The Challenge of Seeing the Full Picture
Lately, colleagues at small and mid-size colleges have been reaching out to us worried about potential program cuts, departmental mergers, and job losses. The anxiety is understandable. Across the country, higher education is navigating enrollment declines, tightening budgets, intense public scrutiny, and rising pressure for financial efficiency. But a common theme keeps emerging in these conversations: faculty and department chairs don’t possess all the information and tools they need to make informed decisions.
If you’ve ever been asked to justify a course schedule or staffing decision without the holistic data you need, you’re far from alone. In this environment, chairs who have their essential data and narrative ready are far better positioned to lead, advocate, and respond constructively when quick decisions arise. When information is scarce, pressure is high, and timelines are short, readiness becomes a key form of leadership.
This post is written in the spirit of clarity, connection, and capacity – ideas we explored in a previous piece.
Consider this a free, foundational toolkit, including a set of practical metrics that department chairs can begin tracking immediately, paired with a human-centered framework for engaging constructively in department goal-setting and institutional financial planning. This toolkit is especially for small and mid-size higher education institutions, some of which may not have a deep bench of analytics staff or sophisticated financial modeling.
Though basic, these tools are powerful. Many chairs are not routinely given them, and many institutions still lack the infrastructure to support data-informed academic decisions (Burns, 2025; Gagliardi & Wilkinson, 2017). This is not a failure of any one office; it is a structural gap across higher education as addressed by key scholars and professional organizations in reports such as the Change with analytics playbook from the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), EDUCAUSE, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) (AIR, EDUCAUSE, & NACUBO, 2024) and The data‑enabled executive: Using analytics for student success and sustainability by the American Council on Education (Gagliardi & Turk, 2017). This deficit is one that institutions and national organizations have been working for more than a decade to tackle.
Why This Matters Now
The pressures facing small and mid-size colleges are real, but moving fast to address them does not mean making drastic decisions with limited information. It means preparing everyone on the team to understand their department’s strengths and weaknesses and to be nimble enough to adjust in ways that maintain quality and remain fiscally responsible.
In most small and mid-size colleges, Academic Affairs represents most expenses in the institutional budget, which means nearly every decision about staffing, courses, and student success has both an academic and financial impact.
Budget literacy is about stewardship, not spreadsheets. Knowing how funds are allocated and where they come from empowers departments to align resources with mission and make informed contributions to planning. And it helps campus teams be more collaborative in planning, even when it comes to making difficult decisions.
In other words, financial literacy, transparency, and mission-driven planning transform fear into focus and help institutions create sustainable solutions that support both the bottom line and the heart of the college.
A Human-Centered Budgeting Toolkit for Department Chairs
1. Track student credit hours (SCH) and average class size.
These metrics – SCH, average class size, and staffing – tell you more about your department’s financial health than almost anything else.
- Student Credit Hours (SCH) drives revenue.
- Average class size reflects how efficiently that SCH is distributed across your course schedule.
- Faculty staffing patterns (full-time, adjunct, overload) help you understand instructional cost relative to revenue (SCH).
If you’re not provided with these metrics, calculate them yourself or ask your dean’s office for support. Even hand-calculated trends are better than flying blind.
2. Compare your average class size to program and institutional norms.
A program’s value is not just the number of students in the major. Many programs teach hundreds of students through general education, core requirements, or first-year pathways. They may also contribute to retention, institutional identity, and critical workforce or community connections.
When evaluating your program, consider:
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High-demand vs. low-demand courses – where to add or consolidate sections
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Enrollment trends across multiple years – see fluctuations and growth opportunities
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Contributions to Gen Ed and core curriculum – highlight essential teaching beyond the major
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Key partnerships – connections to teacher prep, nursing, business, internships, employers, etc.
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Mission alignment – how the program supports the institution’s identity and goals
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Community and regional impact – local engagement and relevance
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Student outcomes – job placements, internships, or other measurable achievements
Avoid relying too heavily on descriptive measures alone, like headcount. A holistic view shows both financial and institutional contributions, positioning you to advocate effectively for your department.
3. Find out your institution’s target or expected range for average class size.
Many campuses don’t have a clear or consistent average class-size target, which makes it nearly impossible for chairs to plan strategically. If no one can answer, flag that as a shared institutional need, not a failure.
In the meantime, you can set a reasonable departmental estimate based on:
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Typical room sizes
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Pedagogical needs
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Historical enrollment patterns
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Comparisons to peer departments on your campus
Use this estimate to strengthen scheduling and protect resources.
Once you have an estimated target, use it to plan:
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How many sections to offer
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Where to combine or stagger courses
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Where smaller sections can (and should) run for pedagogical reasons
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Where overly small sections may create unintended financial strain
Then propose an average class-size range to your dean. Even an estimate helps stabilize scheduling decisions, prevents unnecessary strain on instructional resources, and reduces the likelihood of running more small sections than the budget can sustain.
This isn’t about compromising pedagogy; it’s about protecting faculty time, stewarding resources wisely, and planning intentionally. Department chairs don’t need perfect data to lead; they need working numbers everyone agrees to refine.
4. Document your instructional overhead (or lack thereof).
This includes specialized materials, equipment, labs, technology, software licenses, studio or clinic space. These don’t always appear in departmental budgets but affect institutional cost structures.
5. Communicate clearly about fiscal realities and invite collaboration within your department.
You are the bridge between the administration and your faculty colleagues. Share budget context openly and ask colleagues for insight into efficiencies or opportunities.
Demystify where possible. Seek training where you need to build your knowledge and skills about academic budget building and institutional finance.
6. Make a compelling, evidence-based case for your program.
Tie your story to:
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Mission
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Retention
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Student outcomes
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Employer connections
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SCH contributions
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Community impact
Clarify your “why” and use it to guide course planning, staffing, and curricular decisions. And speak from it often.
7. Ground everything in mission.
Be the person who keeps the institution tethered to its purpose. Data matters. Mission makes sense of the data.
8. Don’t wait to be asked.
Know these basics so you can tell your department’s story at any given time. Use these data—and your broader narrative—to set goals, anticipate needs, and advocate for your program when opportunities arise. Having this information ready positions you to lead proactively instead of reacting to administrative requests or unexpected pressures.
Leadership Guidance: What Department Chairs Need From Administrators
Without shared data, training, and clear expectations, chairs are placed in the difficult position of being held accountable for decisions they were never fully equipped to make. This is an avoidable strain that weakens both leadership and trust. If you’re a dean, provost, president, or CFO, here’s how you can help your chairs succeed:
1. Produce a basic annual academic metrics report.
Include SCH, average class size, multi-year trends, and faculty workload distribution. Chairs can’t lead without these.
2. Offer training in financial literacy for academic leaders.
Not spreadsheet marathons; rather, offer practical, contextualized training designed for faculty.
3. Share the assumptions behind enrollment targets.
If you want chairs to aim for a certain average enrollment per section or any other metric, explain why that number exists.
4. Invite collaboration.
Some of your most innovative solutions will come from faculty. Bring them into the process early.
5. Bring every conversation back to mission and student success.
Faculty respond to purpose, not pressure. Build the narrative around why.
6. Create shared spaces for chairs to learn and lead together.
Financial planning should not happen in silos. We can’t stress this enough. When chairs receive financial information inconsistently or only through one-on-one conversations, it unintentionally fuels rumors of unequal treatment and increases workplace stress.
Meeting with chairs as a group for training, Q&A, and collaborative problem-solving normalizes shared expectations, strengthens relationships across departments, and allows colleagues to learn from each other by surfacing effective ideas already working elsewhere on campus.
Regular collective training fosters equity, builds trust, and supports better institutional decisions.
Closing Thought: We Can Do This
The challenges in higher education are real and significant, but so is the opportunity.
When chairs and administrators share a basic financial understanding, decisions become less reactive and more grounded, faculty feel empowered, leaders gain better information, and students benefit from stronger, more stable academic programs.
Clarity reduces fear.
Capacity builds confidence.
Connection strengthens campuses.
About Authentic Academic Insights LLC
Authentic Academic Insights LLC helps colleges and universities strengthen academic and organizational effectiveness through human-centered research, consulting, and faculty/staff development. Our work emphasizes clarity, collaboration, and connection between financial health, student and employee success, and educational mission.
References
Association for Institutional Research, EDUCAUSE, & National Association of College and University Business Officers. (2024). Change with analytics playbook. EDUCAUSE. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2024/12/change-with-analytics-playbook
Burns, S. (2025). EDUCAUSE QuickPoll results: Data modernization and management. EDUCAUSE Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2025/6/educause-quickpoll-results-data-modernization-and-management
Gagliardi, J.S., & Wilkinson, P. (2017). Big data on campus: How colleges and universities can use analytical resources to better serve their missions. Higher Education Today. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2017/12/13/big-data-campus/ Higher Education Today+1
Gagliardi, J. S. & Turk, J. M. (2017). The data‑enabled executive: Using analytics for student success and sustainability. American Council on Education. https://www.acenet.edu/documents/the-data-enabled-executive.pdf
Jennifer Snyder-Duch, Ph.D. is an educator and consultant with over 25 years of experience as a professor, advisor, and administrator in public, private, and community college settings. She brings a relational, values-based approach to her work, with a focus on community-engaged learning, student voice and advocacy, and human-centered strategies that support connection, belonging, and student success.
