Serving as Department or Division Chair: Beyond the Job Description
Few chairs planned to serve as administrators, managers, or chairs when they were in graduate school or starting their academic careers. Most job descriptions for department chairs are simply lists of activities for which the chair is responsible, suggesting that chairs are task- oriented managers who schedule courses, handle students’ complaints, order equipment, prepare reports and evaluations, and take care of other departmental business. Chairs also must assume responsibility for departmental leadership, representing the department to the campus and community, serving as departmental advocate, and mentoring junior—and sometimes senior—faculty members. How do chairs manage these responsibilities along with their teaching and scholarly duties? What are models for the chair role? What tasks and projects might be successfully delegated to colleagues? What does the dean or CAO expect from chairs? Participants will discuss their institutional roles using interactive exercises and in small group discussions. Each workshop will offer separate sections for new and experienced chairs and deans.
The Department or Division Budget
The department or division operating budget is often viewed as a simple set of line-item allocations. Chairs will learn what a budget is (and isn’t), the different types of budgets, how their unit budgets fit into the larger institutional picture, effective practices for budget management, how to support colleague chairs in the budget process, and how to make an effective case for additional funding for the department or division. Each workshop will offer separate sections for new and experienced chairs and deans.
Using Data Effectively
Good data can inform decisions about revisions to existing academic programs, help determine new curricular directions, and suggest strategies for attracting students to the major. How can departmental or divisional level data—including data from learning-outcomes assessment, program reviews, campus satisfaction surveys, enrollment trends, and national surveys such as the National Survey of Student Engagement—be used to strengthen programs? Chairs will learn how to use data for revisions to the curriculum, to conduct program reviews, and to attract students. Each workshop will offer separate sections for new and experienced chairs and deans.
Preventive Law I: Adhering to Institutional Procedures and Policies—Hiring Practices
An attorney with experience in relevant cases will discuss hiring practices from the viewpoint of the department or division chair role. Discussion will focus on the importance of following effective procedures and institutional policies in drafting the position description, appointing the search committee, managing candidate files, checking references, and interviewing candidates on the phone and in person.
Preventive Law II: Adhering to Institutional Procedures and Policies—Faculty Performance Evaluation
An attorney will lead a discussion of the chair’s role in faculty performance evaluation for reappointment, tenure, and promotion. Topics for discussion include the importance of adhering to effective procedures and institutional policies when documenting professional performance, the role of student evaluations of instruction, peer review of teaching, the evaluation of scholarly activities, and contributions to the work of the department or division.
Dealing with Difficult Faculty Conversations
Department and division chairs can prevent many issues from mushrooming into major problems through early intervention. Sometimes chairs delay difficult conversations with colleagues because they lack expertise to encourage change or to deliver bad news tactfully. How can the department or division chair understand better why a faculty member is less effective than expected? What strategies can motivate and support faculty members to become more productive? What skills and strategies might chairs develop to facilitate difficult conversations? Participants will explore how to have a frank conversation with a colleague and will have an opportunity to practice proven techniques.
Becoming a Leader on Campus
Department and division chairs occupy a pivotal role in the administrative structure of a college or university. The job often has been described as “leading from the middle.” How does the chair learn to lead? What are the potential challenges in the role of leader? How can the chair influence faculty colleagues within and beyond the department or division? Department or division chairs must develop a wider vision and understanding of campus-wide initiatives in which they might assume a leadership role. What campus resources can chairs tap to develop an institutional perspective? How can campus governance be a vehicle for this development? How can a chair find a mentor? What opportunities might be available when the chair is no longer the department or division leader? Participants will learn how to identify opportunities for leadership at the chair level. Each workshop will offer separate sections for new and experienced chairs and deans.
Building and Maintaining a Collegial Department
What are the strategies that experienced chairs employ to build and maintain a collegial atmosphere within a department or division? What lessons have they learned about working with their colleagues, students, and staff members toward departmental goals? How can chairs encourage diverse points of view and respect for all department or division members? Participants will explore these questions with an experienced administrator.