This document discusses the roles and transitions involved in becoming a department chair or director. It outlines four main roles: faculty developer, manager, leader, and scholar. It also describes some of the transitions involved, such as moving from autonomy to accountability. The document provides survival guide advice for chairs, such as knowing your goals and listening well. It emphasizes the importance of work-life balance and addresses how chairs must balance responsibilities to faculty with accountability to deans.
3. Four Roles of Department Chairs Faculty developer Manager Leader Scholar Gmelch & Miskin, 1993
4. Transitions to Leadership From solitary to social From focused to fragmented From autonomy to accountability From manuscript to memoranda From private to public From professing to persuading Gmelch & Seedorf, 1989
5. Transitions to Leadership From stability to mobility From client to custodian From austerity to prosperity Gmelch & Miskin, 1993
6. Survival Guide Advice: Know Yourself Know why you took the job Know your goals (2-3 to accomplish over your term) Know what pushes your buttons Gunsalus, 2006
7. Survival Guide Advice Know your colleagues Set boundaries Listen well Key sentences Gunsalus, 2006
8. Key Sentences for Complaints “What action do you seek from me?” “Now that I have listened carefully to you, I need to find out what the other people involved have to say. I’ll get back to you after I do that.” “You need to do what you need to do.” Gunsalus, 2006
9. Work-Life Balance Critically important to newer generation of faculty Starts at the department level Class & meeting scheduling Release from teaching in a semester when a child is born or adopted Culture of acceptance of family demands
10. Chair as “Person in the Middle” Responsible to the faculty and staff Accountable to the dean Balancing act
11. Problem Issues Seek help Follow procedures set by the University or college Don’t improvise on procedures
