Academic

Why July drives your dean crazy

By Eric Chiappinelli

After surviving the end of the June 30^th fiscal year, July should be a good month. For many, it?s a great time to go away on a restorative vacation. A lot of law school deans go away in July for exactly that reason.

At many schools, July is the prime time to plan strategically for the coming year. That?s obviously a challenging process but at least it?s a positive one. Moreover, deans who want to remain active scholars are writing in July, just like active faculty members are, and that?s a rewarding enterprise.

But even with all of those plusses, July can drive your dean crazy. Strategic planning is usually a healthy process but choosing what to focus on necessarily means choosing what not to focus on and those choices aren?t always easy or pleasant.

Also your dean won?t know for a couple of weeks, or more, exactly how the school performed financially in the last fiscal year. In a challenging economy, even a small variance from budget may give the university fits. Your dean may be preparing to deal with the fallout that may come if the law school overspent its resources.

Finally, the admissions picture is clearer in July because second deposits are (usually) due then. But a clear picture is not necessarily a happy one. Often the decision will need to be made whether to go to the wait list and if so how deeply and the dean is frequently heavily involved in that decision.

In rare instances, such as at Miami this year, the problem is that too many admitted applicants intend to matriculate and the dean needs to deal with that issue. Does the school need to add a section of first year classes and, if so, where and when will they meet and, more importantly, who will teach them?

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on July 08, 2009 (boomark / email).