43: Rachel Croson (Minnesota) with Insights from a Successful Provost

On this episode of Deans Counsel, moderators Ken Kring and Dave Ikenberry speak with Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel T.A. Croson, the chief academic officer of the University of Minnesota multi-campus system and provost for the Twin Cities campus, with overarching responsibility for fostering the academic excellence of the educational and research missions of the University and providing leadership for undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.Rachel's path to Minnesota provided her with a raft of unique and broad experiences, including serving as Dean of Business at Texas-Arlington and Social Sciences at Michigan State, Division Director at the National Science Foundation, and Director at Texas-Dallas' Center on Negotiations.As Executive Vice President at Minnesota, Rachel has systemwide oversight responsibility for promotion and tenure, for policies and practices spanning all operational areas that affect the academic life of the university and faculty development, and for the development, revision, and approval of academic programs. As Twin Cities Provost, Rachel leads the Deans of the colleges, schools, and academic units of the Twin Cities campus and is responsible for advancing the academic mission of the flagship campus. In both these roles, she has responsibility for implementing many elements of the Systemwide Strategic Plan MPACT 2025.In her wide-ranging conversation with Ken and Dave, Rachel waxes expertly on what it means to be a successful provost, touching on topics such as:• the role of metrics in leading• the importance of broad experiences in advancing to campus leadership • best practices for hiring deans and effectively reviewing their performance• do's and don't's for deans• her biggest surprise upon becoming a provostand more.Learn more about Rachel CrosonComments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at [email protected] for listening.-Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts--DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn FerryDeansCounsel.com