality of our work with clients, who actually are the beneficiaries of that tag-team approach. While one of us facilitates the discussion, the other usually records or inputs the product of that discussion, allowing us to leave a finished document of the work as the session ends.
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| Q: |
What is the cost of your services? |
| A: |
Aspen charges fixed fees for all its services, which in some cases vary based on the size, type and complexity of the organization: large, more complex organizations are more difficult and challenging than smaller, less complex ones. For all work performed on a daily-fee basis, our current charge is $4,500, plus expenses. However, most of our work is priced by project, rather than by day. Project work is priced individually based on the foregoing considerations.
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What are your business hours? |
| A: |
Our business hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 am-5:00 pm Mountain Time
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| Q: |
Where are you located? |
| A: |
Aspen Group offices are located in Denver's southern suburbs. Our address is:
The Aspen Group International
P.O. Box 1777
Castle Rock, Colorado
80104 USA
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| Q: |
How do I contact you? |
| A: |
Simply complete the form below or call us at:
303.882.9888 or 303.478.0125 or fax us at 208-247-6084.
Our e-mail address is aspen@aspengroup.org
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