Table of Contents
Jossey-Bass Resources for Department Chairs
Title Page
Copyright
Preface to the New Edition
What's New in This Edition
Dedication
Part One: What New Chairs Need to Know
Chapter One: Why Department Chairs Are Important
Case Study: A Successful Department Chair
A Formula for Success
Chapter Two: The Chair's Role as Department Leader
The Catalyst Between Ideas and Action
Setting the Department Agenda
Faculty as a Department Resource
Curriculum and Coursework
Tenure and Promotion
Hiring
Pursuing a Leadership Role
Chapter Three: The Chair's Ecosystem
Operating in an Open System
The Chair as Chief Boundary Spanner
What Chairs Need to Know About Faculty
What Chairs Need to Know About Deans
Chapter Four: Handling Stress and Conflict
Handling the Bureaucratic Grind and Housekeeping Tasks
Role Stress and Role Conflict
Chapter Five: What Kind of Chair Will You Be?
Constant Observation
The Long View
What Kind of Chair Can You Be?
Part Two: Getting Started: How New Chairs Can Make a Difference
Chapter Six: Before You Begin
Understanding the Expectations
Essential Reading Before Taking Office
Chapter Seven: Planning
Creating a Vision for the Future
Writing a Vision Statement
Strategic Planning
Reaching for Consensus
Chapter Eight: Budget, Resource Management, and Development
Income and Expenses
Alumni Resources
Personnel Resources
New Resource Streams
Special Events, Annual Conferences, and Workshops
Faculty Incentives
Miscellaneous Cost-Cutting Measures
Making Your Budget Public
Chapter Nine: Curriculum, Scheduling, and Instruction
Curriculum
Scheduling
Instruction
Chapter Ten: Professional Development, Personnel Management, and Handling Challenging Personnel
Professional Development
Personnel Management
Challenging Personnel
Chapter Eleven: Departmental Communication
Effective Communication
Reaching Out
Chapter Tweleve: Student Development
A Proactive Approach
Advising
Chapter Thirteen: Strategic Positioning
Positioning Your Department Politically
Staying Close to Decision Making and Decision Makers
Chapter Fourteen: Understanding Your Institution and Your Role as Department Chair
Resources
References
The Author
Jossey-Bass Department Chair Leadership Institute Online Seminar Series
Jossey-Bass Resources for Department Chairs
Books
Jeffrey L. Buller, Academic Leadership Day by Day: Small Steps That Lead to Great Success
Jeffrey L. Buller, The Essential Department Chair: A Comprehensive Desk Reference, Second Edition
Don Chu, The Department Chair Primer: What Chairs Need to Know and Do to Make a Difference, Second Edition
Robert E. Cipriano, Facilitating a Collegial Department in Higher Education: Strategies for Success
Christian K. Hansen, Time Management for Department Chairs
Mary Lou Higgerson, Communication Skills for Department Chairs
Mary Lou Higgerson and Teddi A. Joyce, Effective Leadership Communication: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans for Managing Difficult Situations and People
Deryl Leaming, Academic Leadership: A Practical Guide to Chairing the Department, Second Edition
Deryl Leaming, Managing People: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans
N. Douglas Lees, Chairing Academic Departments: Traditional and Emerging Expectations
Darla J. Twale and Barbara M. De Luca, Faculty Incivility: The Rise of the Academic Bully Culture and What to Do About It
Jon Wergin, Departments That Work: Building and Sustaining Cultures of Excellence in Academic Programs
Daniel W. Wheeler et al., The Department Chair's Handbook, Second Edition
Daniel W. Wheeler, Servant Leadership for Higher Education: Principles and Practices
Journal
The Department Chair
Online Resources
Visit www.departmentchairs.org for information on online seminars, articles, book excerpts, and other resources tailored especially for department chairs.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chu, Donald. date.
The department chair primer : what chairs need to know and do to make a difference / Don Chu.—2nd ed.
p. cm.—(Jossey-Bass resources for department chairs)
Includes references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-07744-3 (pbk.); 978-1-118-17343-5 (ebk); 978-1-118-17344-2 (ebk); 978-1-118-17345-9 (ebk)
1. College department heads. 2. Universities and colleges—Departments. I. Title.
LB2341.C543 2012
378.1'11—dc23
23 2011038827
Preface to the New Edition
This is a book for academic leaders who are almost certainly too busy to read it—new department chairs. Chairs tell researchers that when they make the switch from faculty member to administrator, this transition into a brand new role takes up so much of their daily focus that they don't have the time or energy for much of anything else. Most say it takes them a year or even two before they feel that their feet are on the ground. Having been a department chair myself, I understand how important it is to get up to speed quickly and start doing the job. And not just for our own sake: chairs have never been more important to our departments, to our faculty, to our students, and to the community and society we serve in higher education than we are today.
The department chair is a change agent, the critical link in leadership that can lead to significant and almost immediate positive changes in higher educational institutions. In philosophy and sociology, the concept of “agency” is the capacity of individuals to make choices, to act on the world to change it. Gone are the days when chairs could wait out their terms, just do what had always been done, and assume that staff and historical protocol will keep the ship sailing on calm seas. To be successful in challenging times such as these, chairs need to be prepared for the job.
Our roles and responsibilities have shifted away from what they have been throughout our careers. As faculty, we may spend decades immersed in the culture and norms of behavior of our disciplines. We learn to analyze and write, to prepare and teach. We learn the language and customs of our disciplinary homes. But most new chairs take on this administrative job—in addition to their teaching duties—with little or no training. No wonder that new administrators so often feel at sea.
Chairs turn over rapidly in colleges and universities. Research shows that about half of all chairs turn over every three to six years (Chu and Veregge, 2002). For higher education to fulfill its vital social mission, department leaders must be prepared for their positions by getting up to speed on the basics quickly, educating themselves about the new role, and continuing to learn on the job. Chairs can actively manage and lead to improve the quality and productivity in higher education. The role of chair can be learned.
What's New in This Edition
This revision of The Department Chair Primer provides new administrators with what they need in an easily accessible form. These pages give you the context you need to get started and are full of practical ideas, examples, and possibilities for actions that you can take to make a difference. If you have the time and inclination to learn more about chairing, the Resources section at the back of the book lists some of the best of a growing list of references for theoretical and conceptual enrichment.
This book is divided into two parts. Part One provides the basics that you need to know as a front-line member of your institution's leadership and management team. Part Two is an overview of steps you can take to make good things happen in your department. Chapter Fourteen provides questions that you—as an individual or as part of a team of chairs—can work through to deepen your understanding of what you face and what actions you might take, given the particulars of your department and the environment in which it operates.
The landscape of higher education is changing rapidly and dramatically. Increasingly, more and more chairs are eager to create a culture of leadership and responsibility—to make a difference. I hope you will consider this new edition of The Department Chair Primer your guide in your new role as leader and your ongoing charge to make your department the best it can be for the faculty, staff, and students we all we serve.
Don Chu
California State University, San Marcos
October 2011
This book is dedicated and to my wife, Janine, whose love reminds me why they are so important. to my children, who carry forward these virtues; to my parents, who taught me these principles; to those who hold most dear honor, loyalty, service, and integrity:
Part One
What New Chairs Need to Know
“We are so fortunate to have you in our department,” the department chair said, welcoming the new faculty member. “We have high hopes for your work and the effect it may have on our students, your scholarly specialization, and the development of our service region. As your department chair, what I can do to support you and your work?”
How many of us had the good fortune to have an administrator who asked, “What do you need to help you in your work? What can I do for you to ease your transition?” Most of us—myself included—were pretty much left on our own to navigate this new territory.
As department chairs, we have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to be catalysts for the development of our faculty's talent; to be proactive supporters of good work to benefit our students and our scholarship; and to help those to whom we are obligated by our missions to serve. By applying the intelligence, analytical skills, discipline, and commitment to service that have made us successful in our careers as faculty, we can become excellent department chairs. But whereas it took us years or even decades to learn the art and science of scholarship and teaching, we do not have the luxury of time to learn the ins and outs of department administration.
The challenge facing new chairs today is to be able to make wise decisions from their very first day on the job. Not only do chairs have to make decisions about personnel, policies, and budget, but they also—perhaps literally overnight—must become the public and professional face of their unit. The chapters in Part One will provide you with the basic information you need to understand your role and negotiate your environment as you begin your new job.
Chapter One
Why Department Chairs Are Important
The new chair of the Art History Department was looking forward to taking charge of her new responsibilities. She thought she could make a difference in her department, which had always seemed to her to be stuck in the past. She was surprised to hear her predecessor speak bitterly of his time in the office. “I never wanted this job,” said Professor Ferguson, gathering his box of papers. “It was my turn,” he shrugged. “Now it's yours. Good luck!”
Not so long ago, many department chairs like Professor Ferguson got the job because “it was their turn.” Chairing the department was seen as a chore, a minor nuisance that got in their way until they had served their time. Some departments rewarded those who were willing to take on these management chores with tacit permission to support and forward their own specialization. Other chairs were expected simply to echo the dean's opinions or to blindly sign off on a course schedule that was the same every year, pass along “administrivia,” and not get in the way. Inevitably, after a year or two, they finally learn enough about budgeting, resource management and development, personnel development, and curriculum and course scheduling to do their jobs effectively—but then it was time to give up the job to someone else…who also felt unknowledgeable and uncomfortable, unprepared to actively lead their units (Chu and Veregge, 2002).
Thankfully, times have changed. The contemporary mission of most department chairs is much more active and demanding. As higher education faces economic and social challenges, as administration is flattened due to budget cuts, and as competition for students and funding grows, chairs have increasingly found themselves in the center of the action.
Research tells us that very few chairs today agree to take on the job because they want power. It's not a career choice. It's a choice based on the need to serve their students, their colleagues, and the disciplines they represent. There is no one better positioned than the chair to do what is right and necessary for the department.
Case Study: A Successful Department Chair
Department chairs have probably never been as important as they are today. In some ways, as you will learn, the position of department chair is more powerful than that of chancellor because it offers the very real opportunity to get things done. The following case study illustrates the significance of effective chair leadership
Dr. Li has been teaching in the Department of Mathematics for over twenty years. During that time, he has risen through the ranks, earning tenure and promotion to full professor along the way. Dr. Li has always been a tireless worker, teaching what needs to be offered, serving on countless committees without complaint, and advising multitudes of majors, all while gaining recognition for his applied mathematics scholarship.
Before he became chair several years ago, the department felt pressure from the all too common problems facing many academic departments today. As Chair Li put it, “Even before the recession, it didn't seem as if we could get enough faculty to teach all the courses everyone wanted us to teach. With so much to do, it was difficult for any of the faculty to do anything other than just teach. There was so little time to do research or to complete grant proposals. All of the faculty felt like rats on a treadmill, just running and running with no way to stop. The faster we ran, it seemed, the faster we needed to go just to keep from falling off.”
In the twenty years that Professor Li has been in the department, he has heard many of his fellow faculty complain about the lack of support and respect for mathematics. “They would say, ‘How can we do anything when we aren't supported?’” So when Dr. Li became chair, he decided to do something about it. He knew that the important problems facing his department could not be solved using the same level of thinking that was used to create those problems. It was time to engage both creatively and proactively.
First, he carefully analyzed his expenditures and made sure his budget was being used efficiently. He found that the department was being charged for many office and lab landline phones. Because these phones were barely used, he had them disconnected, saving about $2,000 per year. He then convinced the dean to allow him to redirect these funds into the purchase of laptop computers specially configured to assist the faculty with their instruction. Every year, he had a $2,000 fund to invest because this money was no longer being wasted on unused phone rental fees. “It wasn't rocket science,” he explains. “I just had to do it. It wasn't difficult. It should have been done long ago.”
The next step in his resource review was to look at the curriculum and course schedule. “We revised some of our lower-division courses to make them much more efficient,” he says. “We produced the same enrollment with five or six fewer sections. This saved us lots of money that would have been used to pay adjuncts. I was able to convince the dean to allow us to use this money for travel to read for my faculty.”
Dr. Li also engaged technology to help his faculty teach the basic college mathematics series. By adding hybrid and online courses to complement the face-to-face courses, he freed a number of his full-time faculty from the schedules they had been tied to for decades. “My faculty could put their lectures and PowerPoints online either synchronously or asynchronously, which was more attractive to their students. Because the faculty see each student's work, there is more interaction with individual students. Students could no longer hide in our traditional face-to-face sections by keeping their heads down so as to appear that they were working. Professors could actually see what each student was or was not doing.”
Enrollments have increased markedly as students who work full time are able to fit classes into their work and family schedules. “We've seen more student satisfaction because students get more individual feedback in some part due to the laptops purchased for the faculty. These allow the faculty to correct formulas and equations easily and allow students to see the corrections almost immediately. Students no longer go off on the wrong track for entire class sessions and get further and further behind as much as they used to.” Chair Li is able to schedule fewer sections because the popularity of courses offered through multiple technologies ensures that the sections that are offered are filled to capacity. He says, “I don't have faculty getting to their 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. classes only to find less than half the seats filled on Mondays and Fridays.”
A Formula for Success
In Dr. Li's department, the difference has been the chair. His formula for success was simple and elegant:
- He chose to lead and learned how to do it.
- He gained faculty support by leveraging the respect he had earned with them through his selfless service.
- He carefully analyzed the current budget, curriculum, and course schedule to maximize productivity (in the way of enrollments and quality student learning) and reduce costs.
- He gained the support of the dean to reinvest his department's money in technology, graduate students, and professional development that would build the strength of the department in the future.
Chair Li is a hardworking scientist who wants to do his part to advance his students, his department, and his university and to contribute his scholarship. In that way, he is like almost every college faculty member. As a chair, however, it is his willingness to lead that makes him stand out. He engaged the same qualities of intelligence, energy, and persistence that he used to earn his terminal degree and put them to work to help his department colleagues and students.
“The chair is responsible,” he says, explaining why he took his leadership of the department so seriously. “If I had looked the other way or done nothing or just signed off and didn't try to make things better for my colleagues and students—if I didn't do something to try to make things better—then I was part of the problem.”
Importantly, he assumed responsibility for managing efficiently and leading his department toward higher levels of achievement. He also put the time in to learn the mechanics of organizational management and leadership. Chair Li puts it in mathematic terms: “Before you can do calculus, you must learn to do basic algebra.”