You run organizations, we help you do it better.

Led by Dr. Michael A. Harnar, Pointed Arrows Consulting helps organizations improve the work they do.  Dr. Harnar is an accomplished process and evaluation consultant with more than 15 years of experience supporting complex program management and change management initiatives with an emphasis on visioning, outcomes definition, and measurement.  He is adept at working with large organizations on critical efforts involving complex system changes, process design, and review to improve operational efficiencies.  He is collaborative, with highly tuned interpersonal and relationship building skills and the ability to work fluidly across technical and business focused groups at all organizational levels.

Some Recent Projects

• Process Design, Implementation, Improvement, and Management - 

  • For the Teaching and Learning Center at Pasadena City College, Dr. Harnar provided six years of program and organizational development services to an innovative program focused on increasing first generation students’ success in higher education. Dr. Harnar conducted formative and summative evaluations of various first year, career pathway, and STEM programs.  What might have been the most useful was the development and implementation of a data system for collecting and analyzing near-real-time data on student success.  This tool helps program managers make ongoing, data-informed, programmatic adjustments to better meet student needs.

• Strategic Planning -

  • As a Senior Evaluation Specialist with Innovated Consulting, LLC, Dr. Harnar supported the development of the strategic plan for a locomotive cab simulator owned by the Federal Railroad Administration and managed by the Volpe, National Transportation Research Center.

  • Consulting for Pasadena City college, Dr. Harnar worked directly with a group of College leaders, representing programs across the institution, in developing a system to actively describe institutional programs, define assessments of program outcomes, and organize those data for use in the College strategic planning. The new system streamlined and organized the institution planning and program review process, a core component of accreditation.

  • For five years, Dr. Harnar provided strategic leadership and evaluation support to the California Community Colleges Success Network (3CSN) Professional Development Grant, aimed at developing a statewide network of community college basic skills faculty and administrators.  The work focused on building capacity for regional network coordinators, tracking the participant population, GIS mapping of activities, and developing outcome indicators.

• Education and Training - 

  • For Claremont Lincoln University, Dr. Harnar designed and launched a Master of Arts program in Social Impact, which included building the curriculum; aligning student, course, and program outcomes with University outcomes; gathering a pool of highly skilled and knowledgeable faculty; building an international program advisory council; and mentoring the freshman cohort of students through to degree.  During which, the University was acquiring initial accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission and Dr. Harnar developed the Social Impact program strategic vision, goals, and objectives to align with the accreditation criteria. As a member of the University Academic Leadership Team, he also participated in decisions guiding the university education programs.

  • Dr. Harnar is supporting the development of (a) a skills building effort in India, (b) a workshop and certificate for analyzing social impact reporting, and (c) a US-based organization focused on outcome measurement and reporting in the social sector.