You are the Academic Provost of UNITEC, a Central American technological university with 12,000 students. You've been in the role for 18 months. The board wants a decision before year-end.
The situation
Enrollment has been stagnant for three years: +0.3% cumulative, while the sector grew 4.2%. Student dropout stands at 23%, five points above the sector average. Research output exists but doesn't scale: no indexed journals of its own.
And two weeks ago, Universidad Mesoamericana publicly announced it's launching the region's "first 100% AI-powered curriculum." The press covered it. Your deans asked you what you're going to do.
You have €480,000 in discretionary budget available for the next fiscal year. It's not enough to fully cover all three fronts.
Your job in this case: read the data, explore the budget trade-offs, and commit to a strategic line. There's no correct answer — but there is one you can defend.