ERIC Number: EJ1445055
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1361-1267
EISSN: EISSN-1469-9745
Critical Friend Mentoring: Strategic Sounding Boards for Academic Deans
Shelley B. Wepner; William A. Henk; Nora Broege
Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, v32 n5 p553-574 2024
Academic deans in higher education can benefit from various types of mentoring to compensate for limited, formal administrative training. Using a nationally disseminated survey, we examined academic dean engagement with critical friends as one form of mentoring for their leadership development. The national survey included 27 items addressing deans' backgrounds, their critical friend engagement, and specific topics of consultation. Some 98 academic deans completed the electronic survey with a decided majority reporting that they consulted with critical friends inside and outside their institutions. Critical friends most often tended to be assistant/associate deans, dean colleagues, department chairs, Provosts/CAOs, and significant others. Prior deans, White deans, and deans at institutions with several schools/colleges engaged critical friends more frequently. The predominant topics of discussion with critical friends were personnel issues, contentious colleagues, conflict resolution, and feelings about their jobs. Further exploration of the use of critical friends as a form of informal dean mentoring appears warranted.
Descriptors: Friendship, Mentors, Deans, Higher Education, Management Development, Consultation Programs, Department Heads, Personnel Management, Conflict Resolution, Job Satisfaction, Foreign Countries
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States; Canada; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Morocco; Qatar
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A