A colleague of mine served on a search committee for the Dean of their AACSB-accredited business school. He told me that their university used eight screening criteria when reviewing CV’s. I hope that this helps any dean seekers!
1) Academic credentials: Did the candidate have a decent list of pubs, with at least one good solid A pub? Basically, did the candidate have the gravitas needed to fight it out with the other deans and senior faculty? Ideally, the candidate should be qualified for the professor rank.
2) Management experience: Has the candidate worked in a dean’s office or perhaps served as chair of a large department? Was there some sort of strategic initiative on the record to talk about? Any experience with a non-trivial budget?
3) Knowledge of Academic Programs: Would the candidate understand the programs at our school? For example, would he/she get the difference between an MBA programs and an MSA program?
4) Cultural Fit: Can the candidate fit in to our culture/way of doing things? This one had a big impact because many candidates scored low. When somebody was a good fit, they really stood out!
5) Resource development: Has the person done hiring, firing, and retention? Founded a center, department, program?
6) External relationships: Fundraising experience? Board experience? etc.
7) AACSB: This one was big! Did the candidate ever take a leadership role in the AACSB accreditation process.
8) Commitment to faculty development: Is there a record of mentoring? Did the candidate work with junior faculty? (This one was almost impossible to judge from a CV, so most people got a default, middling score.)
– from the pen of Dr. Percy Trappe
The Academic Anchor 
Leave a Reply