“Ten” Ideas for a Successful College

1. “Ten” Ideas for a Successful College Reward Excellence Build Community Manage Resources Make Tough Decisions Manage Your Time Plan Strategically Presentation to the New Engineering Deans on 4/6/2014 by Robert H. Davis, University of Colorado Boulder

2. Reward Excellence • Merit-based salaries • Named faculty positions • Awards • Differentiated loads • Space allocations Tip: Develop a Dean’s Faculty Fellowship Program

3. Build Community • Respect • Honest/fairevaluations • Mini-retreats • Publicize achievements • Personal acknowledgement Tip: Establish annual college events, such as a year-end recognition ceremony

4. Manage Resources • Know the budget • Open processes • Build consensus • Allocate strategically Tip: Perform annual space inventory, with comparative metrics

5. Make Tough Personnel Decisions • Large investment in faculty • Excellence in teaching and research • Consider collegiality in hiring decisions • Say “no” in borderline cases Discussion: How is mentoring of new faculty handled in your college?

6. Manage Your Time • Screen requests • Important vs. urgent • Short meetings • Hold times • Teaching? Research? Tip: Review your schedule – are most meetings reactive or proactive?

7. Plan Strategically • Strategic planning: Time well spent • Four simple questions: • Where are we now? • Where would we like to be? • How will we get there? • How will we measure progress? • Engage constituents: • Leadership team • Advisory committee • Faculty, staff and students Tip: Hold mini-retreats or focus groups early in the strategic-planning process

8. Questions? Contact me at robert.davis@Colorado.edu or 303-492-7006