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[engineer_adrift]

Let us know how it works out during the next year!

[oatmeal]

Yes, I agree. It would be interesting to see how this works out next year. I think new chairs are facing some difficult issues, especially in the economic climate. Outside chairs will have an even steeper learning curve now. Good luck.

[losemygrip]

I took a chair job in a department that five years previously had had at least three lawsuits going on between faculty simultaneously.  Fortunately, it was my predecessor who really had held the hot potato and presided over a cooling-off period.  There have been challenges, but it's really just because of one bad apple.

Ultimately, the problems were really caused by a very bad chair, who WAS hired from within.  So it's always a crapshoot, whether you have someone known or unknown.