Advice to a New Department Chair

By HOWARD L. REITER

No matter how reluctantly you took the job, no one forced you to accept it

I recently completed a five-year term as chairman of the political science department at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. I won't say I was a great success — you'd have to ask my colleagues and dean about that — but I did learn a lot on the job and have some survival tips for other department chairs.

During my first year as chair, we conducted three searches, one of which