Think you want to be a dean?

Janie FoukeMichigan State UniversityNSF Women in Engineering Leadership

Conference (10/12/00)

Outline

Why in the world?Creating opportunityEvaluating opportunityMaking the jumpThe first year

Why in the world?

Personal motivation?Serendipity?Life of service?Builder?Deserve it (“It’s my turn”)?The trick is this: whatever your

motivation, it will be very difficulty to assess the match!

Serendipity

The big driverThe match of resource and

opportunitySo rare . . .

Creating opportunity

Build your skill set Interpersonal relations Budget and finance Strategic/long-range planning Matching tactics to strategy Problem solving

Creating opportunity

Revise your resume (S)Let it be known

Enlarge your network Find advocates

Be visible Professional societies Multi-campus task forces

Evaluating opportunity

It’s not a competition!Read everything (Web-site, faculty

governance, budget, strategic planning, CV’s of faculty, college catalog, president’s speeches, local newspapers, Chronicle, various ranking services, etc)

Evaluating Opportunity

Their interview schedule is a “draft”Read about the people that you will

meetListen during your visit! Take notesAnalyze: find the dissonanceWrite it down

Mission statement

Is there one?Does anyone know?How does the reality match?How does it influence

budget/personnel?

Making the jump

Negotiations with the ProvostThat’s why you wrote it down!Short term (2-3 years) and long term

planDo your homework!

Get on the phone!Priorities

The salary is not the key to your success!

The First Year

RelationshipsYour teamThe budgetInternal vs external affairs

Relationships

Who reports to you? Chairs, directors, associate deans

Who should report to you? Reorganize the office/reporting

structure? Based on who you have or who you

need?

You need them: they don’t report to you!

Custodial staff Secretarial staff Land management Curriculum office Physical plant Athletic department (if you are Big Ten!) Students Alumni

Communications with faculty

Don’t count on the chairs!E-mail letter? Flyer in mailbox?Under ~200, then visit each of them

within a couple of yearsCelebrate with them; be the

cheerleader

Your Teams

Associate deans/front office Don’t leave out personnel and budget

peopleYour chairs/headsDevelopment/alumni relations peopleAlumni “kitchen cabinet”Student groupsOther services (computing, library, etc)

Budget and Finances

How is the university budget determined? Report to legislature/regents/trustees? Annual/biennial/rolling five year?

Who are the other players on campus? How are internal (dean to dean) decisions

made? Top down?What is the value on partnerships?

It can be too great!

Budget and Finance

Compare budget (the past . . . ) and expenditures (the reality)

Ask the pro’s Get quarterly reportsManage indirect cost returns/grant

commitments (this is REAL money!)

Budget and Finances

Look at several years of expenditures What is the budgeting style?

Incremental/zero-based? How much of the budget is in salaries?What tools do you have for long-range

expenditures?How much is the endowment? How is

it used and who determines that?

Alumni and Development

Critical in this climateOpportunity of a generation with the

recent economyFriend-raising and fund-raisingMethod/planControl the pathways to potential

donors

Friend-raising

Who are your partners?Focus on 25 years in addition to

now!Faculty can be valuable resourcesDon’t lose the alumniCommunicate with them!Increase the value of their degree!

Fund-raising

Plan for what you need Endowed funds for

students/faculty/programsWrite it downIdentify 3-4 prospects for each needMake your case with each of them

How do I spend my time?

Meeting with the teams (communication)

Receptions (recognition)Development (resources)Week-ends commitments?

AbsolutelySurvival tactic? Have a great team!

Final points

Take on the difficult jobsKeep physically fitNever write a nasty memoSpend an hour thinking each dayRecognize the people that you needKeep a “people” file

Final points

Don’t hide the elephantDon’t let a good Boss make a mistakeMake your Boss look good and your

Boss’s Boos look even betterMBWA (Management by Walking

Around)WACADAD (Words are cheap and

deeds are dear)