SWE - Fall 2007 - (Page 60) 1,100 undergraduates and 450 graduate students with a faculty of about 100 offering four undergraduate engineering majors. Kristina Johnson became dean in 1999 after serving as professor of electrical engineering and director of a National Science Foundation-funded engineering research center at the University of Colorado. Dean Johnson also earned her degrees at Stanford. What Do Deans Do? SWE Magazine asked the deans to describe their responsibilities as dean. Dr. Gulari articulate a vision for the future of the college and take actions to pursue that vision. A big challenge for a faculty member who takes on the role of chair or dean is to be able to excite faculty, staff, and students about a vision and also represent it externally, to many more constituents than you could ever dream! Alumni, donors, legislators, governor — it keeps the job interesting.” From Dr. Johnson’s perspective, “The dean is the chief academic officer of the school, and the chief financial officer, responsible for quality in terms of faculty hired, raising resources for those faculty, looking for new opportunities, and creating opportunities for students to get hands-on work. The dean is responsible for the educational quality of the classroom experience, but the dean can’t do it alone. It’s important to have a dedicated team of people working together to carry out [the] mission.” Dr. Johnson pointed out that due to Duke’s size, “we can’t do everything the big schools do, so we need to have a differentiator. Duke is one of a handful of schools that tries to be an engineering school in the midst of an outstanding liberal arts institution, so we try to create more of a personal, cross-disciplinary environment, to give students more individual attention, with emphasis on mentoring, advising, and one-on-one opportunities for students, to give students a different experience.” As an example, she notes, “a group of students is actually building a smart house on campus. Ten students will live in it, with a focus on energy conservation, sustainability, education, and entertainment. The idea grew from a student project, and we raised money from donors for a living laboratory.” Dr. Johnson is commited to creating a cross-disciplinary environment that emphasizes mentoring and advising, where students receive one-on-one opportunities. responded, “According to the job description, here at Clemson, a dean provides leadership across the college to enhance undergraduate and graduate programs, is an advocate for research, establishes strong relationships with constituents inside and outside of the university, and expands the college’s fundraising efforts. Deans are also expected to demonstrate a commitment to diversity and the development of an inclusive campus community. Even that description doesn’t cover it all! Broadly speaking, I see myself as a facilitator bringing together people and ideas in a way that enhances the experiences of faculty and students. I hope that people see me as a beacon — a source of illumination, and perhaps inspiration.” Dr. Eibeck noted, “The role of dean varies with the mission and size of the college. Texas Tech is a large engineering college, about 37th in the country. The dean is accountable for quality education programs for all students in the college. She’s also accountable for the fiscal soundness of the organization, but has much broader responsibilities. The dean must The Best and Worst Parts of Being Dean According to Dr. Gulari, “My first inclination is to say that the best thing about being a dean is people and the worst thing about being a dean is people. I have the good fortune to work with excited, motivated, com- Recommended Reading D r. Johnson suggests several books she has found valuable: Five Deceptions of a CEO, Good to Great, and Spirituality of Imperfection. Of the latter one she said, “You can’t be perfect, it’s important to think about forgiveness, don’t take things personally. I would like to teach a course on engineering leadership by taking students through management and interpersonal and spiritual aspects of leadership.” She adds that, “Executive Manners by Letitia Baldridge is another one I recommend to students. Those sorts of skills can give you a step up and help the environment be more gracious along the way.” Dr. Gulari recommends Why so Slow? by Virginia Valian. “This book shows basic gender biases in our culture.” 60 SWE FALL 2007
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