How do you like to encourage ideas in your faculty or student body?

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The interviewer is interested in understanding your leadership style and how you foster creativity and collaboration within your academic community. Encouraging ideas is vital for promoting innovation and growth, and as an academic dean, it is your responsibility to create a supportive environment that nurtures these qualities. One effective way to encourage ideas is to create a collaborative environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and opinions. This can be achieved through open communication channels and regular brainstorming sessions where everyone is encouraged to participate. Additionally, recognizing and rewarding innovative ideas can also serve as a motivator for both faculty and students to continue generating and sharing their ideas. It's important to foster an environment where everyone feels valued, and their contributions are appreciated, regardless of their position or background. By doing so, you can create a culture of creativity and innovation that benefits the whole community.

Here are some ways that you can encourage ideas in others:

- Get to know them and what they like to work on
- Send an encouraging email letting them know you like their plan or ideas
- Publicly praise their efforts
- If they are doing a great job, offer them more related opportunities
- If you are a leader, then tell them that you like their ideas
- Say things like 'Well done' or 'Nice work' regularly
- Show that you believe in their quality of work before they even deliver it

"I like to encourage my faculty and student body to be creative and present ideas to me, no matter how off the wall they may seem. Some of our most successful employees are confident in bringing forward their unique ideas. I encourage participation through an open door policy and strong praise for those who show initiative."

"As an academic dean, I believe encouraging ideas in our faculty and student body is crucial for fostering a culture of innovation and growth. I like to do this by hosting regular brainstorming sessions where everyone is invited to share their ideas, whether big or small. I also like to provide opportunities for faculty and students to collaborate on projects and research, which can lead to new and exciting ideas. I strive to create a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas."

Anonymous Answer

"I will ask what someone is working on or would like to be working on. I ask for ideas. Sometimes people can talk about them, sometimes a post-it note helps. I may also suggest they drop me an email. All ideas are good ideas. People have to believe that or they won't collaborate to come up with the best. Again, a trust culture matters."

Rachelle's Feedback

It's good that you brought in the trust culture gain. This is a great answer and shows excellent leadership abilities.

"I will ask what someone is working on or would like to be working on. I ask for ideas. Sometimes people can talk about them, sometimes a post-it note helps. I may also suggest they drop me an email. All ideas are good ideas. People have to believe that, or they won't collaborate to come up with the best. Again, a culture of trust matters."

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Anonymous Answer

"I encourage faculty to engage on a given mission that is on the table for workplace improvement, by meeting with two or three of them in a group meeting and I allow them to brainstorm ideas to research. I then assign each of them to further research their ideas and come back in a future meeting with concept papers and then we narrow their ideas into one or two approaches. This process tends to allow them to own the project and encourage other faculty to contribute to the process which eventually becomes an action item for implementation and review."

Stephanie's Feedback

Your response is very solution-focused and detail-oriented, but this focuses only on staff ideas. If the role that you are applying to has any sort of student-facing component, I would suggest also adding a few ideas about how you encourage ideas from a student body. (This process generally requires a different approach than the one you'd use with faculty.)

Anonymous Answer

"I give time for questions and comments during the college faculty meetings and events such as the dean's diversity committee meetings. I don't think that I have a big ego, so I am also open to suggestions. I have had a few students contact me directly or request meetings through my assistant, and I've been happy to hear their suggestions for new programs or to improve their education."

Chad's Feedback

Good answer! Providing time and space for engagement is an effective strategy to encourage ideas from the faculty and the student body. Consider revising the language slightly to ensure you are coming across as confident in your response. For instance, you may replace "I think" with "I believe". See the example below:

"I ensure I provide time for questions and comments during the college faculty meetings and events such as the dean's diversity committee meetings. I don't have a huge ego, so I am open to suggestions and encourage faculty and staff to share them openly. I have also had students contact me directly or request meetings through my assistant, and I'm always happy to hear their ideas for new programs or suggestions on ways to improve their education."

Anonymous Answer

"I encourage my students and collaborators to work hard, to be creative and productive, and proactive because this is good for them. The reality of life is tough and cruel! if you are useful, you are useful. If have no use, you are no use. Every contribution would be appreciated, recognized, and has rewards, and the contributor is the best one to receive these benefits. For example, your publications, and your patents will help you to get a good job. Your funding will get you a tenure!"

Chad's Feedback

Good! You do well to talk about the importance of hard work and the benefits of contributing, both for students and faculty. However, you can make this response even more impactful by discussing the ways you encourage and inspire creativity in your faculty or student body. Do you publicly praise your faculty for their efforts? Do you tell students when they have done a great job, and offer them more related opportunities? Do you ask them to share their ideas, and provide validation?

Anonymous Answer

"Encouraging ideas is closely related to trusting culture and safe space. I plan to encourage ideas in different ways: For example, to continue our weekly faculty hours where we can get together to discuss ideas, new initiatives, and feedback, etc. Continue and stimulate my team with a policy of "open doors," where anytime is a good time for listening to new ideas and feedback. With students, for example, to continue our monthly meetings with student leaders where students and my team are there to discuss ideas to make the program better and more efficient. Also, continue our anonymous online form for new ideas/feedback and create a monthly coffee time with the dean. In summary, we need to communicate in different ways to get the trust of the faculty and students for starting to flourish ideas."

Amanda's Feedback

Creating safe spaces and using a variety of strategies to encourage ideas is a great place to start. If you have a track record of success in encouraging creativity and new ideas, consider expanding your answer to share how weekly faculty hours, "open doors," monthly meetings with student leaders, coffee with the dean, and anonymous online forms have helped you achieve that goal. Did the number of students attending those events increase over time? Have positive programs or cultural changes taken place based on feedback or ideas generated through these gatherings? Sharing the results of your openness to new ideas is a great way to illustrate that you have the real-world experience needed to lead faculty and students.

How to Answer: How do you like to encourage ideas in your faculty or student body?

Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Academic Dean job interview.

25. How do you like to encourage ideas in your faculty or student body?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question

Written by Krista Wenz on June 11th, 2023

Entry Level Example

Written by Krista Wenz on June 11th, 2023

Answer Example

Written by Krista Wenz on June 11th, 2023

Experienced Example

Written by Krista Wenz on June 11th, 2023

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Rachelle's Feedback

It's good that you brought in the trust culture gain. This is a great answer and shows excellent leadership abilities.

"I will ask what someone is working on or would like to be working on. I ask for ideas. Sometimes people can talk about them, sometimes a post-it note helps. I may also suggest they drop me an email. All ideas are good ideas. People have to believe that, or they won't collaborate to come up with the best. Again, a culture of trust matters."

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