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Session 3647

Innovate, Rejuvenate, Remunerate: Enhanced Faculty Development Through Responsibility Center Management

Stephen P. Hundley, Patricia L. Fox, and H. Oner Yurtseven Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Abstract

Faculty development efforts in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI have been greatly aided by Responsibility Center Management (RCM). Under RCM, academic units generate revenue streams through credit hour tuition; state appropriation; indirect cost recovery from grants and contract; and/or development and fundraising efforts. University- level administrators charge academic units a tax for central services, and, in practice, academic units whose revenue (less costs) exceeds their tax end up with a surplus that can be used for personnel, programmatic, and other initiatives. This paper will describe the academic entrepreneurship efforts of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, and the resulting ways RCM has been utilized to innovate, rejuvenate, and remunerate faculty and administrators in guiding and aligning their efforts toward important strategic directions. Implications for revenue generation, faculty development, and resource allocation, among other topics, will be discussed.

Responsibility Center Management (RCM) defined

In an academic context, Responsibility Center Management (RCM) is a financial management philosophy that focuses on operational decentralization, and is designed to support academic priorities at the lowest possible levels – usually academic units and departments. RCM permits administrators to allocate fiscal resources in line with current and longer-term strategic initiatives of the campus or academic unit, and helps to align authority with actual responsibilities of deans, directors, and department heads.

RCM differs from traditional financial models in several ways. Historically, authority for financial planning and monitoring was held centrally; income was controlled and resources allocated centrally; reallocation of resource was determined centrally; and surpluses or deficits were dealt with centrally. In RCM, though, these matters are decentralized, with operational authority delegated to major academic units within the university. This facilitates progress toward achieving specific academic priorities – especially at large institutions where competing priorities between academic units might exist. As a result, RCM places importance on sound planning, appropriate risk taking, and entrepreneurial behavior of deans, directors, department heads, and faculty.

“Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Oner, Y., & Patricia, F., & Hundley, S. (2003, June), Innovate, Rejuvenate, Remunerate: Enhanced Faculty Development Through Responsibility Center Management Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--11729