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[pantani]

I am a new chair, and a new faculty has serious personality disorder(s). This is not the usual sort of faculty rumblings or factions.  The faculty will not accept any boundaries without serious backlash, has seriously demoralized the whole department, which has done very well in achieving some very ambitious goals and objectives.  If any other faculty is praised, regardless of the praise also given to her, immediate anger and aggression results, and each faculty in the department, and most outside the department, are emotionally exhausted by the constant dramatizations, which can go on for hours at a time, over very minor things. Truly, going to coffee with her will entail a later phone call at 10:30 at night, which can last for 2 hours.  Any attempt to end it will result in her complaining to the Dean that no one else is "supportive."  For simple survival, all choose avoidance as much as possible.  At this point, only one of the faculty will speak with her at all, and my Dean refuses to recognize the seriousness of the situation, viewing it as just usual faculty oddity. My faculty have been bullied, guilted and emotionally exhausted this year.  Any advice on how to start next year? Really, the department functions overall very well and has achieved some very wonderful things, from increasing student activities to getting research institutes approved for next year.  However, all have made it clear that they can't continue with this situation and the dean refuses to recognize it. Any advice would be welcome.

[yellowtractor]

1) Does this colleague have actual medical diagnoses, or are you presuming "borderline personality disorder"?  If the colleague does have medical diagnoses, by what means are you officially aware of them?

2) Is it possible to convene a joint meeting of all (tenured, or brave) faculty in your department with the dean?  Or:  does your school have any sort of conflict mediation program, i.e. someone who could come in an convene such a meeting on your behalf, presumably with the dean present?

3) What sort of "boundaries" are you talking about?  (Without saying too much, since you don't want to out yourself or your colleague.)

[pantani]

1) Does this colleague have actual medical diagnoses, or are you presuming "borderline personality disorder"?  If the colleague does have medical diagnoses, by what means are you officially aware of them?

Can't answer that question; hopefully that partly answers the question.

2) Is it possible to convene a joint meeting of all (tenured, or brave) faculty in your department with the dean?  Or:  does your school have any sort of conflict mediation program, i.e. someone who could come in an convene such a meeting on your behalf, presumably with the dean present?

Departmental meeting with Dean present done on two occasions already and no, no conflict mediation program.  Faculty members both inside and outside the department have spoken with the dean several times.  Dean forgot why he was there and did not address the issues at hand when he attended the meeting, speaking about college objectives instead.
I don't think it would be helpful begin again with such a meeting.
3) What sort of "boundaries" are you talking about?  (Without saying too much, since you don't want to out yourself or your colleague.) 
Primary boundary set is that work conversations and meetings are to be done on campus, during working hours, whereas the difficult colleague would prefer to have long dinner conversations to complete sessions, which usually result in accusations of everyone else being unprofessional (because they won't listen to a two hour lecture on why all their ideas are wrong) and long overly, very overly personal conversations.  When faculty subcommittees  requested to meet with her to complete projects on campus, during work hours, very angry responses, which continued through the end of the semester. I also receive similar complaints from other committees outside the department about very angry  behavior.  Towards the end of the year, I simply referred those complaints to the dean.

[barred_owl]

I think YT's on to something with his recommendation that an impartial person be asked to help resolve the differing perspectives on this issue.  Is there an ombudsperson on your campus who might meet with you, at least, to discuss the issues?  If not, can you take advantage of the Employee Assistance Program (if your school offers one) to either: (1) chat with a professional about your observations of colleague's behavior and develop strategies for dealing with it, or (2) to refer the drama queen to them for assistance? 

Short of seeking a neutral party to resolve some of this, another alternative might be to simply carry on without this person.  If, as you say, the rest of the department is moving forward without any substantive contribution from her, why not just stay on that path?  If she can't make work-hours meetings, too bad; if she calls you late at night, cut off the conversation as quickly as possible and ask that she speak to you during work hours only.  You have set boundaries--stick to them.

You mentioned that this person is a new faculty member.  Does that mean she is on tenure-track?  If so, a little reminder every so often about the "collegiality" part of her tenure evaluation (if there is wording to that effect in the faculty handbook) might help, too.  Likewise, if she can't cooperate and contribute per the established boundaries, her tenure portfolio may turn out to be short in the service category, if nothing else.

[yellowtractor]

Ooooh, this is a fun thread.  Colleagues, pile on.  I mean in.

First, I'm sorry your dean is unhelpful.  It sounds as if absolutely nothing can be done in or through him.  Which is frustrating, because he's your boss.

Second, one thing that is (or should be) in your control is what you discuss under 3) below, i.e. where and how departmental business is conducted.  You must make it clear, gently but firmly, that departmental business will be conducted on campus, during business hours.  Don't even try to engage this person otherwise--don't explain, don't apologize.  If she sends you an angry e-mail about your scheduling, send her a short, professional note back saying that you regret that she will be unable to attend the meeting in question.

Make sure that you explain to other department members (informally) that you are doing this and that if they have to contact This Person for any official reason, they should hew to this policy.

My guess is that she will refuse to come to meetings--for a time, anyway--in the hope that her obstructionism will cause you to cave.  Don't.  Either she's tenured, in which case it doesn't matter whether she comes or not, or she's not, in which case it will only hurt her bid.  Yes, it means the rest of the dept. may have to shoulder slightly more of the administrative burdens of your program.  But it sounds as if by now her presence is more a liability than her absence.

If she does attend a meeting, it is up to you to interrupt, as necessary--when she begins to rant, or gets "too personal" in your opinion--and bring the conversation back to the task at hand.  This will be difficult, but you can do it.  As long as you quietly but firmly insist on professional decorum, in professional language, you are well within the bounds of your appointment.

If you receive complaints from others, there is nothing more you can do (than you already have done, i.e. refer them to the incompetent dean).  Don't forward any complaints to the dean yourself, or the dean is apt to fixate on you as a problem, rather than on your colleague.  You have done all you can there.

[goldenapple]

There is another route to take, though it's an unpleasant one. You may want to speak with Human Resources about disciplinary procedures and what sort of faculty conduct may result in disciplinary action. After that, you may need to issue specific warnings to the faculty member and adapt your language (when planning meetings or assigning tasks) according to guidelines in the faculty handbook. That way, you'll have a procedure to use and you can note when the faculty member failed to adhere to university policies.

You may also consider whether the faculty in your department have grounds for a grievance against this person.

Neither of these things is pleasant and it's possible that they won't work.

Sorry you're having to deal with this. It sounds miserable.

[yellowtractor]

Sorry, I missed Barred_Owl's post, but we're essentially in agreement.

I want to add:  be very, very careful that at no point, in no way, to no person (colleague, other colleagues, anyone) do you say "borderline pesonality disorder."  As we've often noted on these threads, making a diagnosis of mental illness without being a mental illness professional is difficult, and even actionable.  Whether she is or isn't BPD is not your professional concern at this moment, especially if she has chosen an antagonistic posture.

You do not want to use this term descriptively, even casually, and have her report you for discrimination against the mentally ill.  Really, you don't.




(upon review):  Goldenapple, I assume (from what the OP has implied about his or her school's institutional culture) that a grievance would not be an option either, or at least not a useful option.  I'm also assuming there is no union in place.

[pantani]

I think YT's on to something with his recommendation that an impartial person be asked to help resolve the differing perspectives on this issue.  Is there an ombudsperson on your campus who might meet with you, at least, to discuss the issues?  If not, can you take advantage of the Employee Assistance Program (if your school offers one) to either: (1) chat with a professional about your observations of colleague's behavior and develop strategies for dealing with it, or (2) to refer the drama queen to them for assistance? 
We don't have a EAP(outside the US), but that is a good suggestion.  I have sought informal advice from professionals before, but most of it has been simply to draw boundaries :), which didn't work either. But perhaps the more formal advice will help, and perhaps bringing in someone with a bit more nerve than the dean might help.

Short of seeking a neutral party to resolve some of this, another alternative might be to simply carry on without this person.  If, as you say, the rest of the department is moving forward without any substantive contribution from her, why not just stay on that path?  If she can't make work-hours meetings, too bad; if she calls you late at night, cut off the conversation as quickly as possible and ask that she speak to you during work hours only.  You have set boundaries--stick to them.

You mentioned that this person is a new faculty member.  Does that mean she is on tenure-track?  If so, a little reminder every so often about the "collegiality" part of her tenure evaluation (if there is wording to that effect in the faculty handbook) might help, too.  Likewise, if she can't cooperate and contribute per the established boundaries, her tenure portfolio may turn out to be short in the service category, if nothing else.
No tenure here, which is both good and bad, but another debate:) I have delegated apart from her (part of her complaint, I"m not being "fair"), and as a small department that is rough load for the rest of the faculty, but they prefer that to working with her. I set a firm rule of not answering the phone for work after 9pm, and made that clear to all, and the rest agreed, laughingly, so long as I didn't call them after 9pm--which I would never do anyway. Only one did not laugh.

[pantani]

Sorry, I missed Barred_Owl's post, but we're essentially in agreement.

I want to add:  be very, very careful that at no point, in no way, to no person (colleague, other colleagues, anyone) do you say "borderline pesonality disorder."  As we've often noted on these threads, making a diagnosis of mental illness without being a mental illness professional is difficult, and even actionable.  Whether she is or isn't BPD is not your professional concern at this moment, especially if she has chosen an antagonistic posture.

You do not want to use this term descriptively, even casually, and have her report you for discrimination against the mentally ill.  Really, you don't.

Sorry, I don't blog or post online normally--completely new to this, happy to change the name of the thread, but wanted to make sure that all knew it wasn't the usual faculty strangeness, but genuine problem. 


(upon review):  Goldenapple, I assume (from what the OP has implied about his or her school's institutional culture) that a grievance would not be an option either, or at least not a useful option.  I'm also assuming there is no union in place.

Nope. I could go above the dean's head to provost's office, but as I also need the dean to approve and continue approving all that research funding we just received, I don't want to do that unless necessary, and my dean is a good dean in other ways --he simply can't deal with these sorts of situations.  I have stuck to my guns about shutting her down, not allowing nonessential topics into the departmental agendas, etc., and stuck to the "Robert's Rules"--but a huge backlash resulted.  I spent at least 40% of my time addressing and containing the backlash.  I don't think a grievance would work here, but the HR office is a great suggestion!  As chair, I can file a letter of reprimand, but without the dean's full support, I wouldn't dare.

[yellowtractor]

OP, I don't pick up the phone for work after 6 p.m. or before 8 a.m., ever.

Sometimes I respond to e-mails outside of those hours.  When I feel like it.

Three of the other six faculty in my program are less generous.  9-5, M-F.  That's it.  You might or might not be able to reach them at other times, but they're pretty strict in saying "Don't count on it."

Don't worry about the dean.  Just do your job--firmly, professionally.  Let her foul her own nest, not yours.  Good luck.

[aandsdean]

OP, I don't pick up the phone for work after 6 p.m. or before 8 a.m., ever.

Sometimes I respond to e-mails outside of those hours.  When I feel like it.

Three of the other six faculty in my program are less generous.  9-5, M-F.  That's it.  You might or might not be able to reach them at other times, but they're pretty strict in saying "Don't count on it."

Don't worry about the dean.  Just do your job--firmly, professionally.  Let her foul her own nest, not yours.  Good luck.

And document.  What's sauce for the goose (faculty member) is sauce for the gander (department chair).  If this faculty member is consistently disruptive, etc., start keeping a journal.  When evaluations come along, you've got the information and the documents you need to be negative in the evaluation.

I also don't think it's a terrible idea to have an "informal" discussion with your provost, but then, I'm the VPAA and I want to know about stuff like this before it lands on my desk with a steamy, stinky PLOP because someone did something to make the whole deal really and truly ugly.  I'd rather head that off if and when possible.

If your dean can't help with this kind of thing, he's simply not a good dean, no matter how good he is at the other stuff.  This kind of issue is where the rubber meets the road in administration.

[london1]

You have received such excellent advice, OP, from both faculty and from the sage administrator on the fora (aandsdean - now VPAA!) that I feel I have little to add. 

Yes, do document and keep a journal of all inappropriate behavior directed towards you by troubled faculty member and keep the records at HOME.  Like aandsdean, I think your provost would like to to know what is going on.  Could you meet one more time with your dean and mention that the behavior has gotten so out of hand that you have begun documenting the behavior.  Don't show him/her your records, but just the fact that you are keeping records may cause the dean to realize the seriousness of the matter.

Good luck to you and your colleagues.  This sounds horrible for you all.

[pantani]

Thanks everyone for the really great advice.  I think I needed to hear that I wasn't being mean in holding to the rules and deciding to sideline her in departmental activities :). Afraid some stinky mess has already happened, but so far contained at lower levels. Needless to say, not everyone can keep their tempers all the time when faced with such a personality that is rather constant, but overall, everyone did better than one might expect.   I'll consider the conversation with the provost, in the hope that summer's general informality will convey into the meeting.

[tee_bee]

Do let us know how this turns out. If this person's behavior continues and/or worsens, I would, as part of your documentation, talk to HR about what measures you can take to can this person. Given how hard it is to get a job in academe these days, it amazes me that new and untenured faculty can be so poorly behaved. It may work in grad school, but, as I am sure we all know, working in a university is more like the real world than it is like grad school. It sounds like your problem faculty member is just plain toxic. I hope you can run him or her off as soon as possible.

[voxprincipalis]

For heaven's sake, learn how to use the quote function! It is very easy.

I stopped reading what you had to say because it was too much trouble to figure out which words were yours and which were someone else's.

VP