Dean is a title employed inacademic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specificacademic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In theUnited States andCanada, deans are usually university professors who serve as the heads of a university's constituent colleges and schools. Deans are common in privatepreparatory schools, and occasionally found inmiddle schools andhigh schools as well.
A "dean" (Latin:decanus) was originally the head of a group of ten soldiers or monks. Eventually anecclesiastical dean became the head of a group ofcanons or other religious groups.
When theuniversities grew out of thecathedral schools andmonastic schools, the title of dean was used for officials with various administrative duties.
InBulgarian andRomanian universities, a dean is the head of afaculty, which may include several academic departments. The dean can appoint deputies, for example, a vice dean of university work or a vice dean of science activity.
In Russian universities, a dean (декан) is default name for the head of afaculty, which is the equivalent of a department. The administrative body of afaculty is called a "decanate" (деканат).
In a Canadian university or a college, a dean is typically the head of afaculty, which may include several academic departments. Typical positions include dean of arts, dean of engineering, dean of science and dean of business. Many universities also have a dean of graduate studies, responsible for work at the postgraduate level in all parts of the university.
The job description for deans at theUniversity of Waterloo is probably typical, and reads in part, "The dean of a faculty is primarily a university officer, serving in that capacity on the senate, appropriate major committees and on other university bodies. As university officer, the dean has the dual role of making independent judgments on total university matters and representing the particular faculty's policies and points of view. The dean should oversee the particular faculty's relations with other faculties to ensure that they are harmonious and serve the total university's objectives. The dean will report directly to the vice president, academic and provost."[1]
There may be associate deans responsible to the dean for particular administrative functions.McGill University also uses the title ofpro-dean to refer to the ad hoc officer responsible for administering a PhD thesis defence. They serve as the direct representative of the dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies and are responsible for the defence being handled in strict correspondence with the university regulations.[2]
In German speaking countries the Dean ('Dekan') is the head of an academic unit on the secondary level of a university, in most cases a faculty. Each university has broad discretion in grouping individual subjects together to form faculties, in some cases this might lead to a relatively loose compound of self-administered departments with a comparably weak dean's role, in other cases faculties might be organised in a more centralised manner. The dean is usually always a senior professorial member of the faculty, elected by the faculty council. Deans are not appointed by the university leadership but are an expression of the faculty's right to academic self-administration.
A dean is aided by several pro-deans (Prodekan) who take over certain responsibilities of faculty administration and by an assistant dean (Dekanatsrat). The pro-deans are likewise elected professorial members of the faculty, while the assistant dean is usually a longterm administrative role with a strong academic background.
In someuniversities in theUnited Kingdom the termdean is used for the head of afaculty, a collection of related academic departments. Examples includeDean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Similar usage is found inAustralia andNew Zealand.
In collegiate universities such asOxford andCambridge, each college may have a dean who is responsible for discipline. An interview with the dean as a result of misbehaviour is referred to as a beingdeaned. The dean may also, or instead, be responsible for the running of the college chapel. AtQueens' College, Cambridge, andJesus College, Cambridge, for example, the posts ofDean of College andDean of Chapel are separate;[3][4] likewise atTrinity College Dublin, the posts of senior and junior deans (charged with the discipline of junior and senior members respectively) are distinct from the deans of residence (who organise worship in the college chapel). AtMagdalen College, Oxford the chaplain is referred to as the Dean of Divinity, and is separate from the Discipline Dean and the Welfare Dean. AtOxford the dean of the cathedral is the head ofChrist Church.
Durham University has executive deans of the four faculties (includingDurham University Business School).[5] The head of department atDurham Law School is also titled dean.[6]
Thedean of King's College London is an unusual role among British universities, in that the dean is an ordained minister, responsible for overseeing the spiritual development and welfare of all students and staff, as well as fostering vocations among the worshiping community.[7]
Each of the colleges of theUniversity of Lancaster has a dean in charge of student discipline.
The term and position of dean is prevalent in Americanhigher education. Although usage differs from one institution to another, the title is used in two principal ways:
MostAmerican law schools,medical schools, and other professional schools are part of a university, and so refer to its highest-ranking administrator as a dean. Most have several assistant or associate deans as well (such as an associate dean of academics or an associate dean of students), as well as a select few vice deans.
TheAmerican Bar Association’s members regulations on the operation of law schools, which must be followed for such an institution to receive and maintain ABA accreditation, define the role of thelaw school dean. These regulations specify that "A law school shall have a full-time dean, selected by the governing board or its designee, to whom the dean shall be responsible."[8] Thus, a law school dean may not simply be a professor selected by fellow professors, nor even by the president of the university.
Similar standards exist with respect to medical school deans. Specifically, theLiaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which accredits medical schools, thereby making them eligible for federal grants and state licensure, sets forth the operative conditions.[9] LCME regulations require that the "chief official of the medical school, who usually holds the title 'dean,' must have ready access to the university president or other university official charged with final responsibility for the school, and to other university officials as are necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the dean's office."[10] The LCME further require that the dean "must be qualified by education and experience to provide leadership in medical education, scholarly activity, and care of patients"[11] and that "[t]he dean and a committee of the faculty should determine medical school policies."[12]
The term or office of dean is much less common in Americansecondary education. Although mosthigh schools are led by aprincipal or headmaster, a few (particularly privatepreparatory schools) refer to their chief authority as a dean. In large schools or some boarding schools there may be a dean of men or boys, and a dean of women or girls, or each year (freshman, sophomore, etc.) may have a dean. Somejunior high schools and high schools have a teacher or administrator referred to as a dean who is in charge ofstudent discipline and to some degree administrative services.
