ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on author's reflection of 12 years of service in the dean's office at a small, comprehensive, liberal arts and sciences university in the USA. For the past ten years she have been writing about deaning and presenting her self-study research at the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) Castle Conference. Deans' daily lives are full of meetings with other technocrats who appear to be removed and sheltered from the real work of teaching in a university. A summary of deans' council meetings is illustrative of the kinds of issues university technocrats frequently address such as enrollment management issues, budget issues, course management systems for the future of online education, collective bargaining agreement issues, promotion and tenure issues, university branding and marketing issues. At this end-stage of deaning, and responsibilities of a dean, she have an epiphany about the importance of identity rationalization in surviving and thriving in the deanship.
