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Engagements built for the work, not the website.

Most institutions know the kind of help they need before they know the product to buy. Below are the two ways we work (ongoing retainer or defined project), what each one includes, what each one doesn't, and a pricing reference at the bottom.

Which fits?

Two questions usually settle it.

Choose a project

If there is a specific situation with a defined endpoint: one dispute, one transition, one workshop, one report. The scope is the deliverable and you know when "done" looks like.

Choose subscription

If the need is recurring rather than acute. If you'd benefit from a confidential thinking partner across multiple situations through the year. If you want the option to redirect hours when something unexpected comes up.

Project engagements

For defined scopes.

One dispute, one transition, one workshop, one report. Each comes with a written scope, a defined endpoint, and a fixed price.

Conflict Resolution Program

Project

Structured intervention that begins with discovery interviews, moves through facilitated conversation, and ends with a written recommendation the institution can act on. Most engagements close in four to eight weeks.

Includes

  • Discovery interviews (typically 6 to 12)
  • Document and policy review
  • Facilitated conversation(s) with parties
  • Written recommendation and next steps
  • Optional follow-through with leadership

Best for

A dispute that has stopped resolving itself, particularly when prior internal attempts have not held.

Sample engagement

A department chair and a senior faculty member have stopped speaking. Engagement runs 6 weeks: discovery (weeks 1 and 2), mediation sessions (weeks 3 to 5), written close-out (week 6).

From $6,500 / engagement

Coaching Intensive

Project

Built around a specific transition or challenge rather than open-ended development. Sessions are weekly or biweekly, the engagement has a defined endpoint, and the work centers on concrete situations.

Includes

  • Weekly or biweekly 45-minute sessions
  • Defined endpoint (typically 3 or 6 months)
  • Focus on a specific transition, role, or situation
  • Written session summaries when useful
  • Confidential by default

Best for

A newly appointed chair entering year one, a dean stepping into a larger school, a director navigating a contentious reorg.

Sample engagement

A new chair signs a 3-month intensive: 6 sessions, weekly, focused on personnel decisions in the first semester.

From $4,500 / 3-month block

Leadership Workshop

Project

Half-day to two-day sessions designed against a specific need: a cohort of new chairs, a leadership team mid-reorganization, a group of associate deans developing into deans. Off-the-shelf content adapted nowhere.

Includes

  • Pre-engagement scoping interviews
  • Custom materials and case studies
  • Live facilitation (in person or virtual)
  • Post-session written summary
  • Optional one follow-up session

Best for

Cohort transitions, leadership team kickoffs, or topics the institution wants treated together.

Sample engagement

A school onboards 8 newly elected chairs with a full-day workshop, custom-built around the school's own handbook and recent decisions.

From $3,500 / half-day

Climate Audit

Project

Confidential interviews, document review, and a written report with prioritized recommendations. Not an investigation. A climate read. Useful when leadership senses something is off but the symptoms are diffuse.

Includes

  • Confidential interview protocol (8 to 20 participants)
  • Document and policy review
  • Synthesis and prioritized findings
  • Written report with recommendations
  • Optional read-out to leadership

Best for

A department where leadership senses persistent friction but hasn't decided whether a formal process is warranted.

Sample engagement

A dean commissions a 6-week climate read on a 25-faculty department, with confidential interviews and a 6-page report.

From $9,500 / engagement

Subscription engagements

For institutions with ongoing needs.

A steady drumbeat of coaching, advisory calls, and intervention, billed monthly, reviewed quarterly. Hours roll over within the quarter and reset at the start of each one.

Basic

Subscription

Most often used by deans' offices and provost teams who want regular access to outside judgment without committing to a major engagement. Hours roll across coaching, advisory calls, policy interpretation, or short interventions.

Includes

  • Monthly allocation of consulting hours
  • Use across coaching, conflict resolution, or advisory calls
  • Email and scheduled-call access during business hours
  • Quarterly review and adjustment

Best for

Smaller deans' offices or a chair with a recurring need for a confidential thinking partner.

Sample engagement

A dean of a 40-faculty college uses 6 hours/month: 2 hours coaching with the dean, 2 hours coaching a chair, 2 hours on ad-hoc policy questions.

From $2,750 / month

Preferred

Subscription

For larger units, periods of transition, or institutions where coaching and conflict-work flow steadily. Includes priority scheduling and the option of on-site visits when the situation calls for it.

Includes

  • Larger monthly hour allocation
  • Priority scheduling against same-day requests
  • Optional quarterly on-site visits
  • Written quarterly summary of recurring themes

Best for

Larger schools, a provost's office during a leadership turnover, an institution mid-reorganization.

Sample engagement

A provost's office uses 20 hours/month across coaching for three chairs, one ongoing climate read, and standing advisory calls with the chief HR officer.

From $5,000 / month

What an engagement looks like

A typical six-week conflict-resolution scope.

Every engagement is different, but most conflict-resolution programs follow this rhythm. Coaching and workshop engagements use a similar opening + middle + closing structure.

  1. Week 0

    Discovery call & scope

    30-minute call, written scope within 48 hours, signed scope before any work begins. No work happens until the scope is signed.

  2. Weeks 1 to 2

    Discovery interviews

    Confidential interviews with 6 to 12 participants. Document and handbook review in parallel. No interpretation shared yet.

  3. Week 3

    Synthesis

    Internal synthesis: what's actually going on, what the handbook says, what prior decisions have looked like. No client-facing meeting this week unless requested.

  4. Weeks 4 to 5

    Facilitated conversation(s)

    One or two structured conversations with the parties. Format depends on what the discovery surfaced: sometimes joint, sometimes shuttle.

  5. Week 6

    Written close-out

    A short written summary: what was discussed, what was agreed, what next steps the institution may want to take. Engagement closes.

Pricing

Plain numbers.

Starting points by engagement. Final pricing depends on scope and is confirmed in writing before any engagement begins. We don't negotiate on price; we adjust scope.

EngagementStarting at
Conflict Resolution ProgramFrom $6,500 / engagement
Coaching IntensiveFrom $4,500 / 3-month block
Leadership WorkshopFrom $3,500 / half-day
Climate AuditFrom $9,500 / report
Subscription · BasicFrom $2,750 / month
Subscription · PreferredFrom $5,000 / month

Travel costs for on-site work are billed at cost with prior approval.

Invoices are issued monthly for subscriptions and at scope-signing for projects (50% on signing, 50% on close-out for projects over $5,000).

What's not in scope

Said up front, not after the engagement starts.

  • Legal representation

    FFS is a consulting practice, not a law firm. We don't represent the institution in litigation, arbitration, or state-agency proceedings.

  • Title IX / harassment investigations

    Formal investigations are a specialized practice with separate certifications and legal obligations. We refer them out and can work alongside the investigator on the leadership side.

  • Partisan advocacy

    Engagements where one party expects FFS to advocate against another aren't a fit. We work as a neutral, or not at all.

  • Performance reviews

    Evaluating someone else's people is the institution's work. We'll coach the person doing the review, but we won't author it.

Engagement questions

Common questions about how this actually works.

Can a subscription convert to a project mid-engagement?
Yes, and it often does. If something acute surfaces during a subscription, we'll scope it as a separate project so the boundaries (and the price) are clear. The subscription hours don't get raided to cover an unbounded project.
What happens if we run out of hours in a subscription month?
Hours roll across the quarter, so a heavy month gets evened out by a lighter one. If you're genuinely going over for the quarter, we'll talk about either adjusting the tier or scoping additional work. We never silently bill against an unbounded retainer.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes, when requested, and we have a standard mutual NDA we're happy to share if the institution doesn't have a preferred form. Confidentiality is the default whether or not paper is exchanged.
Can you scale up if multiple engagements run at once?
FFS is intentionally a small practice. For most institutions that's a feature: you get continuity of thinking. If parallel work would exceed reasonable capacity, we'll tell you up front and either stagger the start dates or refer the second engagement.
How does pricing change for international engagements?
The same rate card applies for institutions in Europe; invoicing is in USD or EUR by agreement. Travel costs for on-site work are billed at cost with prior approval.
Can the institution see what's discussed in a coaching session?
No. Coaching is confidential by default. The institution pays for the engagement but doesn't see the content. We can structure a coaching engagement with explicit reporting if both parties agree in writing, but that's an exception, not a default.

Not sure which fits?

Book a 30-minute scoping call.

We'll figure out together whether subscription or project is the right shape, and tell you plainly if neither one is.

Book a scoping callOr read about the practice