| |
Dain Rauscher,
Incorporated - "One Step Further"
Dain Rausher is one of the nation's top investment banking
firms for public schools, grades K-12. Dain Rauscher
assists school districts in raising capital, primarily
through issuing general obligation bonds, backed by the
full faith, credit, and taxing authority of the district.
The capital raised by Dain Rauscher generally is used
for the construction of new school or administration
facilities, or the remodeling and expansion of these
facilities.
We have worked closely with the Denver offices of Dain
Rauscher since 1994. During that period of time, Dain
has taken over first-place among all investment banking
firms serving the highly competitive Colorado school
market. The partnership of HRC and Dain Rauscher in serving
Colorado schools is unique and now other investment banking
firms are scrambling to emulate our success.
Dain Rauscher's secret is using HRC and local political
consultants to provide election services as well as financial
advice and services to districts. For instance, when
a public referendum is necessary to approve a financing
plan for a school district, Dain and its partners can
assist in the analysis of data and the development of
research-based strategies for educating the district's
voting constituency. Dain Rauscher calls their strategy
the "One Step Further" approach that maintains
their traditional role as bankers, but enhances and broadens
their services to client school districts.
Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets – Teaching
the Art of Leadership
At a school that reveres its traditions, no tradition
of Texas A&M eclipses that offered by the Texas Aggie
Corps of Cadets. But during Texas A&M University's
explosive growth of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Corps
found itself on the wane. Smaller percentages of freshmen
were joining the Corps of Cadets and the drop-out rate
was growing. While overall university enrollment was
soaring past 35,000 and headed toward 40,000, participation
in the Corps was declining in absolute numbers. Some
observers wondered if the Corps would survive intact.
Hill Research Consultants was hired in early 1993 to
scope out the situation to determine if the Corps' fortunes
could be reversed. Interviews were conducted with virtually
every relevant party: active Corps members, Corps dropouts,
A&M students who were not Corps members, parents
of prospective A&M students, prospective students
themselves, and faculty and administrators. The research
identified five primary problems facing the Corps, two
related to recruitment of new members and three related
to retention of existing cadets.
The final report by HRC enumerated 14 specific recommendations.
One of these recommendations was to enhance the leadership
development qualities among Corps members. Happily, the
leadership of the Corps embraced the report and its findings,
instituting a broad range of revised policies and procedures.
The results have been astounding. The Corps of Cadets
once again began growing and now more than 2,000 of A&M's
40,000-plus students are members of the Corps of Cadets.
A proud tradition has been preserved.
back |
