21 - Managing a degree program: behind the ‘glory’

Summary

I find the three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni, and parking for the faculty.

– Clark Kerr (former President, University of California)

In this book, we discuss many issues, opportunities, and challenges that arise in connection with an instructor's course, classroom, and career. This chapter speaks briefly to the opportunity that an instructor may have to lead a school's academic program, or some significant part thereof. Contrary to the opening quote above, there are a number of issues that must be addressed in the design and delivery of an academic program. As but one significant example of the issues to be tackled in this regard, this chapter presents a generalized planning framework for designing and delivering that part of an MBA program during which students take the bulk of, if not all of, their required courses. This framework is also applicable, in large measure, to the electives part of an MBA program and to undergraduate business programs. We find that an organizing framework, such as the one discussed here, facilitates the planning process, the communication of a shared vision, and the galvanizing of purposeful action. This chapter also highlights some of the other dimensions of managing a school and its programs that some instructors may aspire to address and may be uniquely qualified to tackle at some point in their career.