Intellectual Transformation and Budgetary Savings Through Academic Reorganization

Using Arizona State University as an exemplar, these authors examine what can be done to impact the entire institution through academic reorganization:

When times are good, there is little urgency to evaluate fundamental assumptions, as investments can be made in new projects and structures while the old continue. Constrained resources do not allow this luxury. The current economic crisis and associated budget woes in universities requires us to be open to more radical and rapid change than we are used to. What follows is a description of a method to transform the academic organization of the university to fit the current mode of intellectual inquiry—which is broader, more individualistic, and more interdisciplinary than previous modes—and at the same time to conserve university resources.