View a newsletter article on the Workshops in the Summer
2004 and Winter/Spring
2004 issues of the Independent.
Theme
Handling Front Line Issues of Retention,
Personnel,
and Preventive Law
To assist independent colleges and universities in strengthening
the leadership at the department level, the Council of Independent
Colleges is offering its third annual series of Workshops for experienced,
as well as new, department/division chairs. The Workshops focus on
the distinctive challenges of department leadership in small and mid-sized
private colleges and universities. The theme this year is Handling
Front Line Issues of Retention, Personnel, and Preventive Law.
Workshop topics that will reflect this theme include:
Student Retention: Chairs will explore
strategies for working with faculty members to improve student retention.
Workshop exercises will assist chairs in examining issues such as
changing student demographics, understanding the characteristics of
“Millennial” students, motivating today’s students,
the key role of advising, strengthening faculty/student interaction
to retain students, using institutional data to target students needing
assistance, strengthening freshman year programs, and understanding
the role of financial aid in enrollment management.
Recruiting Students: What are the appropriate
roles for the department chair and faculty members in recruiting students?
How can the chair work with faculty colleagues to strengthen the number
and mix of students?
Having Difficult Conversations on Personnel
Issues: Department chairs can prevent many personnel issues
from mushrooming into major problems through early intervention. Sometimes
chairs delay difficult conversations with colleagues because they
lack expertise in tactfully encouraging change or in delivering bad
news. Participants will explore how to have a frank conversation with
a colleague or staff member when he or she may have done something
potentially harmful to the institution.
Dealing with Difficult Personnel Issues:
Workshop participants will address questions such as: How do you have
a frank conversation with a colleague who has done something potentially
harmful to the institution? How do you utilize the skills of the faculty
colleagues you have? How do you encourage civility and collegiality
in the department?
Legal Issues: Lawyers familiar with
legal issues at private colleges and universities will explain the
basic principles with which department chairs should be familiar,
as well as procedures for dealing with personnel issues and situations
in which it is necessary to document actions.
Working with the Chief Academic Officer:
What do chief academic officers expect of department chairs? What
are the dos and don’ts for department/division chairs in creating
an effective working relationship with the CAO?
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Who Should Attend?
The Workshops are designed to serve both experienced
and new chairs
of departments or divisions at independent colleges and universities.
Campuses are encouraged to send several department chairs to the Workshop
so they may support one another in instituting change upon return
to their college or university. A single representative from an institution
would also find the Workshop helpful. Chief academic officers, deans,
and associate deans who work closely with chairs would find the program
beneficial and are welcome to attend.
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Pre-Workshop Opportunities
To maximize the value of the Workshop, prior to the
meeting,
participants are encouraged to provide CIC with a list of any issues
they would like to discuss by accessing the CIC website.
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Advisory Groups
The Department Chair Workshops are planned with the
advice of the CIC Department Chair Task Force and a national advisory
panel of experts on the work of department chairs. Task Force members
are: Esther Coleman, Education Department, Marygrove College; Enrico
Giordano, Fine Arts Department, College of Mount Saint Vincent; Catherine
Gordon, Occupational Therapy Department, Ithaca College; Paul Johnson,
Humanities Division, Franklin College; Mindy Korol, Psychology Department,
Mount St. Mary’s College & Seminary; and Robin Schraft,
Department of Theatre, Drury University.
Members of the advisory panel are: Carla Howery, Deputy Executive
Officer, American Sociological Association and co-author of Effecting
Department Change to Build Excellent and Inclusive Sociology Departments;
Daniel W. Wheeler, Professor, Agriculture Leadership, Education and
Communication, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and author of The
Academic Chair Handbook; Howard B. Altman, Professor of Modern
Languages and Linguistics, University of Louisville and a specialist
in faculty and chair development; Jon Wergin, Professor, Ph.D. Program
in Leadership and Change, Antioch University and author of Departments
That Work: Creating and Sustaining Cultures of Excellence in Academic
Departments; and Kelly Ward, Assistant Professor, Educational
Leadership, Washington State University and co-author of The Department
Chair’s Role in Developing New Faculty into Teachers and Scholars.
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Workshop Costs
Member colleges:
$290 for the first person
$230 for each additional person
Nonmember colleges:
$390 for the first person
$330 for each additional person
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2004
Workshops for Department and Division Chairs
