Budget Woes in Higher Education: A Call for Leadership

This article from Academic Leadership: The Online Journal focuses on

how department chairs might manage their dwindling budgets and find new resources to maintain and improve program integrity, to retain and recruit quality faculty, and to attract top students.

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An online survey was designed to collect data about the conditions and the extent of the budget reductions in academic departments across the country. Academic departments that experienced significant budget reductions provided numerical data about the extent of their budget cuts, rated a number of strategies used at their campuses, and elaborated on their answers with written comments to further explain their reactions and how both they and their campus leaders dealt with the budget crisis. The survey included questions on the amount of current and planned budget cuts, the strategies that were being used to address cuts, the effects on programs and faculty morale, and a number of questions about what these academic unit leaders wanted from their campus-wide leaders and what advice they would have to offer to others. A complete list of the questions can be found by accessing the on-line instrument.

The survey was sent via email to approximately 275 participants who had attended the National Academic Department Chairs Conference in Orlando, Florida.

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