IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE WITHIN THE DEAN’S OFFICE 71 responsibilities and benefits associated with the position, so deans should bear this in mind when selecting titles. One dean faced a dilemma concerning a staff member who held the title of director, had an Ed.D., and led a large student services office for the college. The job entailed oversight of student recruitment, advising, career services, scholarships, and several retention, progression, and graduation initiatives. She was not considered as having an equal voice by some departments, however, which they manifested by ignoring or resisting her recommendations for improvement. The dean believed the title of assistant dean was more appropriate for her scope of responsi- bility and would signal that she was a full mem- ber of the dean’s leadership team and deserved a concomitant level of respect [Symbolic]. Because this title had only been held by faculty, he elected to run the concept of the title change by the col- lege’s faculty council [Structural, Political]. The faculty recommended overwhelm- ingly that the title change be approved, and once the change had been effectuated, the departments opposing her became more open to hearing her ideas for improvement. Faculty The process of title change for a faculty member tends to be less complicated than for staff. However, as Roper and Deal (2010) state, the symbolic frame is the most overlooked, which has implications for naming faculty positions in the dean’s office. For most institutions, the position of associate dean outranks assistant dean, and the prefix of senior or executive indicates an administrative rank above those with- out the prefix. The trailing words are more important for external recognition of the position, as they signify the general description of the position (which, as for staff, at least hit the highlights of their responsibilities) and identify the priorities of the dean’s office. However, there are few immediate stakeholders in the choice of these titles except for the dean and the specific individuals in the position. Yet such titles hold significant symbolic power, indicating the priorities you have identified for the dean’s office. New deans—and those trying to keep the office operations current with changes in higher education—might want to be involved in areas critical for the improvement of the college. As dean, if you oversee program assessment, it does not make sense for an associate dean to have the word “assessment” in their title. Similarly, it may be important symbolically to include a specific word or phrase in an associate/assistant dean’s title, demonstrating someone is responsible for this activity in the dean’s office. One example would be “Diversity” or “Inclusive Excel- lence.” These titles are appearing more frequently in administrative titles. Of late, New deans—and those trying to keep the office operations current with changes in higher education—might want to be involved in areas critical for the improvement of the college.