About ACAD

Mission
ACAD's mission is to provide chief academic officers and other academic administrators with networking and professional development opportunities and to support them in their work as educational leaders. ACAD members are characterized by their shared commitment to student learning and to the ideals of liberal education.

History
ACAD was established in 1945 as an independent, national organization for academic deans from institutions belonging to the Association of American Colleges (now AAC&U). That restriction was removed in 1968, and membership was open to all academic officers. However, the historic affiliation between the two organizations continues through their mutual commitment to fostering liberal education, and through the co-sponsorship of meetings and other collaborative programming efforts.

The fact that ACAD has chosen to remain a "conference" of deans, rather than an association, reflects a continuing dedication to its founding purpose: to create both formal and informal opportunities for deans to meet, network, and offer professional support to their colleagues in their work as academic leaders. Technology has greatly increased ACAD's effectiveness as a "conference" as members use the "deans only" electronic discussion list to solve problems, exchange views, and solicit advice from colleagues. Our new web site further enhances this capacity by providing membership and meeting information, a member directory, a newsletter, and position announcements.

In addition to holding an annual meeting, in recent years ACAD members have published The Resource Handbook for Academic Deans, collaborated with other higher education organizations on projects of mutual interest, run national and regional workshops on faculty development and academic leadership, and formed "interest groups" to address specific topics of concern to academic deans, including the role of arts and sciences in teacher preparation, women in academic leadership, accreditation and professional education, among others.