28 ORGANIZING ACADEMIC COLLEGES: A GUIDE FOR DEANS Academic Organization The divisional deans are each assigned to disciplinary portfolios and oversee from eight to 21 departments and schools. Department chairs and directors of programs and centers—who report to their respective division deans—oversee the daily oper- ations of their individual units. I set the budgets for the divisions, and the division deans set the budgets for their departments. Division deans make recommendations to me for the appointment of their department chairs. Additionally, all the deans– vice, divisional, associate and assistant–have collegewide functional roles. Each has a responsibility for a cross-college area (e.g., graduate education, research, outreach and engagement) for the entire College. Administrative Support I oversee Communications and Advancement (including development and alumni), centralized administrative support within ASC alongside the chief administrative officer (Human Resources and Information Technology), and an associate executive dean for curriculum, instruction, and student engagement (advising & academic services, strategic recruitment & diversity student programs, and curriculum). Addi- tional administration support (e.g., lab technicians) falls under the oversight of the division deans and departments. Strengths and Challenges of This Model Given the size and scope of operations, a level of managerial authority between the departments and the executive dean is imperative in order to get things done. The divisional organization structure allows our faculty to feel both closely aligned with those in related disciplines and a part of what I have pushed since taking the position in 2013: it is not Humanities vs STEM—it is about liberal arts and the professions, and how we need to maintain the value of what the liberal arts represents. Being “housed” in a single college allows us to live this much more effectively than if we were separate colleges. This ethic is why we don’t highlight the divisional structure on our website. We are trying to break people of the habit of thinking of divisions as separate entities rather than as an organizational tool. The single-college structure also helps foster cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and teaching. As a single A&S college, we have a stronger voice at the University table. We can be the 800-pound gorilla. The challenge of this is that when only one dean per college is at the table, I sometimes have the same voice as a dean of a college with 20 faculty members. Having division deans with authority means I can face outward, both within and outside the University. With much of the day-to-day business handled by the deans, I contribute to university committees and meetings about central issues. And impor- tantly, along with attending to international partnerships and taking on national lead- ership roles with professional associations, strong division deans allow me to focus much of my time with constituents outside the university.