Budgets & Finance

I chose EAD876 - Budgets and Finance in Higher Education because I was getting involved heavily with our unit's budget and had for years managed capital infrastructure projects and revenue generating work-for-hire contracts. When I enrolled in the course I was working regularly with a unit budget that totaled over $1M and frequently dealt with projects with budgets ranging from $25K-$75K. I wanted to better equip myself to understand the larger picture of budgeting and gain familiarity with university wide finance issues.

The course was an online course that encouraged collaboration with fellows in a group on a weekly basis through small-group discussion and report-out to the rest of the group. This is a highly successful format when supplemented with effective content. Our group was half K-12 people and half college or university staff. My learning was enriched by debating the societal financing of universities with other stakeholders. It was also beneficial to compare budgeting strategies between colleges and intermediate school districts.

Eroding support for higher education, especially public institutions was a frequent theme. I found great relevance between the MULTI (Deans, Directors, and Chairs meetings) briefings that I received as a Director from MSU's budget staff and during discussions with the President and Provost and the literature on the state of the industry. Various coping strategies, such as scaling up instruction, were also discussed in the class that relate directly to strategies in use by MSU, UofM, and in different ways amongst the smaller universities in Michigan as well.

This theme played directly into the opportunity to revisit a previous scholarly interest 'entrepreneurial universities' and advance my understanding made this a powerful learning experience. I was able to broaden my understanding from one that focused mainly on individuals and their purpose, direction, and style in governance and expand it to a framework for understanding the nature of academic markets and the influence of capitalism in higher education. Attached at the bottom of this page is my research paper on this topic.

Compared to my earlier work in EAD805, my understanding of this topic is much richer. My previous work relating to entrepreneurial university activities focused primarily on the aberrant character introduced by decisive, business-like, and financially well-equipped institutes or centers. My thinking in this area centered on capitalistic influence or even intrusion into the public-good mission of research universities. Traditional advocates of strong liberal arts curriculum often advance this notion that academe has been corrupted by capitalistic forces. In reading Slaughter & Rhoades (2004) I incorporated an alternate perspective that allows me to see the motives of the institution that causes not just reaction but actually takes an active role in creation of some of these capitalistic market trends. Erosion of public support has furthered the dependence on entrepreneurial revenue sources and encourages ownership of knowledge as an asset rather than a public good. This has equipped me with a balanced perspective that allows professional pursuits of common-good and financial wins simultaneously, with less regret and the confidence of having my eyes wide open.

Slaughter, S. & Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Markets, State and Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University.