The college dean in Philippine private universities

Abstract

In the present science-conscious era, there is a marked emphasis on research and logical, systematic action. Laws and principles are continually being discovered and established. Countless volumes of scientific reports on various subjects have been published, but there is still an unceasing effort to know more, a relentless search for a greater, wider knowledge of things. Though science has devised numerous labor-saving aids, the prosperity it has engendered has also increased pressures on and greatly multiplied the fields of human endeavor. Modern educational institutions, for example, have increased in complexity. There are several factors contributing to this condition, all outgrowths of scientific progress. They are: increase in enrolment, growth of professional and graduate schools, and the expansion of the school’s responsibilities to include all aspects of the student’s development. The complexity is very apparent on the higher educational level. The functions of university management have become so diverse that the president, though entrusted with its over-all execution, finds it impossible to perform all details personally. To meet the demands of the situation, there have evolved assisting administrative offices, functioning on delegated authority of the president. The number of these offices has increased through the years and, with their growth, there has been created the problem of proper delineation of authority and allocation of duties. One principle of administration requires a clear definition of functions among personnel in order to avoid conflicts through misunderstanding and wasteful duplication of work. Experts on educational administration write of the need for research in this field. Donald Faulkner, vice-president for administration of Western Reserve University, stressed clear definition and allocation of administrative functions as a principle of college executive action. Edward H. Litchfield, chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, wrote that one of the shortcomings of large American universities is "confusion of roles within the institution."

The problem

In administrative research, modern educational institutions lag behind their counterparts in commerce and industry. Industrial concerns devote much time to developing their human resources, and special training for executive positions is a part of their program. Only a few universities have a similar program. Litchfield wrote: No large institution in our society gives less attention to the problems of training students for administration than does the university. We have developed schools of public administration, business administration, hotel administration, and elementary- and secondary-school administration. But we offer almost no preparation for those who will be administrators of our large institutions of higher education. The literature on the subject is modest indeed; what we have is either mechanical in character or devoid of the insight into the administrative process which the field of administrative science is bringing into other institutions in contemporary society. Research on educational administration has been concentrated on only a few school administrative offices. Most articles, studies, and surveys are about the positions of the principal and of the president. There is lack of material on the college deanship. There is a great need for information and established principles for the guidance of officials in this area. The present study is undertaken for the following purposes: 1. To ascertain common practices among college deans in Philippine private universities. 2. To identify functions commonly regarded as properly belonging to the decanal office. 3. To know what duties are regarded by the college deans as their major responsibilities. This study is limited to the dean as head of a college in a university, not to special deans such as dean of women, dean of men, dean of instruction, dean of discipline, and so forth. The college dean's functions refer solely to the college of which he is head, unlike the special deans whose functions may cover several colleges or the whole university. The results of this investigation, when added to those of previous studies, may help establish principles of administration for higher education.