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[dept_geek]

It's my turn in the rotation starting this fall. I have been asking my predecessors and mentors. But there is always some bit of info I missed. So, I have come to this board to seek and ask for advice. 

We are a CC, and all that goes with that (no real research requirement, all undergrads, lots of student issues, lots of part-timers).

I went back 18 months or so in this board, and found this good, but short thread: http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,58648.0.html

But maybe this topic could be sticky as I'm sure (I hope?) others will have the same question.

So, deans & current chairs: what would you tell a new chair? What things should I expect (yes, I understand many are local issues)? What things are you looking for (deans, mostly)? General advice?

[derosa]

Listen, authentically, to everyone.

Make decisions that support faculty and allow them to do what they do best...if you can guide this to support dept and school goals...all the better.

Be visible and available.

Expect to have to make decisions that don't please everyone.

Get out ahead of bad or difficult news/decisions, by having conversations with key faculty members to generate support.

(In light of your questions)  Make sure policies regarding students and part timers are clear.

I am sure there is more to add...

[london1]

Run efficient meetings.  Prepare an agenda.  Do your best to halt the endless complainer who never has a solution to offer.  Listen to him/her, but then respond with:  "I'm sure many of us agree with that sentiment.  What possible strategy do you propose to fight this policy/directive, etc."

[sinatra]

1) Treat people as people in every way from the big things right down to giving them bathroom breaks on all-day agendas.
2) Listen much more often than you speak.
3) Remember that the department's history did not begin with your ascension to the chair.
4) Take on the bully in the department if needed.
5) Hold more office hours than any other faculty member in the department.
6) Treat administrative assistants and maintenance staff like gold.
7) Get to know what every office on campus does.
8) You can't please everyone, so instead look out for the best interests of the department.
9) Take up a hobby that introduces you to people who do not work at your university.
10) Remember that you are no longer a faculty member. Show up at the office every day that the university is open.

[neutralname]

If you have a faculty contract that is binding, then memorize it. 

Try to leave the dept in a better state than when you started.  Foster faculty strengths, don't caught up in stupid battles. 

[helpful]

After you have gone to a meeting with higher ups, yes, come back to the department meeting with the message from the higher ups but also see yourself as a facilitator to find responses to anything the department doesn't like in the message or directive.

[dept_geek]

Thanks!!   This is all great stuff. More?

[unusedusername]

1) If you're going to make a decision that effects other full time faculty in the department, at least get their input first.  You might have to do something they don't want, but at least hear what they have to say.  They might have a useful suggestion.

2) Only hold meetings if a decision has to be made about something.  If you just want to let people know about something, use email.  You probably will need to have department meetings only a few times a year.

3) Be nice to your adjuncts and the staff.

4) If an adjunct is underperforming and you are thinking of firing them, tell them what they are doing wrong, and give them a chance to fix it.  If they don't, you can let them go with a clear conscience.

5) Don't expect much support from the other chairs.  They are fighting for their own interests, not yours.

6) In many ways, CC chairs have more real power than deans.  Use it wisely, and you can raise the level of your department.

[scotia]

5) Don't expect much support from the other chairs.  They are fighting for their own interests, not yours.

I find the converse to be true. My biggest allies are often the chairs of other departments in our group - only rarely are we fighting for different interests, and we have found a united front against the upper echelons of the university is beginning to (very, very slowly - but this is a university) yield results: there is a lot to be gained from thwarting the divide and conquer strategy of some senior administrators (a situation that is not unique to my current U).

My fellow chairs have also provided me with very helpful informal mentoring - for the price of a lunch (if they let me pay) I have learned a lot about the political landscape and the location of many minefields. One thing I would really appreciate - but despite asking several times have not yet been given - is a mentor who is, or has been, a successful chair elsewhere in the university. Having someone to be able to discuss managing staff, students, deans, administrators etc. in general terms would be very valuable.

Learning how to manage the people above you is probably nearly as important, if not more important, than managing those within the department. I hear people sounding off about how useless their chair/dean is (usually because the complainer has not been allowed to pursue his/her pet project or is having to take on more work/work they do not want to do), but they have no clue about all the bad things the dean/chair is preventing from happening to the department.

Be selective about who you lunch with. Spend time with people who are capable of small talk, and who will not ruin your meal attacking you/fellow chairs/deans...... I have a growing list of people who give me indigestion, many of them not in my department but who are seeking to add me to their list of allies in fighting a hopeless cause (see previous paragraph).

Be generous with the time you spend seeking to develop younger competent staff. For me, at least, seeing people grow in their roles and develop confidence in their careers is the most rewarding part of being a chair.

[rear_view_mirror]

Don't do what a couple of the chairs did at one of the colleges where I have taught.

They require adjuncts to come to a meeting (no money) to address specific procedural problems. They then collect ideas but never resolve the issues. The teachers are then in the position of making decisions without a policy to follow. Once the chair even held a follow up meeting months later, and had forgotten what was discussed in the previous meeting. I then e-mailed everyone the minutes of the previous meeting. The chair resigned soon after.
I'm not making this up.

You probably wouldn't do that anyway. But you have to be accountable for the department policies even if you think they're not working and don't know how they should be changed. It's not fair to teachers to do otherwise.

[ursula]

Remember that your department is made up of smart, engaged, dedicated people.  Do not make secret decisions that will impact them.

In fact, don't make secret decisions of any sort.  Consult, consult, consult!

[gbrown]

http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/05/19/dinkins

[dept_geek]

http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/05/19/dinkins

uhmm... thanks? 



Actually, thank you. Nice to read another voice on what I have already heard.

[tenured_feminist]

Bookmark.

Any advice for negotiating what looks to be a rough stretch with budget cuts looming, no hires in the offing, diminished resources for adjunct hiring, key retirements coming up, and a passel of terrified grad students who won't be able to get jobs and will be fighting each other like spiders in a pot for the handful of independent teaching opportunities we can afford to provide?

(Uhhhh, now that I type this, I am thinking about what conditions might lead to a three-year personal disability leave??)

[terpsichore]

Bookmark.

Any advice for negotiating what looks to be a rough stretch with budget cuts looming, no hires in the offing, diminished resources for adjunct hiring, key retirements coming up, and a passel of terrified grad students who won't be able to get jobs and will be fighting each other like spiders in a pot for the handful of independent teaching opportunities we can afford to provide?

(Uhhhh, now that I type this, I am thinking about what conditions might lead to a three-year personal disability leave??)

• Be as honest and transparent in your planning and decision-making as possible.
  
• Involve faculty on big decisions that affect the direction of your program or department, but don't overtax your colleagues with requests for help.
• If you know that there will be no permanent hires coming your way for a while, negotiate with your administration to turn some of the money saved by those retirements into adjunct hiring.
  
• Take steps to prepare your graduate students for non-academic jobs, and let them know that you encourage them to go that direction.
  
• Cultivate good relationships with your alumni. You may need their support (financial or otherwise) in the coming years.
  
• Be aware that you are not alone. Many, many colleges and universities are in the same boat.