Dean Review Process
The primary goal of Â鶹´«Ã½’s dean review process is to ensure that school strategies are designed and carried out to enhance a school’s prominence and impact and are aligned with University priorities. The process takes place before the end of each dean’s five-year term and has resulted in eight renewals since 2019, when the process was launched.
A dean review provides a high-level assessment of a dean's leadership based on the following criteria:
- Intellectual leadership of the school
- Faculty development and success
- Cultivation of and support for a thriving academic community that sustains a range of scholarly and educational pursuits and contributes significantly to the University
- Cross-school and unit collaboration and contribution to the overall strategic goals of the University
- Leadership/management of school operations and infrastructure
- Development/philanthropy success
- Engagement and impact beyond the University
The provost appoints a small faculty ad hoc work group to lead community engagement in the school and to provide the provost with advisory input regarding the dean’s performance. Guided by criteria provided by the Office of the Provost, the work group gathers perspectives on the dean's performance. The work group conducts a focused set of meetings with dean’s staff, department chairs and program directors, and representative student leaders. Perspectives from the broader school community also are gathered through a survey of faculty and staff. Additionally, perspectives from additional stakeholders, including University leaders and selected fellow deans, are collected to inform a comprehensive view of the dean’s performance.
If you have any questions or input on the dean review process, please email Associate Provost for Strategy and Policy Roma Khanna at roma.khanna@northwestern.edu.