“Ten” Ideas for a Successful College

Presentation to the New Engineering Deans on 4/6/2014by Robert H. Davis, University of Colorado Boulder

1. Reward Excellence

2. Build Community

3. Manage Resources

4. Make Tough Decisions

5. Manage Your Time

6. Plan Strategically

1. Reward Excellence

Tip: Develop a Dean’s Faculty Fellowship Program

• Merit-based salaries

• Named faculty positions

• Awards

• Differentiated loads

• Space allocations

2. Build Community

Tip: Establish annual college events, such as a year-end recognition ceremony

• Respect

• Honest/fair evaluations

• Mini-retreats

• Publicize achievements

• Personal acknowledgement

3. Manage Resources

Tip: Perform annual space inventory, with comparative metrics

• Know the budget

• Open processes

• Build consensus

• Allocate strategically

4. Make Tough Personnel Decisions

Discussion: How is mentoring of new faculty

handled in your college?

• Large investment in faculty

• Excellence in teaching and research

• Consider collegiality in hiring decisions

• Say “no” in borderline cases

5. Manage Your Time

Tip: Review your schedule – are most meetingsreactive or proactive?

• Screen requests

• Important vs. urgent

• Short meetings

• Hold times

• Teaching? Research?

6. Plan Strategically

Tip: Hold mini-retreats or focus groups early in the strategic-planning process

• Strategic planning: Time well spent

• Four simple questions:1. Where are we now?

2. Where would we like to be?

3. How will we get there?

4. How will we measure progress?

• Engage constituents:1. Leadership team

2. Advisory committee

3. Faculty, staff and students

Questions?

Contact me at robert.davis@Colorado.edu or 303-492-7006