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Home » Academics » Office of the Provost » Department Chair Resources
Department Chairs and Academic Program Directors are faculty members who agree to serve as academic leaders within their home department. They are the primary link between the College administration and the faculty and the success of their academic programs depends in large part on their effective leadership and management skills.
The resources in this section are provided to help Department Chairs and Academic Program Directors improve their performance and contributions to the University.
Look Before You Leap: Transitions from Faculty to Administration
A discussion of 10 issues which are often stumbling blocks in the transition from faculty to administration.
Roles and Responsibilities of Department Chairs
While many institutions still stipulate that department chairs have a record of scholarship and publication, all institutions expect chairs to be more than a role model or figurehead. Department faculty seek a strong advocate, a consensus builder, a budget wizard, and a superb manager. Academic deans and provosts seek department chairs who have superb managerial and communication skills, and are able to implement university policies and directives.
Transitions and Transformations: The Making of Department Chairs
Examines the theory behind leadership and applies to it models that are aligned with the leadership skills needed for successful chair leadership.
Chronicle of Higher Education – “Is it Really That Tough”
Opinion column by Todd A. Diacon, former Chairman of the History Department at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Chronicle of Higher Education – “Do Your Job Better”
Opinion column by Michael C. Munger, Chair of the Political Science Department at Duke University.
How successful chairs manage the experience of being chair, what helped them to be successful, and what experiences encouraged them to pursue their work.
Rate yourself on 10 leadership behaviors to get an overall indication of your willingness to accept leadership responsibilities while maintaining the respect of your faculty members
What Do Provosts and Deans Want from Chairs?
Time Management for More Effective Results
Words of Advice from Chairs and Dean
University of Wisconsin: “Enhancing Department Climate: A Chair’s Role”
Building a Supportive Department Culture
Effective Communication for Conflict Resolution
Presentation by Matthew Cole, PhD., Psychology Program Director, Lawrence Tech
Conflict resolution is a process of working through opposing views in order to reach a common goal or mutual purpose.
To be an effective communicator, we must listen.
Keys to effective conflict resolution:
Considerations in Recruiting Full-time, Tenure-eligible Faculty
A list of steps and strategies used to recruit and hire full-time faculty members
*The more thoroughly a department examines the external and internal environments, before it presents a request to fill a position, the better the case it can make for launching a search.
*Though often overlooked, the existence of a published strategy can spell the difference between success and failure. The search strategy weaves together all the succeeding steps in the process, linking them to a specific timetable. While schedule adjustments are inevitable as the process unfolds, an explicit written schedule will make it easier for adjustments to be made in ways that will keep the overall process on track.
*Once the offer is made, you may contact and sound out the candidate. A call from the chair can impress upon the candidate that the department really wants him/her to come. After all, it is the department that will be the person’s future “intellectual home.”
Marjorie Olmstead: “Mentoring Junior Faculty”
Kina Mallard: “Preparing for Academic Performance Appraisal”
An overview or preface to the job analysis process – why it’s important and so helpful
An outline of a proposed set of HR related “tools” that flow from the job analysis
Welcoming Adjuncts Into Your Department
Each department is responsible for evaluating the performance of all adjunct faculty. This document summarizes how each department handles evaluations. Please direct questions to the appropriate department chair.
Tips for Managing the Department Budget
Emerging Role of the Chair in Fund-Raising
Use Your Cell Phone as a Document Camera in Zoom
From Computer
Log in and start your Zoom session with participants
From Phone
To use your cell phone as a makeshift document camera