indefatigable
So proud to be a
Member
Posts: 226
|
 |
« on: February 21, 2009, 09:07:54 PM » |
|
Our dept chair is stepping down. I have been asked to consider taking the job. The dept chair has done a fantastic job over the past few years, taking a dysfunctional department and making it lean and functional, hiring several excellent new faculty, and so forth.
Now, we have major budget issues (i.e. the whole university does), and uncertainty. The prospect of chairing a dept is a bit scary to me. However, few of us meet the minimum qualifications to be chair (since the dept has so many new and/or untenured folks) and the dean has an even shorter short list, supposedly. The other faculty member on the short list has paid his dues by serving as an administrator in the past and doesn't really want to do it again. I have a strong research stream and would hate to do anything to damage that.
I don't know that I even have the skills to be dept chair. It's a relatively small dept, about a dozen faculty in two related disciplines who all get along reasonably well. Since the budget crunch, we now have no travel funds, no graduate assistants, and, likely, a much reduced budget for adjuncts. The upper admin expects us to teach more classes and larger ones, etc. Probably, this is the same story as many other schools right now.
If I do it, it won't be for the money, as the stipend has been slashed, nor will it be for the reduced teaching load, as the reduction isn't that significant.
Please help me think through this decision. What all do I need to consider before deciding one way or the other?
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
sciencephd
|
|
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2009, 09:11:42 PM » |
|
Based on your own description there is absolutely no upside. Why would you say yes ?
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
I just hate it that I constantly have to like everyone and everything. -- moonstone
O, what a hateful feminist concoction!
Jews, communists, "lesbians", feminists and marihuana addicts --Pyshnov
|
|
|
|
prytania3
|
|
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2009, 09:23:40 PM » |
|
Based on your own description there is absolutely no upside. Why would you say yes ?
To make herself indispensable during a time of economic hardship? |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Clowns, I tell you. Clowns.
|
|
|
|
kamiakin
|
|
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2009, 09:36:17 PM » |
|
It sounds to me like it is your turn. My sympathies!
Do they need you--is there no one else? You might negotiate. If you have to do it, make it clear that you are only doing it for X years (3?), that you need a chunk of time off in summer. If you are feeling bold you could ask that the stipend become part of your base salary, to follow you after you step down.
There have been a couple of threads on how to be a good chair, you might look them up.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
indefatigable
So proud to be a
Member
Posts: 226
|
|
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2009, 09:39:36 PM » |
|
To help me get to full prof, perhaps? I'm not even sure that it will help with that, but I'm told it will.
And, to keep the department moving in the right direction. I do care about the dept and particularly about making sure the junior faculty are treated as well as possible, particularly given the clear financial limitations the university currently has.
And, no one else wants the job but it needs to be done. The only possibility is this other prof who doesn't want to do it, either.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
sciencephd
|
|
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2009, 09:58:28 PM » |
|
Based on your own description there is absolutely no upside. Why would you say yes ?
To make herself indispensable during a time of economic hardship? To make herself indispensable the one who says "no" during a time of economic hardship. Being a chair without a budget, even for graduate assistants ? The influence of the chair starts with having money to spend. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
I just hate it that I constantly have to like everyone and everything. -- moonstone
O, what a hateful feminist concoction!
Jews, communists, "lesbians", feminists and marihuana addicts --Pyshnov
|
|
|
|
prytania3
|
|
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2009, 10:11:01 PM » |
|
Based on your own description there is absolutely no upside. Why would you say yes ?
To make herself indispensable during a time of economic hardship? To make herself indispensable the one who says "no" during a time of economic hardship. Being a chair without a budget, even for graduate assistants ? The influence of the chair starts with having money to spend. Are any departments flush with cash these days? |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Clowns, I tell you. Clowns.
|
|
|
|
science_expat
|
|
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2009, 06:59:09 AM » |
|
To help me get to full prof, perhaps? I'm not even sure that it will help with that, but I'm told it will.
And, to keep the department moving in the right direction. I do care about the dept and particularly about making sure the junior faculty are treated as well as possible, particularly given the clear financial limitations the university currently has.
And, no one else wants the job but it needs to be done. The only possibility is this other prof who doesn't want to do it, either.
It sounds to me like you should do it. As you say, it's your turn and while it may not help you make Full (given the likely research hit) saying "no" might help you not make Full. And, in the end of the day, academia works on collegiality and taking on the tough jobs when needed. It seems your job will be to protect your colleagues as much as possible during the financial downturn. Good luck! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Professor of Something Scarily Scientific Sounding
|
|
|
|
eddean
|
|
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2009, 02:37:39 PM » |
|
Taking a job you do not want, are uncertain you have the skills to perform, and doing it during a time of high stress is not a good idea. Taking a position because it is "your turn" seems a poor way to select a chair. It will not, in most places, help you become a full professor. The things that you listed as being important will make you happy and help the department. You can lead without holding a leadership position. Whatever you decide, you have to live with the decision no us so good luck.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
science_expat
|
|
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2009, 02:50:44 PM » |
|
Eddean,
I take your points but does not one have an obligation to "step up" in times of need if s/he is capable of doing so?
It seems to me that this is one of those times.
SE
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Professor of Something Scarily Scientific Sounding
|
|
|
|
eddean
|
|
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2009, 07:41:06 AM » |
|
With all due respect, I disagree. This is not the way to help if your skill set is not a good match and your heart takes you elsewhere. A better way to step-up might be as a strong voice in meetings, mentoring junior faculty, assisting with tasks that help the department, creating a position environment through your behavior, and other roles that you are better suited to perform. Of course, the final decision belongs to Armed and Headless who must decide if s/he functions better as a formal leader or as an informal leader. In this sense I agree that there is a need to step-up and help the department, How best to do it is the question.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
sibyl
|
|
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2009, 10:46:21 AM » |
|
The basic questions are, will I be better off if I take it or pass it up, and will the department be better off if I take it or pass it up.
The questions about you are: will this help my case for promotion and/or tenure and/or pay, will this score me brownie points with the dean and/or my colleagues, will I be able to help my own work through my work as chair, will this be a good chance for me to see whether other administrative leadership positions are a good fit for me, and will my own work suffer if another person is appointed chair.
The questions about the department are: will I be able to help the department, and will the department be better off with me or the person who they will appoint if I don't take it.
None of these questions are usually answerable except by someone who has an intimate knowledge of the circumstances, a knowledge usually more detailed than what we usually get into on the fora. Which means you, OP. But that's how I'd approach this problem.
Good luck.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong." -- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
|
|
|
|
kamiakin
|
|
« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2009, 12:39:47 PM » |
|
And, to keep the department moving in the right direction. I do care about the dept and particularly about making sure the junior faculty are treated as well as possible, particularly given the clear financial limitations the university currently has.
You are exactly the right person for the job. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
obprof
|
|
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2009, 01:36:02 PM » |
|
If you do decide to take it, don't accept right away.
First, make a list of everything that would make the job easier (e.g., always work at home on Fridays, an extra course release after your Chairing is done, an extra budget for clerical support, something else).
Then, prioritize the list and approach your Dean to see what they can put on the table.
If they really want you, you might be surprised at what is forthcoming.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
professorgb
Department Chair
New member
Posts: 25
|
|
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2009, 09:18:53 PM » |
|
Agree with a lot of points.
You are probably prepared (no one is really prepared), and if you need help, you can come here, where we are all somehow lost anyway (at times or most of the time)
Your research will be hurt (but you will discover that it may be OK)
No, getting brownies from administration may not ensure academic promotion
But, you may become interested in being dean, provost, and so on
In my experience, academics who do not want to be chairs are better chairs than those driven by the myth of power
Read other threads here. Good advice, negotiate with the dean, she/he and you can decide when you are not coming to campus ever or getting some resources, including a blackberry or whatever you think will help you.
If you are chairs, you will mentor others who will become successful and will support you later,
Go for it
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
