A four-course graduate certificate for current and aspiring school administrators leading with vision, character, and adaptivity.
The Christian School Administration Certificate (CSAC) is an ICS-issued professional credential designed for current and aspiring school administrators committed to leadership marked by vision, character, and adaptivity.
Through four graduate-level courses, the CSAC equips leaders to cultivate learning communities of belonging rooted in a Christian worldview — developing competencies in governance, finance, team coaching, and community-building. Each course also counts as graduate credit toward the MA-EL or MWS-E.
Required Courses
Complete all four required courses below. One alternate is available as noted.
Explore positional and contributory leadership, algorithmic and heuristic practices, and the work of motivating a group of people to shape what they share — making beneficial change happen and ensuring needed maintenance.
Cultivate your people skills as an administrator. Focus on competencies in having crucial conversations and coaching colleagues for professional development, with opportunities for learning about talent acquisition and employment termination — grounded in meditations on being human and imaging God in the world.
Frameworks and tools for connecting a school's vision with the budgeting process and fundraising. Begins with Henri Nouwen's spirituality of fundraising and continues through financial documents, storytelling through budgets, and working with school boards and staff.
Cultivating Learning Communities of Belonging
Explore school and classroom cultures, including social and cultural contexts, racial justice, Indigenous perspectives, human sexuality, and restorative practices — and how these topics impact and form school and classroom cultures.
For principals, school leadership teams, and school boards. Provides frameworks and tools for educational governance — nurturing stakeholder relationships, stewardship of vision and mission, strategic policy formulation, monitoring executive performance, and accountability to the school community.
Note: How to Govern a School may be taken in place of How to Coach a Strong Team or How to Finance a Vision. All CSAC courses also count as graduate credit toward the MA-EL or MWS-E.
Who Is It For?
The CSAC is designed for current and aspiring school administrators who want to lead with wisdom, vision, and a deeply Christian perspective.
How It Works
The CSAC is administered and issued directly by ICS. Complete four courses and receive your certificate.
Step 1
Register for CSAC courses through the ICS Academic Registrar.
Step 2
Complete all four required courses (one alternate is available).
Step 3
Receive your CSAC from ICS, and continue toward a master's degree if you choose.
Contact the ICS Academic Registrar to register for a course, or explore our degree programs to see how the CSAC can serve as your gateway to a master's degree.