A Career in Academic Administration: Joanne Berger-Sweeney
Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Tufts University
How did you decide on a career in academic administration?
“I got a master's of public health at UC Berkeley in Environmental Health Sciences then I went on and did a PhD at Johns Hopkins
University, I did a post-doctoral fellowship in Paris. I lived in Paris for a couple of years, then I came back and started at Wellesley
College as an assistant professor and rose through the ranks and after I was a full professor I then became an associate Dean of the
college at Wellesley. So my first foray into administration, at least academic administration, was at Wellesley College where I had
been for probably twelve, thirteen years before I went into administration. Why did I kind of decide to go into administration and not
stay you know purely in the teaching and research realm? I would say it's fundamentally that I wanted to help a broader array of
people. I had wonderful interactions with my students in the classroom with my fellow faculty members but I had this desire to try
and affect changes and policy that were broader than my small sphere. And I thought academic administration would give me the
opportunity to do that and to help a broader array of people and that’s kind of one of the things that pulled me into administration
but I continued to have a research laboratory and continue to this day to have a research laboratory because that's where my passion
is. Sometimes I feel as though my administration is my service and duty to the rest of society, and the science I love so much I feel like
you wouldn’t have to pay me to do it. So the combination feels like the right thing for me.”
What are your responsibilities as Dean?
“Fundamentally it means that I'm responsible for all the operations in the school of Arts and Sciences. From admissions to financial
aid to the graduate school of Arts and Sciences to communications director, the academic deans report to me; it's really basically all
of the operations of the school of Arts and Sciences I'm responsible for. So the kinds of things I do, besides managing a very
competent team of deans is I kind of set the vision for the school after listening to people. I put together and set what direction,
what strategic goals we’re going to try and achieve in a particular year. I address multiple constituencies in my job: obviously, the
students, you're always caring about the students when you’re in a position like this, but all the faculty eventually report up to me, all
of the staff in the school eventually report up to me and then I'm also responsible for alumni relations so I’m out on the road fundraising and trying to make sure that I can raise the kind of money necessary to support our vision and goals.”
What does a typical work day look like for you?
“I think what I like most about a day in the life of Joanne Berger-Sweeney as a dean is there is no typical day. You walk into the office
and you really don't know what you're going to find in a particular day. You have a set of meetings and you think you have an idea
with whom you're going to meet, what kinds of interactions you’re going to have, but inevitably something comes up absolutely
unplanned and that's kind of a typical day.”
“The days that are a little more predictable are the days when I'm on the road fund-raising and there are particular appointments in
which I know I'm going to meet with individuals. But for the most part, I might be interacting with other deans to resolve problems
that they have, I might find out that someone in one of our sporting events created a bit of a scandal and are we going to ban the
entire team? What kind of investigation are we going to have? I might find out during a day that a faculty member wants to create a
new and exciting program that energizes me and I think about, how can I support that? I could be meeting with a potential chair of a
department in one of the academic programs at Tufts University. I might be meeting with staff to try and figure out how do we create
the best professional development pathway for that individual. Rarely, though, during my day and in my position do I actually get to
interact with students. So that's one of the things about being in the position that I’m in. I'm now multiple layers away from the
students and the way that I interact with students is actually in my research laboratory. I still have a small research laboratory where I
get to interact with the students who work there, the undergraduates. Exactly, I think to maintain my credibility as an administrator
and a dean, I can't get too far away from the jobs that other people have so I continue to maintain some level of research so I
understand what it's like to try and manage something else while doing research.”
What excites you most about your work?
“The most exciting part of my job as an academic administrator is watching other people succeed. Basically putting in the supports to
allow other people to thrive, that's what I absolutely love about my job. I also love that I have the ability to shape and change higher
education in the United States and influence well beyond my individual laboratory. Those things are incredibly satisfying for me.”
What challenges does the transition from research to administration present?
“...one of the most challenging aspects of moving from scientist to academic administrator is, as much in the scientific world as I can
predict, I can control the experiments that are done in my laboratory. I can’t control the results, but I can control the experiments
and the directions in which they move. That’s not always true in an administrative position. I'm much more reactive to what's going
on outside.“
”The executive administrative dean had a conversation with me and said I find that sometimes it’s really hard to work with a scientist
who comes into these positions because scientists expect things to be logical and dealing with people in administration is not a
logical thing. So I have to remember to take some times off my scientific hat and remember that the way people and individuals
interact isn't always in a logical fashion and usually when I do that I'm a much better administrator.”
What advice would you give to neuroscientists interested in pursuing a career in academic administration?
“I think it's important to come in and really establish credibility in your area of academic expertise. Once you have done that, then
you might make small forays into administration by serving on important committees at your university, maybe being involved as
chair or co-chair of vice chair of your department. So you want to make some small forays to determine if you really like it because
you’re not going to be a really good administrator if you don't really like it. I don't care what the title is, I don't care what you think
the advantages are you have to actually get in the position and enjoy what you are doing. So and I think you really only know that by
trying it out a little bit. But I think it's best to do that once you’ve established credibility in your field.”
**For more information about various career path choices, please visit www.sfn.org. Continue the discussion and network with
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