State of the Art Dean of Education: Planning

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The George Washington University
Education 282: "Administration of College Student Development Programs"
Instructor: Dr. Billy Molasso
Fall 2007

By Nada M. Salem

A second set of Skills that the Dean of the School of Education Needs to Have in order to be a State-of-the-Art Dean is the Strategic Planning Skills: s/he should be an accomplished strategic planner

who has the ability to articulate and support a vision for educational innovation;
who will engage the school community in thinking broadly about the school's potential

who develops, implements, and assesses high quality academic programs and their effectiveness;
who shows oversight in planning curriculums and instruction.

The State-of-the-Art Dean of Education needs to be able to articulate a vision (plan) for educational innovation in order to move the school from "good to great" (Collins, 2001); however, the dean needs to involve the whole school community in this, first, so that the plan can really be exhaustive and accurate; second, so that the constituents of the school take ownership of the plan and proactively participate in its implementation.

How does the State-of-the-Art Dean need to proceed?
1- The dean needs to exhibit the characteristics of a "level 5 leader" (Collins, 2001) who enjoys personal humility and professional will; who leads with questions, not answers; who engages in dialog and debate, not coercion.
2- The dean needs to establish a steering committee under his/her leadership, and each person on this committee should be the right person in the right seat.
The characteristics of the "right person": (Collins, 2001)
- shares the core values of the institution
- doesn't need management
- is or can become one of the best people in the field
- has a broad sense of responsibility (is productively neurotic)
"You can accomplish anything in life provided that you do not mind who gets the credit"-- Harry Truman
3- The committee needs to evaluate the school's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats: (M2PressWIRE, 2007)
- Strengths to Build Upon (internal):
Learning from the Past: What is working well within our system? What is not working well and why?
- Weaknesses to Overcome (internal):
Thinking about the future: What parts of the system need to be enhanced? What enhancements are the higher priorities? What parts need to be changed/modified in some way? What new ideas or approaches to crisis services would you like to see considered?
- Opportunities to Exploit (external)
- Threats to Overcome (external)
'Where are we at? Where do we want to go?' are key questions.
4- The committee will conduct surveys and use their results to shape a five-year plan to help with decision making. The surveys will enable all the people in the school of education to have their voices heard. (Nelson, 2007)
The survey can be a four-question one that asks people to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the school of education, what critical issues face the school and what opportunities the school has for addressing them.
5- The committee needs to develop a strategic plan (with strategic goals and measurable objectives) for addressing the school's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
6- The committee needs to set a tentative due date with different stages for completing the plan.
7- The committee needs to assess the results of the plan after a previously defined period of time.
8- The committee needs to close the loop and make the necessary changes.

The State-of-the-Art Dean of Education needs to develop, implement, and assess high quality academic programs and their effectiveness; the dean needs to show oversight in planning curriculums and instruction.

The changes in society, the current trends, the needs, and the futures of society are what the dean needs to keep in mind when developing, implementing, and assessing academic programs.
Conventional Instruction, Computer Mediated Communication, Educational Technology, Educational Trends, Technological Advancement, and job markets are some aspects that need to be studied.

Sources:
Collins, 2001; James, 2002; Wellington-Dufferin Crisis Intervention System Steering Committee, 2003; M2PressWIRE, 2007; Nelson, 2007