On July 6 I will become the new Dean of the College of Social Sciences at San José State University. While July 2015 is the start of my third year as a Dean, it will be my first year at SJSU, so I’ll re-start regular “Dispatches From a New Dean” entries!
etc.
Today was my one year anniversary as a new dean. It’s also my 100th post to this blog. I wish that I could say that this coincidence was part of a grand design…
My original plan was to just write the blog for the first year as a new dean, but I’ll keep going with occasional entries. Thanks for the comments on posts in the first year!
I had an interesting experience recently on a flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee. I was in First Class, and my seat-mate was a young African American male (in his 20s). “This is so awesome,” he said to the flight attendant as he came down the aisle. “It’s my first time in First Class!” When he sat next to me he said, “we get blankets? And pillows too?” “We also receive free bottles of water,” I informed him. “Awesome!” At the end of the flight he told the flight attendants that he enjoyed his first time in First Class. It was nice to see someone so excited about a new experience!
This time last year I was preparing to move from Minneapolis to Kenosha for the July 1 start date as a new dean. On June 10, 2013 I posted thoughts on returning to the residence halls, noting that I planned to live in an apartment complex next to a traditional residence hall after my plan to actually be in the dormitory was vetoed by my wife. Last week I had an experience that confirmed that her decision was the right call, as I stayed in a dormitory for four nights while attending the International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference in Minneapolis: passing by two women’s bathrooms to get to the men’s room was not fun, especially in the middle of the night. Oh well, at least I was able to save $300 by not staying in the hotel, and that could be used by others for travel.
Tonight I’m attending a ceremony to honor University of Wisconsin-Parkside alumni, tomorrow I’ll attend a lunch between the two UW-P Commencement ceremonies, and on Sunday I’ll attend an awards ceremony for the local Phi Delta Kappa chapter. A couple of weeks ago I was the keynote speaker for an Optimist Club scholarship dinner. Spring banquet season is here!
I am co-editing an anthology, the Minority Dean Survival Guide. Below is the general description; please send me a note for more information if you would like to participate or know someone who should receive the call for submissions!
The Minority Dean Survival Guide is a multidisciplinary volume that takes a no holds barred approach to academic life from the perspective of a senior administrator. Although the roles of president and provost are critical for running a university, no university thrives without a competent set of college deans who indeed are responsible for leading academic enterprises, some of which are the size of small to mid-size universities, but each of which are vital no matter what the size. Similar to becoming a professor, being a first-time dean comes with little to no training. Most deans enter into these roles subsequent to being department head, associate dean, or a program director. Neither of these roles adequately prepares new deans for what they will experience as dean. In this book the contributors candidly uncover the privileges, perils, and politics of being a minority dean in a simple, easy to read, and compelling writing style. This approach provides an interesting pastiche, since there are clearly dimensions of the job that are common among all deans. There are also particular elements of being a minority dean that distinguish these persons from all other deans across the academy. That is what readers will discover in this volume, as they are invited to engage the experiences of current and former minority deans, each of whom, due to the politics that will be discussed in the introduction, will use a pseudonym. This collection brings together cross-disciplinary deans from a range of institutions that vary by size, region, demographics, and focus. Each will provide their own advice and personal narratives, and will discuss their leadership styles, successes, failures, and recommended rules for survival.
There are two name plates on the door to my office suite. One reads, “Walter R. Jacobs, Dean.” The other: “Vivian Williams, Dean’s Assistant.” When I started the job last July it never occurred to me to NOT list Vivian on the door, but as I visit other Deans’ offices (at UW-Parkside and elsewhere) I’m learning that this is not always the case. For me, the Dean’s Assistant is an integral part of the Office of the Dean team, as Vivian met weekly with the Associate Dean and me. Her experiences and input were highly valued, and her contributions went far beyond her official office manager duties. I will miss that, as Vivian has left UW-Parkside to start her own business. A part-time person will be joining us next week while we search for a full-time replacement. Hopefully the full-time person will be able to start on July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, and the weekly meeting tradition will resume. (I also meet individually with the Associate Dean at least once a week, and have lots of individual interactions with the Dean’s Assistant during the week.) I hope that I can find another Dean’s Assistant with Vivian’s incredible skills!
Today on the Sociological Images blog Lisa Wade posted information about a recent research study on professors’ work habits, finding that professors usually worked 51 hours during the week plus an additional 10 hours on the weekend. I’ll have to keep these data handy when answering questions about work habits of the faculty!
It’s spring break week at UW-Parkside, and campus is mostly empty. As usual for a spring break, however, I’m on campus, working. (I can recall only one spring break trip as faculty member [to Costa Rica two years ago] following zero in graduate school, college, high school, and grade school.) I had meetings Monday, Tuesday, and today, but tomorrow and Friday are meeting-free, so I’ll have time to catch up on tasks that got pushed back due to higher-priority fires during the semester. Maybe next year I can take my second-ever spring break trip and go out of town for a few days?
Yesterday I downloaded the song “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” by Broken Social Scene; I originally encountered this song a few years ago as part of the movie The Time Traveller’s Wife. I had a hard time finding the song on iTunes, however, as I kept searching for “Broken Social Science” as the name of the band! I wonder: if a band called “Broken Social Science” actually existed, what would they sing about? Any ideas?
Today was my one year anniversary as a new dean. It’s also my 100th post to this blog. I wish that I could say that this coincidence was part of a grand design…
My original plan was to just write the blog for the first year as a new dean, but I’ll keep going with occasional entries. Thanks for the comments on posts in the first year!
I had an interesting experience recently on a flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee. I was in First Class, and my seat-mate was a young African American male (in his 20s). “This is so awesome,” he said to the flight attendant as he came down the aisle. “It’s my first time in First Class!” When he sat next to me he said, “we get blankets? And pillows too?” “We also receive free bottles of water,” I informed him. “Awesome!” At the end of the flight he told the flight attendants that he enjoyed his first time in First Class. It was nice to see someone so excited about a new experience!
This time last year I was preparing to move from Minneapolis to Kenosha for the July 1 start date as a new dean. On June 10, 2013 I posted thoughts on returning to the residence halls, noting that I planned to live in an apartment complex next to a traditional residence hall after my plan to actually be in the dormitory was vetoed by my wife. Last week I had an experience that confirmed that her decision was the right call, as I stayed in a dormitory for four nights while attending the International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference in Minneapolis: passing by two women’s bathrooms to get to the men’s room was not fun, especially in the middle of the night. Oh well, at least I was able to save $300 by not staying in the hotel, and that could be used by others for travel.
Tonight I’m attending a ceremony to honor University of Wisconsin-Parkside alumni, tomorrow I’ll attend a lunch between the two UW-P Commencement ceremonies, and on Sunday I’ll attend an awards ceremony for the local Phi Delta Kappa chapter. A couple of weeks ago I was the keynote speaker for an Optimist Club scholarship dinner. Spring banquet season is here!
I am co-editing an anthology, the Minority Dean Survival Guide. Below is the general description; please send me a note for more information if you would like to participate or know someone who should receive the call for submissions!
The Minority Dean Survival Guide is a multidisciplinary volume that takes a no holds barred approach to academic life from the perspective of a senior administrator. Although the roles of president and provost are critical for running a university, no university thrives without a competent set of college deans who indeed are responsible for leading academic enterprises, some of which are the size of small to mid-size universities, but each of which are vital no matter what the size. Similar to becoming a professor, being a first-time dean comes with little to no training. Most deans enter into these roles subsequent to being department head, associate dean, or a program director. Neither of these roles adequately prepares new deans for what they will experience as dean. In this book the contributors candidly uncover the privileges, perils, and politics of being a minority dean in a simple, easy to read, and compelling writing style. This approach provides an interesting pastiche, since there are clearly dimensions of the job that are common among all deans. There are also particular elements of being a minority dean that distinguish these persons from all other deans across the academy. That is what readers will discover in this volume, as they are invited to engage the experiences of current and former minority deans, each of whom, due to the politics that will be discussed in the introduction, will use a pseudonym. This collection brings together cross-disciplinary deans from a range of institutions that vary by size, region, demographics, and focus. Each will provide their own advice and personal narratives, and will discuss their leadership styles, successes, failures, and recommended rules for survival.
There are two name plates on the door to my office suite. One reads, “Walter R. Jacobs, Dean.” The other: “Vivian Williams, Dean’s Assistant.” When I started the job last July it never occurred to me to NOT list Vivian on the door, but as I visit other Deans’ offices (at UW-Parkside and elsewhere) I’m learning that this is not always the case. For me, the Dean’s Assistant is an integral part of the Office of the Dean team, as Vivian met weekly with the Associate Dean and me. Her experiences and input were highly valued, and her contributions went far beyond her official office manager duties. I will miss that, as Vivian has left UW-Parkside to start her own business. A part-time person will be joining us next week while we search for a full-time replacement. Hopefully the full-time person will be able to start on July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, and the weekly meeting tradition will resume. (I also meet individually with the Associate Dean at least once a week, and have lots of individual interactions with the Dean’s Assistant during the week.) I hope that I can find another Dean’s Assistant with Vivian’s incredible skills!
Today on the Sociological Images blog Lisa Wade posted information about a recent research study on professors’ work habits, finding that professors usually worked 51 hours during the week plus an additional 10 hours on the weekend. I’ll have to keep these data handy when answering questions about work habits of the faculty!
It’s spring break week at UW-Parkside, and campus is mostly empty. As usual for a spring break, however, I’m on campus, working. (I can recall only one spring break trip as faculty member [to Costa Rica two years ago] following zero in graduate school, college, high school, and grade school.) I had meetings Monday, Tuesday, and today, but tomorrow and Friday are meeting-free, so I’ll have time to catch up on tasks that got pushed back due to higher-priority fires during the semester. Maybe next year I can take my second-ever spring break trip and go out of town for a few days?
Yesterday I downloaded the song “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” by Broken Social Scene; I originally encountered this song a few years ago as part of the movie The Time Traveller’s Wife. I had a hard time finding the song on iTunes, however, as I kept searching for “Broken Social Science” as the name of the band! I wonder: if a band called “Broken Social Science” actually existed, what would they sing about? Any ideas?