A-Mail for Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Subject: Evaluation of Nominee for Dean
Submitter: Douglas E Green, Professor, English

Message: Evaluation of Nominee for Dean: Timeline, Process, and Criteria

In our first announcement, the SNDC Committee announced Interim Dean Barbara Edwards Farley as the nominee for Dean of the College and Vice-President of Academic Affairs. This second announcement sketches the timeline, process, and criteria for the evaluation of the nominee.

We start by reiterating the process outlined in our first announcement: To meet the perceived need to be both thorough and expeditious, we are recommending the evaluation of the nominee be conducted through existing mechanisms and governing bodies. The President’s Office and HR will arrange for feedback on the nominee from staff and from our various student constituencies through open forums and other means, including the opportunity for confidential written responses through Human Resources.

The procedure for faculty is as follows: In addition to other public forums arranged by the administration, Barbara Farley will meet with Faculty Senate at one of its first sessions and, to ensure maximum exposure, with faculty at large during a reserved hour of the first faculty meeting in September. Feedback from faculty will be channeled through the Faculty Senate, which will then make its recommendation publicly to the President.

We anticipate the following timeline for this process: (a) In late August 2007 the nominee will post her written materials, which include but are not limited to a full vita, a philosophy statement comparable to an application letter, and written answers to three questions. Those questions will be formulated by the President and are related to matters raised by the feedback we have received, as well as input from faculty, staff, and student members of the committee, which we have already shared with the President and the nominee. The President’s Office and/or HR will also post the official criteria and job description for Dean of the College. (b) Using the first faculty meeting as the locus of on-campus forums, we anticipate the completion of meetings with the nominee and various constituencies (faculty, staff, and student) by mid-September. Please note that meetings with faculty, staff, and students may start at any time once the written materials have been posted and publicized. (c) The President should announce his decision regarding the nomination by the end of September 2007.

The SNDC Committee has also prepared an informal description of qualifications, qualities, and duties and responsibilities related to the deanship. We have gleaned these from past Augsburg job postings and descriptions, the documents of other institutions hiring for the same position, and the feedback we have received, as well as our own views. This list is not intended to be exhaustive or prescriptive. It is not meant to preclude other matters that might be raised at the public meetings. It is definitely NOT a substitute for the official criteria and description that will be posted. It simply puts in everyday language the criteria we associate with the position of Dean of the College and Vice-president of Academic Affairs.

Here then is our summary description of the qualifications, qualities, and duties and responsibilities of the Dean of the College:

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Demonstrated excellence in academic leadership

a. Record of academic and scholarly performance commensurate with appointment to the rank of professor
b. Teaching experience commensurate with role as Chief Educator
c. Successful experience with academic assessment and institutional effectiveness activities
d. Leadership in attaining accreditation and participation in accrediting agencies and/or professional accreditation activities
e. Commitment to diversity of student, staff, and faculty populations

2. Excellent communications skills

a. Ability to implement, through collaboration, the vision statement of the college
b. Evidence that students, staff and faculty have been partners on institutional initiatives in previous experience
c. Demonstrated ability to communicate the mission, goals and objectives of the College to obtain and sustain public and private financial and non-financial resources

3. Significant administrative and managerial experience in an academic setting

a. Portfolio of scholarly and administrative achievement
b. Experience in administration of system and policies related to the academic affairs
c. Proven track record in leading and carrying out strategic and operational plans

QUALITIES necessary to carry out the duties of Dean and VP of Academic Affairs:

1. Commitment to protecting the integrity of the professoriate

a. Strong advocate for faculty rights and responsibilities
b. Commitment to shared governance

2. Excellent collaborator and team builder

a. Accessibility to faculty, staff, and students and openness to their issues and concerns
b. Ability to manage people, resources, and ideas in a complex organization
c. Commitment to collaboration with students on curriculum development
d. Outreach to and communication with appropriate student groups/organizations when appropriate
e. Productive partnership with President and Cabinet

3. Civic-mindedness and engagement

a. Decisive yet accountable leadership
b. Forward-thinking, imaginative, resourceful approach to problems and issues
c. Passion for students, teaching, learning
d. Confident, firm, professional demeanor
e. Clear faith commitments

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Lead institutional efforts to assure high quality education experiences for all students

a. Participate fully in intellectual life of the College
b. Support faculty commitments to teaching, scholarship, and service
c. Provide opportunities for faculty and staff development and growth
d. Lead and oversee the day program, weekend program, summer school, cooperative/continuing education, and graduate programs
e. Lead academic planning efforts of the college, including articulation of vision, goals, objectives, and strategies
f. Provide academic leadership to a broad range of programs and initiatives that support teaching and learning

2. Align organizational systems to support strategic and operational plans

a. Articulate the goals and objectives of the Academic Affairs Division
b. Administer the operations, systems, policies and fiscal position of the Academic Affairs Division
c. Identify and lead organizational change efforts that address adaptive challenges

3. Exercise strategic leadership and supervision by means of collaboration

a. Speak for and represent the faculty to the administration of the college
b. Present purposes and processes of divisional and institutional policy in both scholarly and popular form
c. Represent the interests of the College to internal and external constituencies

Prepared in consultation with President Pribbenow by the Committee for the Selection of Nominees for Dean of the College.

Doug Green, Professor of English, Humanities and Fine Arts Representative, and SNDC Chair
Lois Bosch, Associate Professor of Social Work and Professional Studies Representative
Mark Strefeler, Associate Professor of Biology and Faculty Senate Representative
Nancy Fischer, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Natural and Social Sciences Representative
Marie McNeff, Professor Emerita of Education and Regents’ Representative
Alex Hoselton, Student Vice-President and Representative
Wayne Kallestad, Registrar and Staff Representative
Gaye Lindfors, Special Assistant to the President

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