Exploring How Academic Deans Establish a Collective Sense of Priorities During the Annual Budget Review

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: Responding to Changing Higher Education Environments

Abstract

In this manuscript, I explore findings from an extensive case study analysis of how six academic deans shape academic priorities during the budget review at a prominent American public research university. I specifically examine the extent to which the profiled deans leverage authorship of an annual budget memorandum for the provost’s office to establish a collective sense of academic priorities among their senior teams. Some deans adopt an inclusive approach to writing the memorandum, distributing authorship, aiming to generate new ideas for priorities and deepen commitments to priorities. In contrast, other deans adopt exclusive approaches to writing the memorandum, dominating authorship or delegating authorship, alienating members of their senior teams and generating sensemaking gaps about academic priorities in their colleges.

Author

• Nathan Harris, University of Rochester