Enhance your knowledge of business school strategy and your ability to lead a business school team

This year's Deans and Directors' Development Programme is sold out. To express your interest for the 2025 cohort, please contact enquiries@charteredabs.org.

Overview

The Deans and Directors Development Programme (3DP) helps those who are preparing for, or aspiring to, the role of business school Dean to better understand the complexities of the role; the nuances of leading business school teams, and how to navigate the challenging environment in which business schools currently operate.

3DP is a multi-dimensional development programme designed to nurture professional and leadership development. Each module tackles a range of critical issues led by expert guest speakers and are under the Chatham House Rule, giving participants the opportunity for candid and frank discussion.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the programme you will have deepened your understanding about the role of a Business School Dean and about the skills, knowledge and behaviours that are important in the role. In particular you will have a better understanding of:

  • The complex relationship that exists between business schools, parent universities and the broader business community and how to create a distinctive value proposition for your school
  • Practical ways in which Deans can build their senior teams and manage complex relationships between different teams, departments and between faculty and professional services
  • Creating and maintaining inclusive and learning and working cultures where all students and colleagues can thrive
  • Creating robust learning, teaching and student engagement strategies in a context of rapid technological change, regulatory challenge and the climate emergency.
  • The evolving research environment and the role of the Dean in supporting and enabling a school’s research mission and impact agenda
  • Contributing to the economic and social impact of UK business schools nationally and internationally

Professor Julia Clarke
Interim Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Middlesex University

Professor Julia Clarke is Interim Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Middlesex University. She has held a range of senior higher education leadership roles, including at Manchester Metropolitan University where she was PVC of Business and Law at the time the Business School became the first post 92 institution to achieve triple crown accreditation. Prior to that, she was at the University of Leeds where she was Pro-Dean for Student Education for the Faculty of Business.

Julia has been an active participant in the business education community, through her work with the Chartered Association of Business Schools and with the international accrediting bodies. She was Chair of Chartered ABS from 2018 to 2020 and was Chair of the Business and Management Panel for the Subject Teaching Excellence Framework Pilot that ran in 2018 and 2019. Julia is Professor of Business Education and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Session outlines

Session One: The role of the Dean and the environment in which we operate
18-19 January, Henley Business School, Greenlands Campus, RG9 3AU

This session will consider the skills, knowledge and behaviours required by business school deans to deal with the challenges and emerging developments facing universities and business schools.  We will hear from those who have led strategic change and explore how you as new or aspiring deans can drive success in the context of your own School’s mission, values and context.

Session Two: Building and maintaining effective teams
29 February – 1 March, Birmingham City University, 15 Bartholomew Row, Birmingham B5 5JU

This session will look at how Deans effectively develop and deploy human and financial resources to deliver the Business School’s strategy whilst managing the duality of their own roles at school and institutional level.  We will explore how successful Deans nurture an inclusive culture and build and maintain high performing teams.

Session Three: Delivering impact through teaching, research and knowledge exchange
25-26 April, Chartered ABS, 4th Floor, 40 Queen St, London EC4R 1DD

This session will explore the role of the Dean in leading the delivery of significant and positive impact through research and teaching, and the criticality of balancing the two.  We will investigate how Business Schools must continually innovate if they are to remain relevant in the context of fast-moving technological, societal and climate change.

Session Four: Assessing the impact of the business school and its Dean
20-21 June, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints, All Saints Building, Manchester M15 6BH

This session will consider how, in a world where Business Schools are constantly judged via rankings, accreditations and excellence frameworks, Deans demonstrate and leverage achievement.  We will hear from current and former leaders on their stories of transformational change and consider how you as a new or aspiring dean build a legacy of sustainable success for your School.

Session format

All modules are 24 hour 'lunch-to-lunch' sessions, the usual format being:

Day One

12:00 Registration & lunch

13:00 Day One session starts

The programme will include break(s)

17:00 Day One session concludes

19:00 Dinner

Day Two

08:30 Refreshments

09:00 Day Two session starts

The programme will include break(s)

13:00 Day Two programme concludes with lunch after which participants depart

 >>The programme fee includes Dinner and accommodation on the evening of Day One<<

Programme fee: £4,990

Can 2 people from the same institution attend this programme?

Due to the nature of the programme which focuses on personal development and encourages frank and open discussion, it may not always be suitable for two participants to attend from the same institution. If we receive two registrations from individuals at the same institution we will notify the institution and the participants, taking account of when the registrations were received, and ask for guidance on whether one or both can attend on the same programme.

If you have any queries, please contact us on enquiries@charteredabs.org

“The 3DP programme elevated my thinking of Business Schools and Higher Education Institutions, to a more strategic and holistic level. A blend of valuable insights from industry leaders, together with the supportive environment of the cohort and action learning approach, provided an environment which challenged my thinking and significantly accelerated my professional development.”

Professor Tom Williamson, Assistant Principal, Faculty of Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Anglia Ruskin University

"I would absolutely recommend 3DP to any senior leaders in business schools who are aspiring to become the Dean/Director of a business school or want to know more about what it takes to become a Dean/Director of a business school. I have gained an enormous amount of candid advice and tips from seasoned business school PVC/Deans and head-hunters that you will not easily find in any literature. I have also met some brilliant colleagues through this programme - very useful if you want to learn good practice outside your own institution.”

Professor Yanguo Jing, Dean of the Faculty of Business, Computer Science and Digital Industries, Leeds Trinity University