"Close acquaintances will expect the new chair to "fix" those
policies and procedures about which he or she used to commiserate
with faculty colleagues."
Tomorrow's Professor Msg.#335 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPARTMENT
CHAIRS
Folks:
The excerpt below looks at three major transitions a faculty member
experiences in going from professor to department chair. It is from:
THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR AS ACADEMIC LEADER, by Irene W.D. Hecht, Mary
Lou Higgerson, Walter H. Gmelch, and Allen Tucker. © 1999 by
The
American Council on Education and The Oryx Press Published by The
Oryx Press, 4041 North Central at Indian School Road. Phoenix Arizona
85012-3397 Reprinted with permission.
Regards,
Rick Reis
reis@stanford.edu
UP NEXT: Bringing A Scientific Model to Humanistic Research
Tomorrow's Academy
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ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPARTMENT CHAIRS
Changing roles from faculty member to department chair
In talking with several hundred department-chairs each year, we
find
that many say they were not prepared for the role shift from faculty
to chairs. Particularly, chairs being promoted from inside the
department do not anticipate their life to be much different. While
new chairs foresee having new responsibilities, they are not always
prepared for the shift in how faculty colleagues and others treat
them. Almost immediately, new chairs discover that long-time faculty
colleagues (and friends) respond to them differently. Some faculty,
for example, will assume that the new chair is "too busy"
to join the
informal lunch bunch now that s/he is an "administrator."
Others will
be less candid than previously in discussing issues affecting the
department. Some may even avoid the chair. Yet, the same group of
faculty colleagues are likely to hold high expectations for the
performance of the new chair. Close acquaintances will expect the
new
chair to "fix" those policies and procedures about which
he or she
used to commiserate with faculty colleagues. Most faculty will expect
the new chair to be able to "hold the line" with the administration
on every issue because they trust the new chair to know the situation
and have a full understanding of the department's needs. Walking
the
fine line between the role of colleagues and department chair can
be
difficult.
John Bennett (1983, 2-6) identified three major transitions that
new
department chairs experience. The first shift comes in moving from
being a specialist to functioning as a generalist. As a faculty
member, an individual specializes in one academic area. However,
when
an individual becomes a department chair, he or she must have a
thorough understanding of the full spectrum of department offerings.
Moreover, faculty colleagues expect the new chair to represent all
specializations within the department with equal enthusiasm. In
addition, to being held accountable for more content, the new chair
is also responsible for a substantive grasp of the total department
as soon as possible., because other faculty will be suspicious and
critical of any chair who can only advocate his or her teaching
and
research specialty.
The second transition the department chair experiences is the shift
from functioning as an individual to running a collective. For the
most part, faculty work independently at their own pace. Other than
holding assigned classes or attending scheduled meetings, faculty
determine when they work on course preparation, research, or other
projects. On most campuses faculty set their own office hours, and
determine when they come and go, around class and meeting times.
Department chairs, however, must orchestrate the work done by this
group of individuals who work independently. Worse yet, some chair
duties cause the new chair to interfere with the independence of
faculty members. Chairs, for example assign courses and class times,
schedule meetings, and solicit attendance at special events such
as
recruitment or placement fairs and award programs. Chairs need to
balance their respect for faculty autonomy with their responsibility
for carrying out the department mission.
The third major transition described by Bennett is the shift from
loyalty to one's discipline to loyalty to the institution. Chairs
must represent the institution's perspective. There will be times
when chairs may need to sacrifice a discipline need or a department
preference for an institutional need. These tough decisions are
likely to make chairs unpopular with faculty who recognize only
the
discipline perspective and may believe that the chair should place
the department first in every situation. Whether or not the
department implements a student learning outcomes assessment program
may not be a matter for the department to decide. Similarly, campus
policy on course enrollment and the need to involve faculty in
student recruitment and retention activities are likely to be matters
on which the chair cannot refuse the department's support and
participation. Individuals who remain loyal to the discipline and
fail to learn the institution's perspective and respond to campus
needs become liabilities to the institution and undermined the
standing of the department on the campus.
REFEERENCES
Bennett, J.B. 1988. Department chairs: Leadership in the trenches.
In
Leaders for a new era: Strategies for higher education, edited by
M.F. Green, 57-73. New York: American Council on Education/McMillan.
Bennett contends that the "core academic success" of
institutions of
higher education rests upon the quality and capabilities of the
chairs. Working from this premise, the author discusses the ambiguous
but important role of the chair, the rewards and frustrations
associated with the position, and the leadership opportunities for
chairs.
--------------. 1983. Managing the academic department: Cases and
notes. New York: American Council on Education/McMillan.
This text presents short case studies on the responsibilities usually
assigned to department chairs. Chapter 1 contains a description
of
the department chair position.
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