This book, based on the National Deans Survey, which was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Academic Leadership and to which 800 deans from all U.S. four-year academic institutions responded, clarifies the nature of the job and its responsibilities. Part 1, Deans--Their Campuses and Colleges, contains two chapters: (1) The Deanship; and (2) Transition to the Deanship. Part 2, Dimensions--Duties and Challenges, contains: (3) Dean Leadership; (4) What Deans Do; (5) Work-Related Stress in Deans"; (6) Organizational Commitment and Intention To Leave: Why Deans Stay; (7) Female and Minority Deans and the Keys to Success; (8) Balance, Trade-Offs, and Life after the Deanship; and (9) Leadership Development: Answering the Call to Leadership. An index is also included. (Contains 58 tables, 5 figures, and 357 references.) (SLD)