Dean of faculty to university department head
A dean of faculty already meets 76% of what the university department head role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.
28.9/ 100
1 How much of what a university department head is expected to do is already part of a dean of faculty’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the university department head role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A university department head role treats 18 of its required skills as things a dean of faculty already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise on teaching methods
- assess employees' capability levels
- assess students
- assessment processes
- assist in the organisation of school events
- cooperate with education professionals
What stands in the way is 4 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 29 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A university department head role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a dean of faculty background worth leading with.
- already held provide education management support management skills
- already held provide feedback to teachers communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide information on study programmes assisting and caring
- already held education administration business, administration and law
- already held advise on teaching methods communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held assess employees' capability levels management skills
All 29 carried skills, including the 18 the university department head role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 12 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn manage university department required
- optional, not held develop organisational policies optional
- optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- still to learn advise on lesson plans required
- optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
- optional, not held promote education programmes optional
- still to learn learning difficulties required
- still to learn lead inspections required
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- optional, not held human resource management optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a university department head role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 manage university department practise this
- 02 advise on lesson plans practise this
- 03 lead inspections practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 29 skills that carry over
- already held advise on teaching methods skill
- already held assess employees' capability levels skill
- already held assess students skill
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held assist in the organisation of school events skill
- already held cooperate with education professionals skill
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held curriculum standards knowledge
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held identify process improvements skill
- already held present reports skill
- already held project management knowledge
- already held provide education management support skill
- already held provide feedback to teachers skill
- already held provide information on study programmes skill
- already held university procedures knowledge
- already held use office systems skill
- already held write work-related reports skill
- already held create a financial report skill
- already held develop professional network skill
- already held education administration knowledge
- already held evaluate education programmes skill
- already held funding methods knowledge
- already held identify education needs skill
- already held maintain contract administration skill
- already held manage budgets skill
- already held monitor educational developments skill
- already held represent the organisation skill
- already held work with virtual learning environments skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held develop organisational policies optional
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- optional, not held human resource management optional
- optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
- optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
- optional, not held promote education programmes optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
6 held skills the university department head role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role budgetary principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role financial management knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage educational institution's administration skill
- not needed by the target role organisational policies knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote education course skill
- not needed by the target role supervise staff skill
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn learning difficulties required
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held human resource management optional
Common questions about this move
Can a dean of faculty become a university department head?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A dean of faculty already covers 76% of what a university department head is expected to do: 29 skills carry over, 18 of which the university department head role treats as required.
What skills does a dean of faculty need to become a university department head?
4 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is manage university department.
How hard is the move from dean of faculty to university department head?
Its learning distance is 28.9 out of 100, which is the adjacent band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.