Case 4 Increasing Alumni Giving
Setting: University; Your Position: Dean, Law School
Six months ago you were appointed dean of the law school at a large university. After making you the very attractive offer necessary to entice you to come, the university president stressed the importance of getting the law school on a sound financial footing. Your school has been losing a few million dollars annually. The previous dean had come from the ranks of the faculty and showed no inclination to address the budget deficit.
The faculty is small, highly cohesive, and accustomed to working together. Meetings are characterized by sharp debate in which the faculty take obvious pride. You sense the faculty are primarily committed to their teaching and scholarship and feel that the deficit should continue to be funded by income from the general university budget as it has been for years. You believe that the school's financial problems stem from its lack of attention to soliciting financial support from its large base of graduates, many of whom are in senior positions in law firms around the country.
Your first step must be to hire a director of alumni relations. The position will be an administrative one, and the faculty recognize that the choice is yours to make. However, you believe that the candidate should have the support of the faculty since it would be necessary for him or her to work closely with them in planning and organizing alumni functions and in identifying potential large donors among their former students.
You sense that the faculty are less than enthusiastic about this initiative, believing, correctly, that it will take time away from their teaching and research. There are some, although probably a minority, who believe that some sacrifices are necessary to achieve a balanced budget.
Two months ago you began advertising the position. Those advertisements, together with a plethora of phone calls to deans in other universities, have produced a large number of candidates of whom several look superb. You have personally interviewed each of the leading candidates and think that you know who would be best for the position. Respecting their own desires, faculty members have not been involved in the interviewing process.