More than 250 department/division chairs representing 101 colleges and universities participated this spring in the second annual series of five regional workshops that explored how to strengthen academic leadership in independent colleges and universities.
     The workshops were held in San Diego, CA (April 4-5); Atlanta, GA (May 28-30); Philadelphia, PA (June 3-5); and Hartford, CT and Chicago, IL (June 10-12). Participants said highlights included “learning from department chairs at similar institutions,” “having time to plan with our campus team,” “informative and interesting sessions on legal issues,” “help with difficult personnel issues,” and “developing strategies for change.”
     The workshops, conducted this year for the second time, provided an important window on the key issues and challenges department chairs are addressing on their campuses, among them:

Promoting collaborative working relations and fostering collegiality among the departmental team. Addressing the range of departmental responsibilities while treating all faculty members fairly is one of the challenges for the departmental team. For some departments, team building is more difficult because of changing faculty cohorts, with newer faculty members having different skills and expectations than their senior colleagues.

Building good relationships between the department and the broader institution. These relationships include promoting collaborative working relationships and good communication with other departments, helping the departmental faculty be accountable to the institution, and promoting institutional service. For example, chairs reported strains between some professional departments and the institution if accreditation standards for that field were not in alignment with institutional policies or practices. Changing administrations ushering in new practices and programs also presented challenges for chairs in their efforts to help their department fit in the institutional culture.

Fostering change. A key part of the chair’s role can be creating a new department, developing new programs, merging programs, or responding to initiatives from the administration. In trying to effect change, chairs report difficulties in overcoming inertia, dealing with entrenched attitudes, and instituting change with limited resources. An additional concern for some was the lack of departmental memory when most of the faculty members are new to the institution.

Finances. Some chairs are proactive in the financial arena, searching for external sources of funds for their department, looking for effective ways to market their program to attract additional students, and developing new programs to build their department as well as the institution. Chairs also are facing financial challenges such as hiring and retaining qualified faculty members, funding professional development with a limited budget, and a low pay scale adversely affecting faculty morale.

Curricular concerns. Creating graduate programs in an undergraduate institution, reviewing programs, ensuring the quality of off-campus programs, creating long-term plans for curriculum development, and developing course schedules that allow majors to graduate in four years are among the chairs’ top curricular concerns.

Student needs. Concerned with differing needs of students, some chairs report a bimodal distribution on campus—excellent students wanting challenges and students who are not adequately prepared for college. Working with both groups, finding students who are a good fit for their departmental program and the institution, and encouraging faculty members to assist in the recruiting of students are among the difficulties confronting chairs.

Faculty hiring and development. A challenge mentioned by many chairs is the constant need to hire, mentor, and retain new faculty members within limited budgets, and to integrate them into the department when they may differ in many ways from the existing faculty members. The increasing role and use of adjunct faculty members—and the need to mentor them, make them part of the department, and gain benefits for them—are additional concerns. Faculty evaluations also present challenges, including striving for a fair system of evaluation for promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review, as well as wrestling with qualifications for merit pay.

Making collegiality work. Resolving conflicts among colleagues, working effectively with individuals who do not meet deadlines or do not pull their own weight on the departmental team, and dealing with ineffective administrators were some of the challenges named by chairs. Some also reported conflicts with the former chair; and women chairs occasionally encounter gender issues. Some departments are headed by chairs who have not yet received tenure, creating additional complications in working with their colleagues who will later play a key role in determining if they receive tenure.

Legal issues. These were wide ranging, including defending oneself and the institution from legal problems; understanding liability for student travel related to courses; closing programs legally; dealing with sexual and racial harassment, student problems with drugs and alcohol, FERPA, and ADA; following the law in hiring and dismissing faculty members; adhering to federal, state, and agency regulations; and handling liability issues associated with facilities.

Independent
The Council of Independent Colleges
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 320 • Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 466-7230 • Fax: (202) 466-7238 • e-mail: mailto:cic@cicnche.edu • www.cic.edu

Last updated: March 2003
Copyright © 2003 The Council of Independent Colleges