Some people wonder if a person who is willing to be academic dean has already lost his or her mind. Looking at the title of this blog, you may be wondering why the mind of a dean is so important to understand. After attending the 60th ABHE meeting in Orlando last week, I was exposed to many great minds who have spent their careers improving Biblical Higher Education. So much of what I heard in workshops and sessions was helpful to me as a dean, yet I wondered how faculty members could possibly understand the way that a dean approaches this important work.
So I decided to start my own blog, at mindofadean.wordpress.com. It’s a place where I can start sharing ideas that shape my mind (and ultimately affect your work!). You can also share your comments, thus adding to the conversation. Feel free to either e-mail back to me when something sparks a thought in your mind, or share it in the comments on the blog. Don’t feel like you have have to reply to everything, but if I touch a nerve or you feel like giving me an Amen, let’s hear it. I’ll try to limit it to one idea a week, thus keeping you from being overwhelmed.
Today’s idea . . . How important is it for a dean to be working to change things? Some people probably think that Biblical Higher Education would be better if the deans would just stay out of the way. By the time we add our paperwork, assessment, meetings, and new programs to the educational process, you may feel too stressed to enjoy the work of teaching.
How many teachers wonder when they see their dean coming, “What have I done wrong now?” How many teachers think suggestions from the dean make life harder instead of making education better? I don’t know how many times I’ve heard faculty members say, “I wouldn’t want your job.” I never know whether that says more about my job or the faculty member’s own interests. But it always makes me think that faculty members assume my job is somehow at odds with their job of teaching.
Bob Ferris recently wrote “The Work of a Dean” in the Biblical Higher Education Journal (Vol. 2). We’ll dig into that article in upcoming weeks, but his Task 3 was: To create an institutional environment in which the faculty is free to do its work. He largely talks about keeping faculty away from institutional responsibilities of governance that will keep faculty from focusing on teaching. But I’m more interested in what kind of institutional environment you wish I would help create. I look forward to reading them!
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