Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/233379
Just one week to decide • Gather final feedback • Take votes of approval • Present final list to provost and president We held faculty and committee yes-or-no votes. For their names to be submitted to the provost and president—who would make the final decision—the candidates had to receive at least 66 percent approval. Amazingly, three of our candidates cleared that hurdle. The provost and president chose our new dean from among those three. On Schedule, Under Budget We were able to complete the task by our deadline and, metaphorically, under budget—even though a tornado struck our area during our search! We did so by operating according to four principles that kept us focused: Principle No. 1: Stay on the High Road Committee members sought to communicate with each other continuously and follow the "high road" at all times. That meant no political intrigue, gossip, inaccuracies, or hurtful comments. We strove, as Don Miguel Ruiz advises in The Four Agreements, "to be impeccable with our words." Even when members did not agree with another's perspective, they ardently defended that committee member's right to hold that point of view. Consequently, the committee grew quite close and operated effectively. 44 January/February 2014 BizEd END DECISION DAY! You've hired a new dean Principle No. 2: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate The committee vowed to be strategically transparent with stakeholders at every stage of the search. Some parts of the search demanded secrecy—for instance, we were not at liberty to reveal the names of the candidates until the interview stage—but we acknowledged the need for confidentiality to the community at the beginning. We were open in all other respects. We released bimonthly reports that outlined how many candidates had applied, where we were in the process, and when we hoped to complete each step. We even kept our applicants in the loop. It's almost impossible to communicate too much when handling a sensitive topic such as a dean's search. Principle No. 3: Listen, Listen, Listen The committee made concerted efforts to gather feedback via regular meetings with external constituents, upper-level administration, faculty, and staff. Communication can easily—and dangerously— become a one-way street, especially when the situation is sensitive. By inviting feedback, the committee was able to gain additional insights from our community and clarify misunderstandings along the way. Principle No. 4: Get by with a Little Help from Your Friends Like most schools with a dean position to fill, we flooded the nation, if not the world, with announcements about the position. Yet, to our surprise, the final four candidates all came to us via recommendations by faculty, staff, and supporters at our own institution. These groups also helped us persuade these candidates to put their names forward for consideration. We are by no means saying that schools should not use every avenue to get the best collection of candidates, but they should not limit themselves to external advertising. It's important also to take advantage of help that's closer to home. Even though there were some difficult moments, committee members unanimously agreed that the process was significantly less painful than they expected it to be. In fact, to a person, committee members labeled the experience enlightening and enjoyable. By implementing the principles above, schools could shorten their dean searches by six months—or even a year or more. More important, they'll hopefully be fortunate enough to hire an excellent dean who stays with their school for a decade and beyond. Ron Dulek is the John R. Miller Professor at the University of Alabama's Culverhouse College of Commerce in Tuscaloosa. He served as a member of the school's dean selection committee. DE N IS_PC/TH I N KSTOCK WEEK 15: