Building social capital: leading and leveraging constituencies outside the college

Building social capital for a college and discipline requires actively engaging in the work of the university and creating partnerships with stakeholders outside the university, who share common areas of interest. As a public university dean for the past 5 years, I have found this work demands a considerable investment of time, energy, and stamina to maintain the vision of ultimate success. This article discusses three lessons I have learned in this journey as a new dean: serving as dean involves more than your college; a dean must actively engage in the work of the university as a whole and advocate for other colleges within the university; and a dean must take time to engage stakeholders outside the university.