Jane Adamitus

JANE ADAMITUS

What is your current position, and how many years have you been a dean?
Third year as Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at Christopher Newport University.

What advice would you give new deans?
Spend some time learning. I did a ‘listening tour’ in order to learn about other departments and understand how systems work. There is a learning curve as you research different disciplines, the accreditation standards, for instance. It is whole different thing to learn about a discipline as an administrator. Then, be careful how long you spend listening to issues and be sure to move forward. I had worked within the administration for a long time but it was a very different experience once I was dean.

What would you say is your most meaningful contribution as dean?
We had a huge administration change, a new president, and I have succeeded in changing the dean/chair relationship. I changed the internal structure, giving people more of a voice and room to talk about issues.

When you think about the liberal arts, what gives you a sense of hope, what is a challenge?
Liberal arts are the future and technology will make it stronger. Technology changes rapidly but core competencies are always necessary and valuable. Interdisciplinarity is my theme, people will understand the humanities better when they see them in use next to something else.
My concern is that it’s hard to communicate to parents/students the value of the program. We have to think about the language that we use.

Why are you a member of CCAS?
I went to a CCAS conference as a Department Chair and many years later it was recommended by other colleagues. The New Deans Seminar was super helpful. The discussions at the annual meeting are practical and informative and there are no assumptions about what we might already know.

What might someone be surprised to know about you?
I love to ride four-wheel ATVs, especially after it rains, mud everywhere!

What are you currently reading?
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt,
A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage,
I’m listening to Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester,
and the series of 'who-done-its' by Anthony Horowitz