易胜博官网

If they get a break before starting a new job, most people might take a vacation, tackle some overdue house projects or just sleep in. In the weeks between leaving Chapel Hill and moving to Durham, 易胜博官网 President Jim Dean finished writing a book.

That may not be surprising for an accomplished professor and administrator who鈥檚 devoted his career to studying and teaching organizational behavior. What is, though, is the refreshingly frank approach that Dean鈥檚 book takes to exploring the intersection of higher education and business.

Free of academic jargon, it reads like a sensible guidebook, aimed at helping businesses, philanthropists and state lawmakers to better understand higher education institutions and to work more closely and effectively with them. Dean is co-writing the book, titled 鈥淚nside Universities,鈥� with Debbie Clarke and expects it to be published in 2019. It opens with a good deal of empathy for business leaders who wade into the sometimes befuddling world of academia.

鈥淏usinesses are tempted to see (universities) as badly run businesses,鈥� Dean writes, 鈥渨ith costs that are too high, decisions that take too long, and no clear sense of their objectives.鈥�

Throughout Dean鈥檚 career, business leaders have asked him questions about higher ed such as, 鈥淲hen faculty members act out, why don鈥檛 you simply fire them?鈥� 鈥淎re research grants like earmarks, so you don鈥檛 have to compete for them?鈥� And, 鈥淲hy isn鈥檛 growth a priority for universities, as it is for businesses?鈥� The book could almost be titled, 鈥淏usinesses Are From Mars, Universities Are From Venus.鈥�

While businesses and higher ed may speak different languages, Dean wants business leaders to understand that American universities have a long track record of success in educating generations of talented citizens and workers, enriching the nation鈥檚 culture, and delivering research that solves major social and technical challenges, starts businesses and builds economies. Experience matters, he says. 鈥淣ot everything that drives you crazy about universities should drive you crazy,鈥� Dean writes. 鈥淭here are good reasons for some practices that initially seem strange.鈥�

The book is also aimed at philanthropists, business leaders who move into careers in higher education, state lawmakers overseeing university budgets and capital requests, and consulting firms and others who work with both businesses and universities.

鈥淭he American system of higher education is the most successful in the world . . .You can use this book to explore why this approach has been successful, as well as its limits,鈥� Dean concludes.