Seasons of a Dean's Life: Understanding the Role and Building Leadership Capacity

What are the demands of being a dean? What leadership development do deans need as they progress through their academic careers? How are their responsibilities changing? What are institutions looking for in applicants?

This book identifies the range of leadership skills required, and illuminates the process of building leadership capacity, by drawing on interviews with over 50 sitting deans, both women and men; on the insights derived from conducting professional development seminars for several hundred deans; and on the authors’ 48 years of collective experience in eight different deanships.

The abundant examples and accounts of individual deans’ leadership successes and failures, and the competences they developed along their career paths, give the reader a taste of what the deanship is really like―and how the role changes
over time.

In the process of gathering their data, and tracing their own and others’, administrative journeys, the authors found similarities in how deans progress as leaders, in the common rites of passage they encounter, and in the evolution of their role. They describe the stages or “seasons” of the deanship, ranging from getting started – the first three years of deanship (springtime), to hitting your stride – years four to seven of deanship (summer), and keeping the fire alive – eight years and beyond of deanship (fall), through to planning to step down and leaving the role (winter).

What also emerged from the authors’ research is that most deans come to their positions without leadership training, without prior executive experience, without a clear understanding of the ambiguity of their new role, or its responsibilities. This book fills a void by offering guidance on applying for a deanship, preparing for the role, and purposefully building the needed skills and knowledge.

For anyone considering taking on a deanship, this book offers a unique window into the role. For sitting deans, it offers a compass for shaping the trajectory of their careers.

Walter H. Gmelch is the Dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. Formerly he served as Dean of the College of Education at Iowa State University and Interim Dean of the College of Education, Professor, and Chair of the Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology Department at Washington State University. Currently, Walt Gmelch also serves as Director of the National Center for the Study of Academic Leadership.

As educator, management consultant, university administrator, and former business executive, Gmelch has conducted research and written extensively on the topics of leadership, team development, conflict, and stress and time management. He has published numerous articles, books, and scholarly papers in national and international journals. Gmelch is author or co-author of eleven books. Today, he is one of the leading researchers in the study of academic leaders in higher education, serving as editor of two journals and on the editorial board of a half dozen other journals including The Department Chair, Innovative Higher Education, Academic Leadership, and the Center for Academic Leadership Newsletter. He has directed two national studies of 1,600 university department chairs in the United States, one study of 1,580 Australian department heads, another investigation of 1,000 community college chairs, and recently has completed an international study of 2,000 academic deans in Australia and America.

Gmelch has received numerous honors including a Kellogg National Fellowship, the University Council for Educational Administration Distinguished Professor Award, the Faculty Excellence Award for Research, and the Education Press Award of America. In addition, he served in the Danforth Leadership Program; has been an advisor to the Salzburg Seminar on Higher Education; and has been an Australian Research Fellow.

Dee Hopkins is Dean of the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University and has been an administrator for over fifteen years at four institutions. Her research focus is leadership. Her chapter, “To Dean or not to Dean: Personal and Professional Considerations,” appears in Dean’s Balancing Acts: Education Leaders and the Challenges They Face (2002). She also co-edited It’s All about People: Case Studies in Higher Education Leadership (2007) and Collaborative Leadership in Action: Partnering for Success in Schools (2010).

Sandra Damico is Dean of the College of Education at the University of Iowa and has been an administrator for over sixteen years at two institutions. Her research focuses on organizational effectiveness and leadership. She has published widely on these topics and co-edited It’s All about People: Case Studies in Higher Education Leadership (2007). She holds leadership positions in a number of professional associations and is the Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Regional Education Laboratory – Midwest.