The Changing and Challenging Role of Deans of Schools of Public Health

Abstract

The average tenure of a Dean is 4.1 years according to The National Jurist Magazine [1]. Today it appears that Deans of Schools of Public Health and/or Health Sciences pass fleetingly on the academic chessboard in higher education institutions. They then return to either to the classroom as a faculty member or disappear into the mist of the academic unknown as an emeritus professor. The challenges and changing roles of Dean's duties and responsibilities in the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, or Medical Schools are different today than they were twenty years ago. This paper will focus on what new Deans must understand and do to succeed today in higher education institutions in the 21st century. Key words: Academic Leadership; Higher Education Institutions; School of Public Health; Colleges of Health Science; Medical School Leadership; Dean’s Responsibilities.