If you’re searching for a job as an Assistant Dean of Students, we have a list of interview questions you can expect to be asked (or that you will want to ask your interviewer), so arm yourself with appropriate answers! We recommend searching on multiple reliable websites so you’re prepared with answers for the interview questions that you might not already know.
How can you prepare to interview for Assistant Dean of Students? Take a look at these Dean of Students interview questions you’ll want to find out how to answer OR ask!
- Graduate and undergraduate research: How will you engage graduate and undergraduate students in your research program? That is, what style of advising/mentoring will you use?
- Resources: What critical resources do you need in order to establish a successful research program? What critical resources may already be here? What kind of help would you want from the X group, the Department, and the University for you to achieve your goals?
- What is the main point of your dissertation?
- What are your professional goals?
- What is your concept of teaching in a 4-year college as opposed to a research university?
- What specific research will you pursue if you are selected? How do you anticipate funding it?
- What other courses might you teach?
- What strengths would you bring to the department?
- What would you expect from this department and administration?
- What kind of start-up funds, facilities, and equipment would you need?
- What experiences or interests do you have in college-wide activities and service?
- What research will you be doing when you show up here?
- What projects will you start next?
- What teaching would you like to do?
- What is your philosophy of grad student training? How will you support students? What types of projects do you expect them to work on?
- What do you contribution to the department that is not already well covered by the faculty?
- What is the best idea you ever had?
- What kinds of tools would be available in your lab for grad student use?
- In what areas do you think your work would uniquely contribute to this department?
- What meetings do you attend? What societies do you belong to?
- What do you envision as your ideal lab: # grads, undergrads, postdocs, techs, participation of grads who are not your own students?
- To what degree do you see integrating grad students into your research program?
- What's your perspective on grad student funding?
- What types of mentoring have you experienced -- and what would you do similarly or differently?
- What courses have you taught before?
- What do you see as the major challenges of teaching at a large (small) university?
- How much flexibility in when courses are scheduled (within a week, within a year)?
- What research will you be doing when you show up here?
- How does this department fit into the long-term plan?
- How much variation is there across departments?
- Are teaching training opportunities available? What kinds? How often?
- How much of the department is already tenured? Is there a quota?
- How many undergraduate majors come through the program each year?
- What is the teaching expectation through time? How many courses?
- How much flexibility in what an individual teaches?
- How much flexibility in when courses are scheduled (within a week, within a year)?
- How big are classes? Are teaching loads weighted by the number of students in the classes?
- How much funding is there for courses, particularly new ones?
- How do ideas for new courses get processed?
- How does undergraduate advising work?
- How does graduate advising work?
- How much office space, lab space, offices for graduate students?
- How is the [higher] administration? Rigid? Flexible?
- How often does the department meet?
- How about the students? Are they motivated? What do they do after graduation?
- How are most grad students funded?
- What specific research will you pursue if you are selected? How do you anticipate funding it?
- How has your experience and training prepared you to teach the courses required?
- What research will you be doing when you show up here?
- What is your philosophy of grad student training? How will you support students? What types of projects do you expect them to work on?
- How do you help grad students get started on a project?
- How would you respond to a student who is floundering (early vs. late)?
- How would you handle an interpersonal conflict in your lab?
- What is your vision for the department/school? Where is it going in the next 5 years? 10?
- Where do you see your work going in the next 10-20 years?
- Why did you come here?
- Why do you want this job?
- Please share with me an example of how you helped coach or mentor someone. What improvements did you see in the person's knowledge or skills?
ASK:
- What is the long term plan for this school/institution?
- What is the outside perception of this department? Strong? Unified? Interactive?
- What sorts of programs are available for new faculty members?
- What resources are available to initiate student research?
- What are the indirect costs of grants?
- What are the expectations for the summer? On campus? Or is field work OK?
- What are typical teaching opportunities, across the college?
- Are teaching training opportunities available? What kinds? How often?
- What is the schedule and mechanism of faculty review?
- What are the benefits?
- What is the time frame for making a decision?
- What is your vision for the department/school? Where is it going in the next 5 years? 10?
- What are current plans for future hires?
- What sorts of programs are available for new faculty members?
- What kind of graduate students do you attract?
- What is available as 'set up' money?
- Is there department research support available? Of what kinds?
- What secretarial help is available for working with courses? With grants/papers?
- What is the teaching expectation through time? How many courses?
- What would this person teach over the next 3 years?
- How much flexibility in what an individual teaches?
- Are TAs available? For what courses?
- What are the teaching labs like?
- What non-teaching expectations are there?
- What are the 'standing' department committees?
- On what criteria are decisions made?
- What are the unwritten criteria?
- What percent succeed?
- What are the criteria for promotion to full professor?
- What do you like best about this place?
- What do you like least about this place?
- What are hiring priorities for the future?
- What else does a newcomer need to know?
- What sorts of programs are available for new faculty members?
- What do you wish you'd known?
- How about the students? Are they motivated? What do they do after graduation?
- What support is available for graduate student research? Enough computers?
- What support is available for undergrad research?
- What support is available for research?
- What do you teach?
- What is the general teaching expectation through time? How many courses?
- What would you like this person to teach over the next 3 years?
- How much flexibility in what an individual teaches?
- Are TAs available? For what courses?
- How much funding is there for courses, particularly new ones? Can you buy what you need?
- What secretarial help is available for working with courses? With grants/papers?
- Is this a Mac based or PC based department? What are the student computer labs like?
- What percent of your time is spent on teaching, research and service?
- What is the average class size?
- What is the average lab size?
- What is your overall work load?
- What is the policy on sabbaticals? Do they have them? When? Are they automatic?
- What are the criteria for promotion to full professor?
- On what criteria are raises granted? Who decides?
- What's the best thing about this department?
- What could be improved?
- What's the best thing about this institution?
- What could be improved?
- What do you want from the new person?
- What skills/courses/seminars could I offer that would be especially helpful to you?
- What's a typical junior/senior course like?
- What's a typical grad course like?
- What classes are hard? How much out of class work is there? Is there a lot of variation among different sections of the same course?
- What's the grad curriculum, beyond the core courses? Do students take many courses?
- What's this statistics core course like from a student perspective?
Have answers to any of the above for your fellow job seekers? Share them in the comments here!