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[xeno_cratus]

Colleagues,

I'm wondering whether it's possible for a dean to convince (force?) a dysfunctional department that they need to take on a search for an external chair.  If the department does not want it, even though in the dean's estimation they need an external chair to move them forward, how does an external chair search get initiated and managed?

Thanks!

[systeme_d_]

All the Dean need do is declare the department to be in receivership, or to threaten receivership if the search fails.

Nothing motivates like fear.

[offthemarket]

The Dean controls who is chair, right?  If the department doesn't want to participate in a search, then they won't and their chair will be picked for them by the Dean.  I guess the Dean's office will need to find a search chair and committee from another department.  I've seen this happen before.  Something I'm missing?

[digger]

At our university, the chair lives at the pleasure of the Dean. They also have the ability to choke/redirect M&O, facility services, discretionary funds, and faculty lines, effectively shutting down a department. I've seen it happen.

If the Dean wants to make a change -- they make a change. Hopefully they operate transparently and thoughtfully enough it happens with support of the troops.

[aandsdean]

OP: is there a union at your institution? If so, there's likely something in the contract that would clarify what the Dean can/can't do. If there's not a union, is there some kind of governance document that lays out who can do what to whom? If not, probably the Dean can do whatever s/he wants, unless the Provost or President intervenes.

A dean is highly unlikely to do what the OP envisions without the previously secured support of the provost.

[glowdart]

I've seen this happen at schools where the chairs are normally elected on rotating terms from within the department.  I'm not sure of the mechanics, but I have seen external chairs from other departments get appointed to the chair post, and I've also seen external chairs hired into the department on a temporary line.  

At another place, the Dean awarded the department a funding line on the stipulation that the person hired into that line would be chair and would need to meet certain criteria set out by the Dean, including that the Dean had final say on who was hired.  

[helpful]

My experience is that chairs appointed from outside rarely work out because they don't want to adapt to the culture of the department.

[aandsdean]

My experience is that chairs appointed from outside rarely work out because they don't want to adapt to the culture of the department.

This is exactly why you do bring in an outside chair when you have a dysfunctional department.

[higherandhigher]

It seems to me that it is best to play along with the Dean's plan and take part in the search. If you're going to get an external chair, it strikes me that it's better to have some part in selecting that chair than to ignore the inevitable.

[der_gadfly]

My experience is that chairs appointed from outside rarely work out because they don't want to adapt to the culture of the department.

This is exactly why you do bring in an outside chair when you have a dysfunctional department.

Happens all the time in the corporate world: an outsider is hired and daily operations change, and the culture either adapts to them, or they adapt to the culture. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[takapa]

I'm a bit surprised by the question.  Yes, Deans can certainly do this.  At some institutions, permission of the Provost/President/Other may be required and at others not.  I cannot imagine, for instance, a Dean of a School of Medicine asking the Provost for permission.  I think that would likely be an announcement in a memo.  Deans take this step in highly dysfunctional departments with some frequency (although I have never seen it in the case of a well functioning unit).  And, I would agree with aandsdean that it is done with the desire to change that culture.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not.