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[amlithist]

I'll defer to my more experienced fora colleagues here, and ask:  how do you know it's time to step down as chair?  I'm not talking about the "gathering in the halls with torches and pitchforks" indications--those here who've followed my trials and tribulations in cat-herding know that I came into that situation and thus would have quit before I started!

I'm finishing up my second year as chair, and frankly, this has sucked the life out of me (and I'm a Type-A workaholic by nature, so this is saying something).  The job itself isn't bad:  as a pre-academia administrator in industry, I can do the admin stuff almost in my sleep, and given the chance, could get it all taken care of in 10 hours a week or less.  But the emotional/intellectual drain is getting to be too much. 

As noted, there's been strife and unhappiness since before I took over, and while the overt crap has calmed down, it's always there just under the surface among about 3 or 4 of my 15 FT faculty.  Personally, I really don't care if they like me or get the warm fuzzies when they think about me--I truly, truly don't.  I've served them well, kept many an ass out of the fire, covered for them all (supporters and detractors alike, without discrimination) whenever they've needed it and usually not even told them how close many have come to ending up in deep s*** with the Admin.  I don't mind that:  it's a good chair's job to run interference between her faculty and the admin, and I've done it.  I've gotten some changes made that benefit both faculty and students, and I've engaged in some bruising fights with the Admin to get those changes.  Again, that's my job.

Of course, I've also seen the flip-side:  as mentioned on other threads in recent weeks, I've long enjoyed my dean's support but now even that is going away.  As I said above, that's fine, too (so long as I have my radar up and am not getting blind-sided).  A chair's job is as middle-management as it comes, and I completely get it:  you're never going to make everybody happy--hell, you're lucky most days to make anybody happy!--and by nature, it's a thankless job.  No harm, no foul; I knew what I was getting into.

I really have liked the work:  I don't mind dealing with student problems; I've accommodated my faculty's requests for their schedules, for rooms, for resources; I love doing sheduling; I've contributed to the overall program development and revamping across the district.  I don't mind meetings, and I've done my share and then some.

The difference I'm seeing in recent weeks:  I hate coming to work.  No, I mean, I really, really hate coming to work.  I'm sick of my faculty--and no worries on that score:  because I'm so conscious of it, I'm being extra careful to be pleasant, generous, and kind to them--I'm sick of our projects, I'm sick of my students, I'm sick of myself.  I've already cut my in-office hours way back, from 60+ per week to closer to 45, and I'm not taking work (either admin. or teaching-related) home.  All the essentials are still getting done, and done well, but the volume of extra, "Hey, would you mind helping me with [this, that, or the other unnecessary/frivolous task]?" stuff has fallen off.

This sounds and feels like a good old-fashioned case of burnout to me.  What do my more experienced friends here think?  Is it time to walk away?

[tuxedo_cat]

I thought a standard minimum stint for a dept. Chair (barring hospitalization or alien kidnapping) was 3 years.  Seems like there are good reasons for that re the welfare of the dept. since a new Chair takes at least a semester, perhaps a full year to get up to speed with various procedures.

I suppose one of the necessary corollary questions is whether there is anyone competent enough who is willing to take over for you if you chose to step down this semester.  If so, I would certainly jump ship under the circumstances.

[oatmeal]

OP--Yes, it sounds like burn out. And it sounds like you want to step down. It is better to go sooner and on your own terms than wait for the push or advice to go. You sound ready to step down to me. Maybe you can negotiate an exit with a few apples for yourself as you return to the faculty ranks. Good luck and let us know what happens...

[amlithist]

At our CC, chairs serve for unspecified terms.  Sometimes that's 3 years, or 5, sometimes "chair for life," and in the nearly 7 years I've been here FT, there have been a number of 1 year/3 semester terms.  In most cases, those who've changed have done so of their own volition.  I think I've succumbed to the same pressures that led many of these other short-termers step down.

As to succession, I honestly don't know what would happen:  there is one person who would be good, but he's been asked to serve several times and always refused (he refuses all service, period, no matter how he's been begged, pled, ordered, or bargained with).  Truly, I don't see any others who are capable and willing, though someone might surprise me.  Recall that I and another woman only agreed to run because no one else would, and we were threatened with an outsider from another dept.  Honestly, it's the lack of succession that's kept me on this long, but I realize that the longer I stay, there's still not going to be anyone ready to take over.  I have to think of myself at some point, selfish as that sounds.

[stickball]

Listen, don't let the succession issue keep you in a position that's driving you mad and making you miserable.  Step down now.  Monday.  As soon as possible.  Negotiate whatever sweetheart deal you can, but do it now!  You're too stressed to handle the daily grind of the position.  The department and the institution will certainly survive, and it's not your problem who or how they chose to replace you.  Your own health comes first, way before the health of the institution.  When the thrill is gone, it's gone.  And it's time to adjust your life.

[phydeaux]

I was chair of a small department (5-6 FT faculty) for six years. I knew it was time to go when I started overreacting to minor annoyances; the last straws came when I would go home and take my frustrations out on the kids.

I, too, worried about who would take my place, but my wife helped me understand that the fact that no one else wanted it did not obligate me to keep on doing it. So I stepped down, and my successor did a great job!

[zharkov]

Of course, I've also seen the flip-side:  as mentioned on other threads in recent weeks, I've long enjoyed my dean's support but now even that is going away. 

Perhaps you should tell the dean that you are considering stepping down.  Depending on the relationship with him/her (hu/hum), maybe explain that the lack of support is one of the issues.  Would more and better support make a difference?

Would it be on target to say that there are systemic issues that make it more or less impossible to succeed as chair in your department/institution?

[aandsdean]

My personal feeling is that when the negatives hit 60% or more (and the corollary:  the positives fall below 40%) on a consistent, persistent basis, it's probably time to go.

So many chairs and deans have the feelings you're having that it's not funny.  Unfortunately for all involved, many of them choose to die in place rather than doing the right thing and stepping down.  You know what do do.

I'm in the middle of an apocalyptically terrible stretch right now--several really bad personnel issues, some searches not going very well, endless days of 8 hours' of meetings (yesterday, I started with a breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. and walked out of my last meeting at 5:50 p.m., with only a couple of gaps caused by meetings that went shorter than planned and a brief lunch break during the day).  But here's the thing:  I know most of this stuff is going to be resolved, there are bigger and better things happening as well, and while I currently at least dislike if not hate going into the office, I don't hate the very concept of going into the office in the future.  I'm way past 60% negative just at this instant, but it's going to swing back to 60% or so positive within a few weeks, so I will keep marching.

If you can't generate this feeling, step down.

[tenured_feminist]

Yes burnout.

Second Zharkov's advice to see if the dean can get you more resources.

When's the last time you went to a conference or did something fun relating to this biz that was totally and completely for you? If the answer is "more than six months," you're working too hard as chair. You can do less. The chairs I've known who have managed to get through difficult times and serve long terms without either becoming completely disengaged or becoming utterly burned out had very good boundaries around the chair work. They rarely were in their offices more than 40 hours a week and often less than that (like 35-ish). One comes in at 7:30 after putting his kids on the bus and stays until about 3:30, so he's in for 40 hours but he uses the early time to deal with email in peace and quiet and has a little time to do his own stuff in the afternoon most days when his kids are doing afterschool activities.

If working out is your thing and you are not having time to do it, you need to fix that right away. Schedule it in every week, possibly even (gasp!) DURING WORK HOURS! It will do wonders for your mental health and will benefit everyone in your department.

Reward yourself for doing difficult, unpopular, or odious things. No one else will.

If you do decide to stay on, talk to your dean about a reasonable step-down year and if possible, try to get at least a semester's sabbatical at that point. That deal has kept many a department head hanging tough when things got miserable.

Most of all, good luck. You wouldn't be feeling this way if you didn't care about your department and your colleagues. They are lucky to have you as chair.

[amlithist]

Thanks, all, esp. for confirming that I'm not just randomly losing my mind!  You've all given me some good things to think about--AandSDean, my ratio is honestly about 90-10 right now!  And Zharkov, you've nailed it:  this place does make it hard for a chair to succeed. 

It doesn't help that I'm in one of those stereo/typically nutty disciplines, where faculty intrigue, childishness, and backbiting are all blood sport.  Add to that the fact that we're searching for a new head honcho for the district; the outgoing one came in and wreaked some real havoc in her < 5 years (which leads to some real fears that the new one could also be a wild card, based on the names we're hearing are leading candidates); a new campus VPAA with virtually no classroom exp. with our level of students, and a congenital inability to make an admin. decision without three layers of committees. . . and, oh, did I mention, my dept. is very publicly under the gun internally to improve our dev ed outcomes (as so many CCs are), yet the students come in less and less prepared, and any new ideas we propose get shut down with, "We don't do that here"?

Oy.  Sorry for that.  That's the tip of the headaches iceberg, at least.  And TF, you've also nailed it:  I haven't put in a 40-hour week since I've been in the job--more usually, it's 55-60 this spring, just because I've cut way back from my former 70+.  That's not an exaggeration, folks:  I'm one person with 50-55 faculty in any given semester, only 15 of those FT, so there's a lot of adjuncts to hand-hold.  I also inherited some real messes from the former Beloved Chair for Life, that I'm still straightening out.  And with the SO's health problems meaning he's unable to work, at least for the coming 6-8 months, I'm teaching every minute of overload I can get (baby needs tuition). (I only get half release on a 4/4, so it could be worse, I guess.  Could be a lot better, though, too.)  In any event, whenever I do step down, the plan is to go in, teach, do the minimal office hours to the minute, and get the hell outta Dodge.  :-)  (And conferences/travel/study?  For FUN?  Really?  People get to do that?  Huh.)

I'm going to be talking with the dean this week to see what she can come up with.  Thank you all, though for your patience in reading, and for your advice.  I just need to talk it out with folks I trust--not that I don't trust my fellow chairs, but they all have Big Happy Family faculties of 10-15 people and don't quite get what I'm up against.

[bluezebracat]

How about thinking this over again after spring break (where you will go to Paris, eat lots of rich food, drink wine, smoke a cigarette over good coffee and decompress)?

[glowdart]

How about thinking this over again after spring break (where you will go to Paris, eat lots of rich food, drink wine, smoke a cigarette over good coffee and decompress)?

Is there any way you can make some of this happen?  It sounds like you desperately need some time for yourself. 

[talking from the point of view of a faculty member who has lived in a few departments that sound like yours]:  since there's clearly a perpetual series of challenges facing the chair of this department, and given the sheer number of adjuncts that you supervise, could you argue for an associate chair position?  If nothing else, could you shunt off the adjunct supervision onto the associate chair?  That seems like a discrete enough and large enough task to warrant help.

[slinger]

The difference I'm seeing in recent weeks:  I hate coming to work.  No, I mean, I really, really hate coming to work.  I'm sick of my faculty--and no worries on that score:  because I'm so conscious of it, I'm being extra careful to be pleasant, generous, and kind to them--I'm sick of our projects, I'm sick of my students, I'm sick of myself.  I've already cut my in-office hours way back, from 60+ per week to closer to 45, and I'm not taking work (either admin. or teaching-related) home.  All the essentials are still getting done, and done well, but the volume of extra, "Hey, would you mind helping me with [this, that, or the other unnecessary/frivolous task]?" stuff has fallen off.

I could have written this two years ago.  You sound exactly like I did.  I left that middle-management, over-extended, under-paid job in industry for my current job in academia.  I'm saner, less stressed, easier to live with, and happier. 

(Also, amlithist, is it possible to transfer to another campus?  Maybe yours is especially troublesome?)

[amlithist]

How about thinking this over again after spring break (where you will go to Paris, eat lots of rich food, drink wine, smoke a cigarette over good coffee and decompress)?

Ha!  The comedy is what keeps me coming back here!  :o)

This department usually does have an adjunct faculty coordinator.  I was it for 3 years before becoming chair.  I had none the first semester; one for the next two semesters; now this semester, I'm back to doing it again. (Interestingly, that job carries 3 hours' release, but when I do it as chair, I get only 1 1/2 hours, or 1/2 of a class, release.  Non-negotiable--I tried.)  No one will take it because it involves, you know, work.  That's a big part of the problem:  I have 15 FT folks, and of them, only 3 can be relied on to do anything above their load and office hours.  I'm not joking--the majority won't do service (committees, governance, etc.); they won't do internal service (leading initiatives, serving on screening/textbook committees, etc.); they show up 15 minutes before their classes, teach, put in their office hours to the minute, and they're gone.  With some of them, I understand--they're near retirement, they've done their time and worked their asses off for years.  Fine.  But there are about 8 or 9 in the middle who can barely be bothered to do the bare minimum of administrative stuff (i.e., turn in syllabi copies for our records, etc.), let alone do anything else.  And while I love my union (useless as it can sometimes be), the downside is that for years our evaluation system has been BS:  in essence, if you don't do physical violence to a student or get the school sued for sexual harassment, once you clear probation, you have a job for life. 

Another huge part of my thinking is the fact that there is still a small but vocal core component among the FT folks (3 of them, and each of these is among the "do-nothings") and their adjunct cronies who hate my guts.  They have since before I became chair, and they will til I die.  That's fine, on a personal basis:  we don't all have to like each other.  But it's exhausting to have to constantly fend off their overt and covert attacks, on top of everything else.  If any of them would get serious and actually TALK to me about their grievances, that would be one thing:  I might change their minds, or they might change mine, or we might end up agreeing to disagree on issues.  But they haven't, and they won't.  Each of them finds a hundred reasons they have to leave when I go to chat with them; when I ask each to set up time to have coffee, they cancel at the last minute. I've repeatedly reached out to each of them, only to be rebuffed.  I'm done with it.  None of this collegial BS is driving my decision, but I'd be lying if I said it's not a factor. 

Slinger, I'd love to transfer campuses, but it's not an option--no openings elsewhere.  And you point to the crux of the whole issue:  I need to be saner, less stressed, easier to live with, and happier.  Life is too damned short.  I have about a dozen years to put in yet, and I don't plan to apply for full prof., so there's not a lot to lose by doing so.  The main drawback is the uncertainty of a new chair, but I'm competent in the classroom and a union member, so there's not a lot someone new could do to me. 

God knows, this place is a dichotomy:  while espousing excellence, it thrives on mediocrity, but it does chew up and spit out the people who give it our all.  At the end of the day, the do-nothings are going to retire with the same pension as I'll get (and with a lot lower blood pressure and a lot fewer gray hairs than I've already accumulated).  So I'm left to wonder: who's the stupid one?  Never mind....I think I know the answer, and I know how to fix the problem.

[zharkov]

....while espousing excellence, it thrives on mediocrity....

If the truth be told, I think most of us work at institutions where this is the case. 

Although the specifics at my place differ, I think a common theme is the powers that be are not ready to walk the talk in providing leadership, support, and resources to move from mediocre to excellent.  But I suppose talking about excellence is easier than actually doing something to get an institution there.