Use[edit]
Canada[edit]
In a Canadian university or a college, a dean is typically the head of a faculty, 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 the University 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 of pro-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]
German speaking countries[edit]
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.
Britain and Ireland[edit]
In some universities in the United Kingdom the term dean is used for the head of a faculty, a collection of related academic departments. Examples include Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Similar usage is found in Australia and New Zealand.
In collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, 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 being deaned. The dean may also, or instead, be responsible for the running of the college chapel. At Queens' College, Cambridge, and Jesus College, Cambridge, for example, the posts of Dean of College and Dean of Chapel are separate;[3][4] likewise at Trinity 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). At Magdalen College, Oxford the chaplain is referred to as the Dean of Divinity, and is separate from the Discipline Dean and the Welfare Dean. At Oxford the dean of the cathedral is the head of Christ Church.
Durham University has executive deans of the four faculties (including Durham University Business School).[5] The head of department at Durham Law School is also titled dean.[6]
The dean 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 the University of Lancaster has a dean in charge of student discipline.