A great deal has been written about department chairs in higher education who deal with a myriad of issues related to the faculty for whom they have leadership responsibility. Such an emphasis is appropriate when one considers that virtually everything our institutions deliver in teaching, scholarship, and service results from the expertise and effort of the faculty. Thus, the development of leadership skills of department chairs has become a major focus; however, the literature puts significantly less focus on helping chairs “manage” the next layer up—the dean.
Although all academic leaders face certain administrative challenges, those who work in a multicampus setting have unique opportunities and problems. The sometimes-difficult balancing act of preserving a single identity throughout the entire institution while also allowing each campus to develop its own distinct personality raises issues that administrators at single-campus institutions never have to address. The ability to make everyone feel included in a community that may be spread over hundreds of miles can be critical to an administrator’s success. And the need to appreciate each program and location for its unique value becomes an important responsibility of the academic leader. Having served on both a hub campus and a spoke campus at different institutions, I have learned the hard way just how destructive to morale a mistake in this area can be. The following guidelines are, therefore, lessons drawn from my own experience.
