This study broadens our understanding of conditions that shape faculty composition in higher education. We surveyed academic deans to evaluate their views on the professoriate, values, pressures, and practices pertaining to the use of non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF). We utilized [ordinary-least-squares] OLS regression to test a model for…

This study presents research comparing faculty-held norms for academic deans' behavior to Mertonian norms of science. Findings indicate that while some elements of Mertonian norms hold true, it is not the best pattern of grouping faculty expectations for deans. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (Contains 5 tables.)

Over the past decade, community engagement has emerged as an important priority among many colleges and universities. This study employs a multi-case study design to examine boundary spanning practices of research universities that have adopted a community engagement agenda. A model is advanced to conceptualize spanning behaviors and to inform…

Describes the role of the academic dean in effective university government. (PG)

Careful attention to the organization and management of student services is necessary to the contemporary university to deal effectively with retention, student consumer interests, budget constraints, and shrinking admissions pools. A model is described that places responsibility on both academic units and central resources. (Author/LBH)

In studies of leadership in college and university administration, the role of women administrators, particularly deans of women, has been largely overlooked. By retracing the roles of women deans and their work, including research, a new appreciation for women in higher education in the first half of the twentieth century can be gained. (MSE)

A study investigated the appearance and development of the office of the dean in colleges of arts and sciences in America since 1860. A survey of 32 diverse institutions looked at the date the position was established, relationship to other administrative offices, and deans' teaching responsibilities, educational background, and length of tenure.…

Develops a 5-state model for decision-making that incorporates a faculty-opinion survey permitting almost universal expressions of opinion and preference on a complex administrative decision and generating alternative policies for decision-makers. It was successfully employed to reexamine the role of dean in a large university. (Editor/JT)

A study of the college presidency that uses "career trajectory" as a better way to understand administrative careers is described. There appears to be little advance planning either by the individual or the organization along a specific route that would lead to a college presidency. (MLW)

College deans serve as both extensions of the presidency (through the provost) and extensions of the faculty. This puts them in situations confounded by ambiguity and role conflict. A discussion of the impact of this role conflict and ambiguity on deans, particularly the resulting high turnover and low productivity, suggests policy implications…

A multiple case study design was used to gather search committee members' perceptions of the decision-making process characterizing three academic deanship searches in one university. Results suggest that searches have both structured and anarchic aspects and that neither the structured nor the anarchic decision making, by itself, contributes to…

The intent of this study is to present a systematic approach for evaluating the leadership effectiveness of deans and directors. We demonstrate the utility of multilevel structural equation modeling to examine variance in faculty and staff assessments of effectiveness and discuss the relevance of our model from individual and institutional…

A study investigated the use of teaching portfolios and student evaluations in evaluating 97 college faculty members for contract renewal. Two faculty peers and a dean evaluated the portfolio of each teacher. Student evaluations correlated reasonably well with portfolio evaluations by the deans and one of the peers. (Author/MSE)