Special Issues in Chairing Academic Departments

Chairing an academic department comes with a multitude of responsibilities in a wide variety of areas. As a new department chair, you immediately confront many of the basics of academic leadership: managing budgets, supporting faculty, resolving conflict, and facilitating change, to name a few of the topics covered in The Essentials for New Department Chairs, the companion to this booklet. This collection is designed to help you navigate the further intricacies of your role. Bringing together in one place for the first time sound advice and proven strategies from experts in the field, these articles from The Department Chair provide practical tips on such topics as post-tenure review, work-life balance for faculty, fundraising, departmental planning, and preparing your administrative résumé. Every selection contains easily accessible strategies and advice that you can put to use immediately. The range of articles covers the important functions of academic departments, and the authors impart the skills and thinking you need to enhance your leadership capabilities. For brand-new department chairs this booklet will provide you with an overview of the complexities of the chair role. For those chairs with a year or two more experience this booklet will provide direction and guidance as you delve more deeply into your responsibilities. Designed to provide a wealth of strategies in five crucial areas?faculty recruitment and evaluation, faculty mentoring and development, enhancing teaching and building community, departmental initiatives, and chair development and next steps?the expert advice and field-tested techniques presented here offer essential insights into this important chair work. This collection will equip you with lessons to draw from and best practices for leading into the future.