The Essential Academic Dean or Provost: A Comprehensive Desk Reference (Jossey-Bass Resources for Department Chairs)

Definitely worth the purchase. Read it cover to cover. Many good insights and I love that the end of each chapter has references to other works relevant to the topic. Highly recommend for new or experienced Deans/Provosts

Great book

The vice principal who served as advisor of my high school debate team would have loved this book. Not because it is packed with information and effective guidance, but because this material is carefully organized for speedy access and clear comprehension. Her mantra, which likely is shared among the time-starved who perennially manage with a high degree of effectiveness, was that resources are only helpful if you can drill to their essence immediately.The book is arranged in seven clusters, ranging from the nature of academic leadership and the ecosystem of the college or university to the budget of the college/university and the opportunities and challenges of being an academic leader.If you are new to a school and/or are taking on a new position, you likely will find it beneficial to read the first two sections of this book in their entirety. The information and scenarios covered in these first 195 pages provide both primer and checklists as you work to build your practice and develop new habits and ways of thinking.If you are new to administration, it would be ideal to read the book cover to cover, but you may need to tackle that over the course of a semester or longer so that you can give the sections your undivided attention. While beneficial when read in sequence, the other five sections and the subsections can be dipped into as needed.The title of each subsection gives a clear idea of its scope; and the headings within each subsection article reinforce important concepts. Each of these bite-size subsections provides information targeted at specific challenges and situations. A conclusion and list of references at the end of each subsection help you self-check your comprehension and take-aways, and provide resources in case you need to delve more deeply into a specific area.My only nitpick is with the physical construction of this book. It clearly is meant as an ongoing reference, and yet the cover and spine probably will not withstand heavy use. I commend Jossey-Bass for not skimping on the size of the body type and reducing page count, but do wish it had chosen a sturdier cover and binding, even if doing so had meant a slightly higher price point.Therefore, I would suggest that you plan to reinforce at least the corners and the spine of the paperbound version, especially if this book will be a shared resource in your office or staff library.

Thank you.

With any reference source the first criteria I look at are, 1) does the author(s) know their stuff, and 2) is the book readable.The first criteria of deals with issues of authority and research, and to a small degree whether the author(s) can explain clearly what they know. The second criteria, for me, has more to do with explanations and a great deal to do with whether the writing is dry, cumbersome, and bland, versus entertaining and quickly absorbable. [There is, of course, a spectrum involved and authors can fall anywhere on those respective scales.] There is too the case of organization --which I think falls under both criteria.As far as 'Authority' -- I thought there was no doubt that the author knew his stuff. I don't ask you to trust my opinion. Look elsewhere for conformation.As for organization -- there are sections on Leadership, budgets, and the college eco-system. By far most of the material is about Leadership, it's definition and how the Dean/Provost fits into the college system. As he puts it, the Dean/Provost leads from the middle.There were many sections about Leadership and it wasn't immediately clear to me what was covered under each section. But once you read the first paragraph it's entirely clear what is covered. (And perhaps it was just my problem and I was missing the obvious.)>>In higher education, the politic are particularly vicious because the stakes are so small.>>LOL. There are humorous bits like the above throughout the book. And I must say that this book was much more readable than I ever thought it would be. So it meet the highest standards for my two initial criteria. Recommend.SUMMARYMy main bugaboo with desk references is readability. If I'm presented with dry, esoteric material I frankly will only use the reference under the most dire circumstances. THE ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC DEAN OR PROVOST is very readable.--review copy--book #11 for 2016

At first glance, this appears to be a tome you'll never have time to digest. Fortunately it's extremely well organized, easy to skim, and most scenarios you're likely to encounter will require reading only 2-3 pages (long enough to be helpful, but short enough to absorb quickly). It offers advice on scenarios from the mundane to the rare (e.g., press conferences).I especially appreciated that the case studies first depict a difficult but realistic situation, then lay out several "behind the scenes" possibilities that may legitimately sway your decision (in a variety of directions). I found this helped ensure nuanced thought rather than snap judgement, and improved one's ability to gracefully handle any new information that may arise.Tip: the Amazon "look inside" feature includes a table of contents, which gives you a sense of what the book covers. Although it sounds relatively abstract, the pages themselves have many concrete and tangible suggestions, and each chapter ends with a "resources" section (books/articles/etc.) that may be useful if you need more support on a topic.