Academic Dean and the Challenges of Meeting Changing Expectations within a Competitive Higher Education Environment in Africa

Abstract

This article looks at the challenges involved and seeks to provide guidelines for leadership decisions and practices for the Deans that can be effective in institutions of higher learning. This paper provides an overview of academic leadership by faculty deans, and assesses the degree to which deans exhibit the behaviors embedded in this leadership in addressing the challenges and expectations of this century. Deanship is therefore treated as the academic act of building programs and a community of scholars to set direction and achieve the expectations of stakeholders in the current challenging economic times. The need for transformational leadership is emphasized. The paper shows how academic leaders must be the purveyors of ideas and knowledge that shape managerial thought and practice. Further, academic leadership needs to develop a human resource network inside and outside the departments and university and at the local, national, and international levels. Academic leadership needs to have a clarified program for faculty and staff promotion and development, and it should be placed on a priority list and agenda. Deans will need to use technology effectively and communication innovations to improve access to knowledge. Keeping pace with change in the world of work means offering education programmes that are relevant, are of high quality and, increasingly, include practical or work experience, as well as working more closely with stakeholders such as employers in course design or delivery. They will also need significantly to streamline their operations by incorporating new teaching and learning delivery mechanisms. Finally it is observed that academic leaders should take the initiative by adopting measures of success that are truly useful management tools for their institutions and that have credibility with the institution's external stakeholders.

Reflections of academic nurse leaders on transformational leadership styles utilised in nursing education institutions, South Africa

“…[33,34] Thus, transformational leaders often closely interact with their followers to better understand and address their needs. [35] The rise of student engagement as a strategic construct for institutional assessment, accountability, and improvement efforts has been a consistent theme in higher education over the last decade. [36] An emerging consensus in educational research is that student engagement is a critical goal for educational institutions.…”

Filipino Medical Technology Dean’s Strategies to Overcome Organizational Challenges: A Phenomenological Inquiry

“…Mutual trust and respect provide a suitable context and move the organization toward individual and collective goal attainments. Deans should be collaborative, emphasizing participation, delegation, and teamwork (Otara, 2014).…”

“…He is the combined leader-manager positioned in the middle of administrative hierarchies (Otara, 2014;Rosser, Johnsrud & Heck, 2003). There is no clear difference, however, between dean as a leader and dean as a manager.…”

“…He juggles more than one roles and attempts to tries to fulfill a myriad of expectations from several stakeholders. Squeezed from above and below as well as from inside and outside the university, he's caught within the jaws of conflicting cultures, pressures and priorities (Otara, 2014).…”

A Study and Analysis of Various Existing Implementation Framework Related to Enterprise Resource Planning

“…This historically low competition industry is suddenly turning highly competitive [1].An increasing number of higher education institutions have introduced ERP systems to improve their operations and make them manageable and more transparent. ERP systems are the largest software applications adopted by most of the educational organizations along with some investments in their implementation [2].…”