To better understand what it means to promote the liberal arts in countries without strong liberal arts traditions, the authors recently asked presidents, chancellors, and provosts of some distinctive universities to reflect on their own leadership practices. In this article, the authors provide a glimpse of the challenges involved in leading…

Why are so many non-tenure-track faculty being hired? The answer may at first seem so obvious as to make the question itself seem absurd. Most department chairs, deans, and tenured or tenure-track faculty members would likely point to budget shortfalls, last-minute increases in enrollments, and the inability to win approval for new tenure-track…

Several years ago, when the author was associate dean in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, a new senior administrator on campus expressed the view that one of their premier first-year experience programs in the college was too expensive and that a different model, based on an approach taken at the administrator's previous…

Discusses what sort of person is likely to be a successful dean, the sort of things a dean does, and the importance of the historical stage of a dean's relation to a college. (Author/PG)

Academic deans, especially in liberal arts colleges, have been called amateurs because they have not been schooled for the position and have not had previous experience in the dean's office. A study of the official logbooks of three deans and the author's own experience are used to document the elements of the role of a dean. (Author/PHR)

Presents a personalism in an increasingly technological system of education. To facilitate the student's work and life, management systems must be used, but only as tools to be utilized to the end that their usefulness may be helpful. (Author/PG)

Faculty unionism and collective bargaining have emerged as dynamic forces on both public and private campuses throughout the country. Factors in their growth are described, along with their influence on the campus itself, trustees, students and alumni, governance, the presidency and deans, and grievance and arbitration, retrenchment, and faculty…

Commonly-held ideas about the way a "professional" administrator should behave are destructive of good liberal arts teaching. Deans must understand that faculty commitment to teaching well is tied to the degree of responsibility and voice given in making decisions about curriculum and mission. (Author/MSE)

A general education reform initiative, emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach, is being developed at the State University of New York-Geneseo by a team of faculty and administrators as the result of a national conference. Emphasis is placed on the process by which the initiative evolved, team membership, the role of the conference, and timing.…

Data from national surveys by the American Sociological Association contrast what deans say about their support of teaching and what department chairs and faculty members perceive to be the level of administrative support for teaching in their institutions. It is argued that deans miscommunicate their feelings. (MSE)

Liberal arts college deans have a special responsibility to link faculty needs with institutional resources and goals. Deans need to help faculty members find research projects and approaches that fit the college's resources and to support them in their sometimes competing roles. (MSE)