DTT

The Deans Think Tank offers an opportunity for Academic Deans to explore the issues associated with running "an institution within an institution" -- everything from creating policies for promotion and tenure, to curricular revisions, to collaborative pursuits across the university.

Individuals considering membership in the Deans Think Tank have found it useful to review sample materials from previous meetings. Below you will find an agenda and readings from a Think Tank session held during the 2007-08 academic year:

Sample Agenda: “Linking Institutional Renewal to Faculty
Transitions,” February 8, 2008
Sample Readings:

Baldwin, R.G. & Chang, D. A. (Fall 2006). “Reinforcing our ‘keystone faculty.’” Liberal Education, 92 (4), 28-35.
Leslie, D.W. (Winter 2005). “New ways to retire.” New Directions for Higher Education, 132, 5-7.
Sugar, A., Pruitt, K., Anstee, J.L. & Harris, S.G. (May 2005). “Academic administrators and faculty retirement in a new era.” Educational Gerontology, 31 (5), 405-418.

Additional Resources:

Baker-Fletcher, K., Carr, D., Menn, E., Ramsay, N.J. (January 2005). “Taking stock at mid-career: Challenges and opportunities for faculty.” Teaching Theology & Religion, 8 (1), 3-10.
Baldwin, R.G., Lunceford, C. J. & Vanderliden, K.E. (September 7, 2005). “Faculty in the middle years: Illuminating an overlooked phase of academic life.” Review of Higher Education, 29 (1), 97-120.
Empirical data supporting the case that middle-year faculty are important to institutional life.
Leslie, D.W. & Janson, N. (November/December 2005). “Easing the exit.” Change, 37 (6), 40-47.
Phased retirement planning with an individual, rather than an institutional, focus.
Peterson, L.M. (Spring 2003). “Half empty or half full? How institutional cooperation could turn a wave of faculty retirements into an
opportunity.” Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education, 17 (5), 24-26.
Suggests that colleges will face retirement wave at the same time as budgets decline, recommends intra-campus/college collaboration (joint appointments) and offers suggestions for department chairs re: projected needs, etc.

Discussion Topics for the 2007-08 Deans Think Tanks:

“Inclusive Leadership: Models for Integrating Disparate Views and Building Shared Support for Change”
“Civic Engagement and Social Capital: Does One Size Fit All? Implications for Higher Education”
“Linking Institutional Renewal to Faculty Transitions”
“Effective Uses of Advisory Boards”
“Responding to Demands for Public Accountability and Sustaining Institutional Autonomy in Order to Foster Campus Creativity: Contradictions and Confluences”

Current Deans Think Tank Members (2007-2008)

Past Deans Think Tank Members:

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