Nada M. Salem

Dean: School of Education


 

I am first and foremost an educator whose aim is to help people grow, and grow with their growth; hence, I am interested in the position of “Dean of the School of Education.” This position requires a doctoral degree. From the five sources listed below, one can infer that the dean of the school of education should be a gifted academic leader who is committed to excellence and innovation in education. Moreover, the Dean should be an accomplished strategic planner; s/he should have a successful record as an academic administrator in higher education; s/he must demonstrate a commitment to achieving excellence and innovation in fundraising and budgeting; finally, s/he must be comfortable with policy interpretation and development.


 

1- Leadership Skills 

The dean of the school of education should be a gifted academic leader who is committed to excellence and innovation in education, who possesses uncompromising integrity and ethics, who has outstanding communication skills and a demonstrated commitment to diversity.

Assessment of Myself:

I have always been interested in leadership; I did a lot of research on that and used to focus on leadership skills with my students (I was a school and university teacher/instructor from Sep. 1991 to Jun. 2006). I was fascinated by Stephen Covey’s book titled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and, ever since I read it, I have been trying to implement what Covey preaches in his book (https://nadabs.tripod.com/team.html) . I even attended a leadership workshop in May 2005 that focuses on Covey’s book. I also strongly believe in Lickona’s character education and the universal values (http://members.fortunecity.com/nadabs/educharacter.html) .

I am very creative, proactive and innovative. No matter what position I take, I manage to bring something new to it. When I was a mere ESL teacher at a Jesuit school (40 students per class), I introduced cooperative learning and Internet based research / web page design to motivate the students. This was like a revolution in the ESL classroom at a French, Jesuit school in Lebanon. The students used to love my classes. When I was teaching at Saint JosephUniversity in Lebanon, I was one of the the first teachers who prepared a detailed syllabus and a class curriculum. At The American Community School, I set up an English Mentorship Program in which I “hired” and trained students who would later mentor other students in all the English-based disciplines (http://peermentorship.tripod.com/). As a yearbook adviser, I produced, with the help of 20 students, a 248-page centennial yearbook that was extremely innovative. Finally, as the administrative director of the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) Program at GW School of Business, I managed to establish a warm atmosphere based on trust among staff, faculty, and students. We all now feel “at home,” among people we can trust and relate to. Besides, I also set up a mentorship program and am starting the process of creating a yearbook for MSF.

Plan to Improve Myself: 

The most important thing I can do besides keeping on attending all the relevant workshops I can attend is taking the course “Leadership in Higher Education” (Educ. 290) that focuses on “Cognitive leadership theory as articulated in higher education: what leadership is, how it works, how it is practiced, how it is considered by scholars and practitioners, and how it is researched.”


 

2- Strategic Planning Skills

The dean of the school of education should be an accomplished strategic planner who has the ability to articulate and support a vision for educational innovation; who will engage the school community in thinking broadly about the school's potential; who develops, implements, and assesses high quality academic programs and their effectiveness; who shows oversight in planning curriculums and instruction.

Assessment of Myself:

As a teacher, I developed the ESL curriculum for High School (https://nadabs.tripod.com/eslcurric.html), I created a website for yearbook advising (http://acsyearbook.tripod.com/) that covers all there is to know about that, and I devised so many syllabi and course materials that a lot of teachers are using now (https://nadabs.tripod.com/onlinematerials.htm) .

Plan to Improve Myself:

The courses I can take in order to improve myself in this area are the following:

- “Financing Higher Education” (Educ. 378) that focuses on “analysis of private, state, federal, and other revenue sources; strategic planning, program budgets, and financial methods and practices.”

- “College and University Curriculum” (Educ. 381) that focuses on “development, patterns, creative design, issues, problems, evaluation, and trends in the higher education curriculum.”


 

3- Academic Administration Skills

The dean of the school of education should have a successful record as an academic administrator in higher education, including responsibility for personnel recruitment, and evaluation (interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems), in addition to substantial knowledge of K-12 education.

Assessment of Myself:

I have been working in the field of academic administration since Sep. 06 and feel that I have learned so much! I attended most of the related workshops offered by GW, and practised all the skills involved in academic administration. As for the knowledge of k-12 education, I do have a lot of it since I taught in schools (k-12) from 1991 to 2006.

Plan to Improve Myself:

Besides taking the opportunity to attend all the relevant workshops offered by GW that I haven’t attended yet, the course I can take in order to improve myself in this area is the following:

“Administration of Higher Education” (Educ. 284) that focuses on “government, organization, and administration of colleges and universities; duties of trustees and administrators.”


 

4- Financing (fundraising and budgeting) Skills

The dean of the school of education should demonstrate a commitment to achieving excellence and innovation in fundraising, success in fostering University/PreK-16 partnerships and acquiring external financial support for the school. The dean should be able to successfully develop and manage the School budget.

Assessment of Myself:

As a yearbook adviser, two years ago, I did a lot of fundraising and sold a lot of advertisements. As an administrative director, I am also dealing with advertisement and budget.

Plan to Improve Myself: 

The courses I can take in order to improve myself in this area are the following:

- “Administration of College Student Development Services and Programs” (Educ. 282) that I am taking now and that offers an “overview of student affairs administrative practices, including needs assessment, planning models, budgeting, policy development, program development, facility management, evaluation, and team building.”

- “Financing Higher Education” (Educ. 378) that focuses on “analysis of private, state, federal, and other revenue sources; strategic planning, program budgets, and financial methods and practices.”


 

5- Policy Interpretation and Development Skills

The dean of the school of education should be able to define and interpret policies in accordance to accrediting standards; to carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws; to develop policy to enhance academic units.

Assessment of Myself:

I did work on school accreditation a few years ago and successfully managed to define and interpret policies in accordance to accrediting standards. I am also working on accreditation now and am doing my very best to understand and apply all the policies relevant to it. Besides, I do have a high level of understanding of work-related processes and have been consistently applying, as an administrative director at GWSB, GW policies and procedures. As for developing policies to enhance academic units, I did develop all the needed policies as a yearbook advisor and as the head of the English Mentorship Program.

Plan to Improve Myself:

The courses I can take in order to improve myself in this area are the following:

- “Administration of College Student Development Services and Programs” (Educ. 282) that I am taking now and that offers an “overview of student affairs administrative practices, including needs assessment, planning models, budgeting, policy development, program development, facility management, evaluation, and team building.”

- “Legal Problems in Higher Education (Educ. 380) that focuses on the “investigation of legal problems in higher education related to the legal structure of higher education, religious concerns, students, faculty, and academic programs.”



 
Sources: From The Chronicle of Higher Education
1- Position: Dean, College of Education
Institution: Grand Canyon University
Location:Arizona

http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000527132-01

Successful candidates will have:
·Doctoral degree (Ph. D.) or equivalent
·Minimum 3 years experience in academic administration in higher education.
·Entrepreneurial spirit and educational business acumen.
·Working knowledge and experience of statewide and national regulatory requirements.
·Strong political acuity.
·Knowledge of NCATE process.
·K-12 teaching and/or administrative certificate
·Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public 

Roles and Responsibilities include:
*Reports to Senior VP of Academic Affairs.
*Provides leadership to all aspects of the College of Education.
*Participates in statewide educational initiatives.
*Experience in creating partnerships with external stakeholder groups.
*Align College to University strategic plan.
*Participates in national associations and organizations that offer cutting edge educational leadership.
*Maintains accreditation status, programmatic growth, and marketing while working within the budget.
*Oversight and development of college budget.
*Defines and interprets policies of college in accordance to accrediting standards.
*Interviews and appoints faculty and administrative staff.
*Ensures quality for renewal of Arizona State Board of Education.
*Provides oversight in planning curriculums and instruction.
*Assesses the market for education program development and certificate development.
*Participates in establishing qualifications for faculty, staff, and students and in recruiting eligible candidates.
*Responsible for 17 full time faculty/staff and over 350 adjunct faculty
*Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws
* Responsibilities include strategic planning, budgetary oversight, program development, interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.


 

2- Position: Dean, College of Education
Institution: University of Maryland at College Park
Location:Maryland

http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000527097-01

The Dean will lead a college with an annual State budget of over $15 million and annual research funding of over $14 million. There are approximately 760 undergraduate students and 1220 graduate students. The College has approximately 100 tenured and tenure-track faculty and more than 100 research faculty or lecturers. The University seeks an academic leader with a distinguished record of scholarly research, demonstrated administrative accomplishment, success in fostering University/PreK-16 partnerships, experience in the public policy arena, and outstanding communication skills. Candidates must possess an earned doctorate and have a record of teaching and scholarship commensurate with appointment as a tenured professor in a department of the College. The successful candidate must demonstrate a commitment to achieving excellence and innovation in professional education, research, fund raising, and service to the community, as well as dedication to fostering the goals of diversity and affirmative action.


 

3- Position: Dean School of Education
Institution: Elon University
Location:North Carolina

http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000524625-01

The dean will be a dynamic and visionary leader dedicated to fulfilling the School's mission of developing ethical, creative, and responsible educational leaders. Essential responsibilities include fostering teaching excellence and innovation; supporting faculty scholarship; extending and building on strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs; recruiting a talented, diverse faculty; and promoting internal and external partnerships. The Dean reports to the Provost and must be able to maintain cordial and productive relationships with colleagues, students, and members of the wider community.

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

*superior leadership skills;
*ability to articulate and support a vision for educational innovation;
*commitment to the integration of the liberal arts and professional programs; x appreciation for the interconnections among all School of Education programs; x belief in the School of Education's responsibility to extend into the larger community; x commitment to experiential learning;
*dedication to supporting and promoting faculty scholarship;
*successful experience with accreditation processes;
*relevant administrative experience in higher education and substantial knowledge of K-12 education;
*fundraising capabilities for the School and University;
*earned doctorate with qualifications for a faculty appointment as full professor.


 

4- Position: Dean of the College of Education
Institution: Missouri State University
Location:Missouri

http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000525035-01

The University is seeking a visionary leader who will actively engage with and support a dynamic College of Education as it continues its commitment to academic excellence. Applicants must have an earned doctorate and credentials consistent with appointment at the rank of full professor and a successful record as an academic administrator in higher education, including responsibility for budgets, personnel recruitment, and evaluation. 

Required Qualifications: 

-Earned doctorate and credentials consistent with appointment at the rank of full professor.
-A distinguished record of teaching and scholarly publications that exhibit commitment to academic excellence.
-A strong history of securing and administering major external funding.
-A successful record as an academic administrator in higher education, including responsibility for budgets, personnel recruitment, and evaluation.
-Evidence of strong abilities to work effectively and collaboratively with faculty, the University administration, students and staff, and other constituent groups and partners, both within and outside the University.
-Evidence of a passionate advocacy for teacher education, and a demonstrated ability to effectively present and promote the college to the University and the Community.
-Experience in strategic planning, assessing program effectiveness, and developing policy to enhance academic units within a department or college.
-Leadership experience with successful state and national accreditation efforts.
-A demonstrated commitment to diversity.
-Experience in fundraising, alumni relations, and development activities.

Preferred Qualifications: 

Duties: 

As a chief administrative officer of the College, the Dean is expected to provide professional, intellectual and administrative leadership, and to support faculty, staff and students. He or she will demonstrate sound fiscal management, promote excellence in teaching and scholarship, facilitate student recruitment, encourage faculty development, build partnerships with external constituents and public organizations, engage in fundraising, and facilitate the Public Affairs mission of the University as it relates to the College. The Dean will also serve as the head of the Professional Education Unit. 


 

5- Position: Dean, College of Education
Institution: Governors State University
Location:Illinois

http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000519888-01&pg=s&cc=

http://www.govst.edu/uploadedFiles/GSU%20COE%20Position%20Profile%20_final%208-23-07.pdf

IDEAL LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES

The Governors State University College of Education community will be looking for a new dean who possesses the following traits:

* A highly collaborative administrator who will thrive in a diverse and dynamic environment and who supports the mission of Governors State University and the College of Education
* A gifted academic leader committed to excellence and innovation in education
* A person who will work together with faculty and staff to develop a culture of creativity and excellence through appropriate research, planning, and assessment
* An effective partner with the Governors State University senior leadership
* An experienced and capable fiscal manager who will lead the college with vitality, transparency, and accountability
* An engaging individual with outstanding interpersonal and communication skills who will work positively and effectively with faculty, staff, students, alumni, community and governmental leaders, media, and the public
* A successful fundraiser who can acquire external financial support for the college
* A keen listener who will translate ideas into action
* An energetic supporter of the objectives of equal opportunity who will work effectively with a culturally diverse faculty, student body, and workforce
* An accomplished strategic planner who will engage the college community in thinking broadly about the college's potential
* A person of impeccable integrity who views the aspirations of the Governors State University College of Education as paramount.

The new dean of the College of Education will report directly to the provost and vice president for academic affairs and will maintain overall responsibility for: instructional, research, and service programs; curriculum and program development; faculty and staff employment, deployment, and evaluation; student support services; fiscal allocation of available financial, space, and other resources; and all other aspects of college operations.

The dean’s chief responsibilities will include:

• providing leadership in implementing the academic vision and strategic planning for the college and its programs;

• working closely with division chairs, divisional faculty, and other college and university administrators to develop plans and initiatives that contribute to the immediate and long-term development and improvement of the college;

• ensuring compliance with all university, and state and national standards for accreditation;

• representing the college and university to both internal and external constituencies including faculty, students, alumni, and state, local and national organizations and agencies

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

The university is seeking candidates who have shown evidence of the following professional accomplishments:

• An earned doctorate;

• A demonstrable record of teaching, scholarship, and professional service sufficient to be considered as a tenured professor in one of the divisions of the college;

• A proven record of successful involvement with academic and/or professional accreditation activities;

• A record of progressively responsible administrative and leadership experience at the level of division/department chair, or above, in an accredited institution of higher learning;

• An unwavering commitment to quality and excellence in education;

• A confirmed record of successful development and support of academic programs;

• A strong understanding of higher education operations (i.e., campus planning, administration, enrollment management, fiscal planning and resource management);

• Demonstrated success in fostering collegial and team-based relationships within the university and external community;

• A record of promoting diversity among faculty, staff, and students;

• Is capable of working in a union environment and with collective bargaining issues;

• An impeccable record of excellence in communication and human relations skills, as well as the ability and skills to utilize the diverse strengths of faculty to develop and foster collaborative, communicative, and common goals for the College of Education.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The successful candidate will possess the following academic leadership characteristics:

• Prefers to work in a multicultural and multiracial environment;

• Desires to work with a non-traditional student population;

• Enjoys finding creative solutions to challenging problems;

• Values collaborative efforts;

• Uncompromising integrity;

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills;

• Experience with NCATE accreditation reviews or as an NCATE examiner

• Effective interpersonal skills;

• A track record of demonstrated success in the following areas:

oarticulating and implementing a compelling vision of academic excellence;

ohiring exceptional administrative colleagues and effectively delegating administrative tasks and responsibilities;

odeveloping, implementing, and assessing high quality academic programs;

omanaging effectively and working collaboratively to meet institutional and NCATE accreditation goals;

oworking with colleagues to develop and implement online programs;

opartnering effectively with others.

• In all, someone who:

ois student-centered;

olistens and understands;

ovalues and promotes collaborative efforts;

ois fair-minded and patient;

ois detail oriented but also grasps the big picture;

ois inclusionary and transparent;

opossesses uncompromising integrity and ethics;

odisplays a sense of humor.