20 ORGANIZING ACADEMIC COLLEGES: A GUIDE FOR DEANS Academic Affairs also is responsible for several collegewide centers and support programs. Reporting to me are the Center for Academic Advisement, the Thomas J. Shanahan Library, and the Higher Education Opportunity Program; reporting to the associate dean are Study Abroad and the Bedford Hills College Program; and reporting to the assistant dean is the collegewide Center for Academic Support and Tutoring. Division chairs have responsibility for several centers, such as the Theresa Lang Center for Producing (division chair for Communication and Media Arts); the Ruth Smadbeck Communication and Learning Center and Samuel Freeman Science Center (division chair for Science); and the Hewitt Gallery of Art and Theresa Lang Theatre (division chair of Fine and Performing Arts). Strengths and Challenges of This Model As MMC is a relatively small institution, this model allows me to follow several tenets as a chief academic officer (CAO): The first of those tenets is to keep academic administration lean, avoiding unnecessary layers that distance the CAO from the action. Second, to focus as many resources as possible on full-time faculty lines. And third, the model allows me to be flexible and restructure academic units to reflect changing faculty interests and enrollment trends. In addition, oversight of offices such as academic advisement and tutoring allows close integration with the academic divisions. Several drawbacks are inherent in this structure. First, divisional chairs—with department chairs reporting to them—function in many ways like deans, but without the resources and authority. Second, despite the small size of the College, effective communication is a constant issue. I meet weekly with the divisional chairs and rely on them to communicate developments in the College with faculty in their depart- ments. This extra layer can sometimes impair the clarity of the message, in both directions. Finally, the divisional structure does not capture the distribution of the students: one of the five division chairs is responsible for the education of half of the College’s students. This unevenness puts the one division chair at a disadvantage in group decision making. MODEL IV, Type A: Functional + Portfolio Division Deans This structure is most often found in large research institutions with a single college of Arts and Sciences, where the size of departments and large number of faculty members require an extra layer of oversight and support. The college dean is likely to have functional associate/assistant deans with respon- sibility for cross-college issues (e.g., student advising, undergraduate education, space assignments) and to have other associate (or senior associate) deans who have strong liaison responsibilities for a related cluster of departments (usually called divisions). Those chosen to lead a division are likely to be on the faculty in one of the departments