The Roles and Actualities of Deans in University Administration:

A Focus on the Deans at the Ritsumeikan Academy

Abstract

To reform the management of universities, the Japanese government revised the law related to higher education by strengthening the authority of its presidents. The government recognizes the faculty members as its “resistance force” toward the presidents. When viewing the president and the faculty in such confrontational relationships, it is important to understand the position of the “Dean,” who is the director of the faculty meeting. The way in which the role of the Dean should be defined has not been mentioned in the amendments. The purpose of this research was to clarify the role and activities of deans. I mentioned that there are two types of dean leadership. One is the leadership to organize faculty members according to the president’s intention, and the other is leadership based on the authority specific to the dean. And, therein underlies a conflict between the two types. In this research, I interviewed three deans from the Ritsumeikan Academy who confirmed that this conflict exists. Further, they revealed how they resolve this conflict.