To foster the continued success of Temple's academic enterprise, the Board of Trustees has approved a new policy for periodic review of the performance and effectiveness of Temple's academic deans, the administrative leaders of the university's schools and colleges.

"This is a process to ensure that our schools and colleges have the highest level of leadership excellence," said Hai-Lung Dai, Temple's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

For each dean, the process will begin with the appointment of a consultative review committee by the president to evaluate the dean's performance and effectiveness. The president will appoint a current or former dean to chair each consultative review committee. A wide range of constituencies will be represented on the committee, including faculty members, staff and students, as well as the school or college's alumni and members of the board of visitors. Reviews of deans will normally take place every fifth year.

The review process will include oral interviews with the dean under review as well as interviews with stakeholders, from faculty and staff to alumni and students. Confidentiality will be a hallmark of the committee's work.

"Having a systematic process for reviewing the performance of academic deans is a positive step forward for the university," said Mark C. Rahdert, Charles Klein Professor of Law and Government at the Beasley School of Law and president of Temple's Faculty Senate. "I am glad to see the substantial involvement and participation of faculty."

Dai said that the new policy provides an opportunity to channel feedback to deans as leaders.

The first consultative review committee is expected to be appointed in Spring 2014. The new policy is available in its entirety at policies.temple.edu (under "Deans, Performance and Evaluation Review of Academic").