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[11272289]

In addition to some of the items already posted, please don't forget that you are no longer a member of the faculty. What you say as chair now has a different meaning than if you said the same exact thing as a member of the faculty. This is a bit harsh, but you no longer have friends, only colleagues. Serving as an administrator should be about mission and about service to the faculty, students, and the community. Be transparent in all things, most especially decisions about travel money and other budget items. Think about your message (what ever it is) before sending it. Never discuss personnel matters via email and never talk negatively about one faculty member to another. Don't feather your own nest. Guard your time; try to set appointments for no more than 20 minute intervals (your assistant should help with triage) unless the matter is important. This position is not an 8-5, Mon. - Fri. work day. Never ambush anyone at a meeting; go to them before hand and inform the person that you have questions. This will allow them to be prepared to answer your question. Keep a sense of humor. When you promise something, either deliver or tell the person(s) why you could not deliver as promised. Questions about integrity and poor communications may undermine all of the good things you are trying to accomplish. 

[pippiek]

Do not give in to department bullies.  Sometimes they yell "shared governance" because they don't realize that just because you are smart enough to discount their opinion doesn't mean you discount everyone's opinion.  Of 20 people, I have a couple who are real doozies.  I consult with their colleagues before consulting with them so my back can be even straighter than usual.

Was it hard to figure out who these folks are?  How long did it take for you to get the lay of the land?

Generally the real a**holes will seek you out first to get their feet in the door and let you know the "real" lay of the land--sit back and watch carefully, ask about your departmental colleagues around campus, get to know the baggage there before you think about making any alliances.  By the end of a semester you should have a good idea of who you are dealing with.  Stick by your principles and be prepared to make some people unhappy--it goes with the territory.  Best of luck.

[losemygrip]

Anthroid is the wise old owl of chairs.  I couldn't agree more.  With everything.  It's funny--I'd done a lot of those same things.

[mtnlover]

reward those who are team players, not squeaky wheels. 

be honest with your faculty, the dean, and yourself.

take care of your AA'(s).

don't ignore your family.

stock up on wine.

[unstuck]

There's been tons of great advice -- I hesitate to try to add more.  But I have to really agree that you are serving the department now.  Making those difficult decisions is easier if you think about what's best for the department (rather than just saying yes to squeaky wheels).  You'll make mistakes -- don't beat yourself up about them.  And by serving, I don't mean that you should do everything.  Do what you can to make people's lives easier, but they also must be actively involved in working for the department.  It's like in a family -- doing everything for your kids doesn't teach them anything.  I like to focus on what people are most interested in, and help them to work in that area.  If someone is really interested in the Gen Ed program, get that person on the Gen Ed committee, or some appropriate work that needs to be done.

I do have to wonder about the negative feelings about meetings.  I think good meetings build community; when you don't meet, you don't talk all together.  I hate having four different people come and talk to me about an issue -- well, I'm glad to hear their opinions, but wouldn't it be better to meet and talk all together?  I do know that some people aren't comfortable saying what they think in front of other (more powerful) faculty, so that's a different issue.  But there are a lot of important questions that meetings answer, and do so more effectively than individual visits, or even e-mail (since things can get so distorted via e-mail).  I don't mean to usurp the thread -- sorry.

It is a great idea to have meetings at a set time -- you must make it a time that everyone can be there, since meetings should be about important things and people should need to voice their opinions and ideas.

One more time-saving thing -- if you can head off problems before they get big, you will save yourself a lot of headache and heartache and time.  That happens by talking to people, understanding their issues, and thinking about what matters to them and how you can help them be better scholars and teachers.  If you are just reacting to what happens, you'll spend a lot of time spinning your wheels.  You also need to decide for yourself what are the most important things to spend your time on.  Sometimes deans ask for things at the last minute, and that can get in the way of what you are planning for the department.  The "Seven Habits" book is another good one for dealing well with people.

Good luck, OP.  Being chair is hard, but it can be very rewarding. 

[terpsichore]

This thread was resurrected after a year and a half. That means the original poster is, by now, either an experienced chair or has moved on to something else.

How's it going, OP? Can you give us an update?

[sweetrevenge]

I was glad to find this discussion as I have become chair as of the first of the year and was hoping to find friendly warnings and advice before the semester started!  This is my first post, though I read the forums (fora?) from time to time.

None of what I have seen on this thread quite matches my situation, of course.  We have had a chair who sat in the office playing computer solitaire, then one who refused to attend divisional chair's meetings and finally one who was relatively efficient.  Now it's my turn.  No one wants to be chair, so newly tenured, it's my turn to step up to the plate.

We are a very small department, so I don't need to make an effort to walk around and talk to people, I will inevitably run into them anyway.  But I can take that advice nonetheless, and try to hear what their concerns are about the department.  It's hard to imagine that this will help much since some of the people are nearing retirement and don't really care much now.

My biggest concern is walking a very thin line between two colleagues who have a longstanding and deep feud (for lack of a better word).

There are a number of reasons why this chairship is difficult -- I am the only full-time female in the department, for example, so I am not looking forward to this.  We have had a lot of major changes at our institution over the last couple of years (read "upheaval" among other things) and are implementing a significant change in a departmental  requirement next fall so there is a lot of work in seeing this through.

Generally, though, it is a collegial department these days (at least on the surface), even to the point where we have had (besides our monthly departmental meetings) some all day department meetings, which have been extremely productive.  I'm sure that many would run screaming from such an idea, but for us, with so many huge changes taking place, these were necessary to work through the issues.

Sorry, now I'm procrastinating and need to get back to my writing.  Hopefully no chair emergencies will emerge before I hit the manuscript deadline!

[science_expat]

Welcome, Sweet

I'm a long-time poster but also a brand new Chair-equivalent. (I'm directing a research institute but the level of responsibility is about the same.)

Three days in....