Another commonality in the descriptions of successes
was a focus on revenue generation and the pragmatic
and efficient allocation of resources. The position of
Associate Dean of Outreach required the generation of
revenue through developing and offering new programs
to new audiences, often international. She succinctly
described her success, stating, “I positioned the unit to
make a lot of money.” One defined her role as dean
as focusing on “outreach opportunities . . . to raise
significant development dollars to support initiatives.”
The networking skills described earlier are thought by
both to be key in their ability to generate new revenue for
their academic units. Another stated, “if they had a way
of . . . generating dollars, I was all about learning what
they knew.” The third focused more on her success as
provost in equitable and transparent resource allocation.
She said, “I managed to systematize the academic budget
allocation process when previously it was rather ad hoc.”
She also discussed removing obstacles to others’ ability
to generate revenue as she discussed restructuring the
institutional review board process, which had become a
bottleneck for those seeking external funding for their
research. Each described traits and abilities that helped
to focus on resource generation and allocation, including
being “data-driven” and “good with numbers.”