The Dean in the University of the Future (PDF)

Doing research on the roles of the dean within the university governance is gaining momentum, since the deans are the critical success factors for the university: Deans contextualise - for the good or for the bad - the way faculties perform research and teaching. They are responsible for the survival of the faculty in the interplay of centralistic and collegial steering systems. Therefore, they need both a clear vision and a solid strategy. The international academic conference 'The Dean in the University of the Future' dealt with these issues. It was held on June 26-28 2013 at Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken/Germany and brought together 45 researchers, deans, university presidents, administrators and professors from 21 countries. The major finding of the conference: A clearer picture of the multiple requirements for the dean in a university that might stay away from becoming too centralised. The conference - organised together with the DIES-programme of the DAAD - is part of the KORFU research programme that is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and administered by the German Aerospace Center. 'KORFU' is an acronym in German, to be translated as 'Collegialism as an Economic Governance Principle for Universities'. This Conference Proceedings report the edited versions of the 23 most important findings of the conference as well as the Conference Communiqué.