Dean of Academics
A Dean of Academics is the facilitating link between academic leadership and university administration, managing academic policy and curriculum quality while supervising and developing school deans and faculty. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does a Dean of Academics do?
The Dean of Academics holds a unique place in the continuum of academic administrators, serving as the facilitating link between academic leadership and university administration. All activities of the role are undertaken in the light of furthering the best interests of students, from academic policy and curriculum quality to the supervision and development of school deans and general education faculty.
The role manages and revises academic policies and programs in cooperation with the President, COO, and school deans, and leads accreditation and compliance efforts. It is a senior academic administration role within the higher education sector.
A Dean of Academics oversees academic operations, curriculum quality, and the development of school deans and faculty, distinct from a Provost or chief academic officer who holds broader institution-wide authority. The role relies on adult learning theory and command of institutional accreditation and federal and state regulatory requirements, with standards in higher education administration supported by bodies such as AAC&U.
What does the Dean of Academics oversee?
Key responsibilities of a Dean of Academics
- Manage and revise academic policies and programs in cooperation with the President, COO, and school deans.
- Provide senior-level academic oversight and quality control over the development of curricula, instructional resources, and academic processes.
- Provide academic oversight, with the collaboration of deans, to institutional enrollment and retention management efforts.
- Facilitate the training of school deans in institutional policies and procedures, and oversee their evaluation, training, professional development, and management of their program directors.
- Oversee general education faculty evaluation, training, and professional development, and provide a mentoring environment to school deans and faculty.
- Perform annual performance evaluations and classroom observations of school deans who teach and of general education faculty.
- Serve as a member of the Management Team and chair the Academic Advisory Committee.
- Supervise the process to plan, schedule, and coordinate academic and administrative support in preparation for periodic program reviews, campus visits, and self-studies.
- Interface with individual departments to follow up on tasks and projects related to accreditation and compliance.
What qualifications does the role require?
- Doctoral degree required.
- Minimum of three years of academic leadership experience.
- Understanding of online and campus-based pedagogies, and use of adult learning theory in administering programs that lead to student success.
- Proficiency in institutional accreditor and federal and state regulatory requirements as they affect university academics, with experience in document resource management, filing, and tracking systems.
- Strong analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to interpret policy, prioritize multiple tasks, produce reports under strict guidelines, and exercise sound discretion.
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Download the TemplateWhy is the Dean of Academics role important?
The Dean of Academics holds academic quality together across schools, ensuring curriculum, faculty development, and compliance stay aligned. The role protects both the student experience and the institution's accredited standing, since a lapse in either curriculum quality or compliance can put accreditation at risk.
Because the role sits between senior administration and the school deans, the strongest candidates can translate institutional strategy into academic practice and develop the deans who carry it out. That coordinating function is what keeps a multi-school institution academically coherent.
What does a Dean of Academics earn?
In Excelon Associates' Dean of Academics searches, offers have typically landed between $140,000 and $160,000 per year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups this role under postsecondary education administrators (SOC 11-9033), which carried a median annual wage of $103,960 in May 2024. That category spans deans through admissions leadership, so pay for any single title can sit well off its midpoint.
Program count and faculty headcount set the band, with deans overseeing accreditation-heavy portfolios at the top.
A hiring note from Excelon
This role rewards academic administrators who are equally comfortable with curriculum quality, accreditation mechanics, and developing other leaders. Through our higher education practice, we look for doctorally prepared leaders with real accreditation and program-review experience, since the Dean of Academics is often the person who keeps a self-study on track and the school deans aligned.
The strongest candidates translate institutional strategy into academic practice and develop the deans who carry it out.
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Dean of Academics: frequently asked questions
What does a Dean of Academics do?
A Dean of Academics is the link between academic leadership and university administration. The role manages academic policy and curriculum quality, supervises and develops school deans and general education faculty, and leads accreditation and compliance, always in the best interests of students.
What qualifications does the role require?
This sample role requires a doctoral degree and a minimum of three years of academic leadership experience, along with knowledge of accreditation, federal and state regulatory requirements, and both online and campus-based pedagogy.
How is a Dean of Academics different from a Provost or VPAA?
A Dean of Academics focuses on academic operations, curriculum quality, and the supervision and development of school deans and general education faculty. A Provost or Vice President for Academic Affairs is typically the chief academic officer with broader institution-wide authority.
Does the role oversee accreditation?
Yes. The Dean of Academics coordinates preparation for program reviews, campus visits, and self-studies, and works with departments on tasks related to accreditation and regulatory compliance.
Why is this role important?
The Dean of Academics holds academic quality together across schools, ensuring curriculum, faculty development, and compliance stay aligned. The role protects both the student experience and the institution's accredited standing.
How much does a Dean of Academics make?
Dean of Academics offers in Excelon Associates' searches have typically ranged from $140,000 to $160,000 per year, against a BLS median of $103,960 for the broader postsecondary education administrators category (SOC 11-9033, May 2024). Program count and faculty headcount set the band, with deans overseeing accreditation-heavy portfolios at the top..
Hiring a Dean of Academics?
Excelon Associates recruits academic deans, provosts, and senior academic administrators for colleges and universities across the United States through our higher education recruitment practice. Retained executive search since 2007, headquartered in Asheville, NC, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL. The average Excelon search delivers a slate of 5 qualified candidates in 3 to 5 weeks, with 88 searches completed in the last 12 months.
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