Associate Dean – the People Process

I served for eight years as a department head.  During that time, perhaps the most significant actions that I took concerned the “people process” (see my earlier post on this subject).   Actions were taken concerning the hiring, promotion (and non-promotion), evaluation and mentoring of faculty and staff.  These actions have a significant impact on the future of the organization.   Now, serving as associate dean, I take great satisfaction in leaving behind a department that continues to flourish with a new department head.    I believe that it is important to develop a leadership pipeline, and I firmly believe that there are now three or four individuals who could successful lead my old department.

As I look at the future of our college, I am reminded that our “people process” must do several things well:

• evaluate individuals accurately, in depth and in a timely manner
• provide a framework for identifying and developing leadership talent
• hiring new talent that fits the COB’s mission
• recognizing and rewarding success (including leadership team)
• fair and equitable compensation
• provide a framework for developing faculty teaching and scholarship (coordination with CFI)
• increasing the diversity of the faculty and staff

What can we do better?  Here are a few thoughts:

1. feedback can be more timely to faculty
2. feedback from dean to leadership team (including center directors) must be more in depth and more timely
3. 3rd year reviews, 1st year reviews, RTA 5 year reviews – consistent throughout college?
4. faculty committees – how can we assess effectiveness?
5. 36o feedback – how can they be used effectively?
6. summer grants – more money for funding/increase accountability
7. faculty fellowships – great tool to reward success (how do we award these?)
8. fair and equitable faculty compensation – benchmark peer institutions

How should we proceed?   Put a “people process” committee together, and give them the charge to look at Issues 1 – 5.   Give the committee constraints.   Issues 6-7 are clearly in the dean’s court – the money must be raised – then we can figure out how best to spend the money.

– from the pen of Dr. Percy Trappe