Authors Gmelch and Miskin have focused their academic careers on supporting and training chairs for one of the most challenging jobs in academia. Both have written extensively and have conducted training workshops throughout the country. Here they focus their efforts on the specific skills needed by chairs in order to effectively lead their departments. In the first chapter, authors Gmelch and Miskin, clearly assert their concern for chairs and for their work: The time of "amateur administration"--where professors play musical chairs, stepping occasionally into the role of department chair--is over. Too much is at stake in this time of change and challenge to let leadership be left to chance or taking turns. The department chair position is the most critical role in the university, and the most unique management position in America.... The search for solutions to academia's leadership dilemma leads us to realize that the academic leader is the least studied and most misunderstood management position in America. Leadership in academia has evolved into a complex array of specialized skills. For department chairs, this book becomes an individual leadership seminar, complete with strategies and exercises that will foster growth and encourage professional fulfillment.

Contains special chapter on coping with stress.

"A first-rate book, well worth reading. Ann Lucas has taken years of research and reflection and distilled them into an easily understood, useful volume designed to help department chairs develop their leadership skills." --William E. Cashin, director, Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development, Kansas State UniversityThis book is a practical guide to developing the survival skills that chairs need in order to function as leaders and build cohesive teams in departments.

With the imminent demographic shifts in our society and the need to prepare students for citizenship in a global, knowledge-based society, the role of the academic department chair in creating diverse and inclusive learning environments is arguably the most pivotal position in higher education today. In the United States, increasing minority student enrollment coupled with the emergence of a minority majority American nation by 2042 demands that academic institutions be responsive to these changing demographics. The isolation of the ivory tower is no longer an option. This is the first book to address the role of the department chair in diversity and addresses an unmet need by providing a research-based, systematic approach to diversity leadership in the academic department based upon survey findings and in-person interviews. The department chair represents the nexus between the faculty and the administration and is positioned uniquely to impact diversity progress. Research indicates that more than 80 percent of academic decisions regarding appointment, curriculum, tenure and promotion, classroom pedagogy, and student outcomes are made by the department chair in consultation with the faculty. This book examines the multidimensional contributions that chairs make in advancing diversity within their departments and institutions in the representation of diverse faculty and staff; in tenure and promotion; curricular change; student learning outcomes; and departmental climate. The scope and content of the book is not limited to institutions in the United States but is applicable to academic institutions globally in their efforts to address the access and success of increasingly diverse student populations. It addresses institutional power structures and the role of the dean in relation to the appointment of chairs and their impact on the success of chairs from non-dominant groups, including female, minority, and lesbian/gay/transgendered individuals who serve in predominantly white male departments. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods, the book analyzes predominant structural and behavioral barriers that can impede diversity progress within the academic department. It then focuses upon the opportunities and challenges chairs face in their collaborative journey with faculty and administration toward inclusive departmental and institutional practices. Each chapter provides concrete strategies that chairs can use to strengthen diversity in the academic department.Addressed to department chairs, deans, faculty, and administrative leaders in higher education in all Western societies facing demographic change and global challenges, this book offers a critical road map to creating the successful academic institutions that will meet the needs of our changing populations.

You have just been selected to chair your department. Now a thousand questions and challenges await you. How do you recruit new, qualified faculty? How do you balance your time between managing a department and pursuing your own academic research? How do you allocate department resources? How do you prepare the budget? The answer to these and other vital questions confronting chairs of academic departments are clearly answered in this practical volume. Authors Walter Gmelch and Val Miskin describe all the basic tools necessary to being an effective academic chair. From recruiting and developing strong faculty to juggling the dual role of manager and scholar, this book covers every aspect of chairing an academic department.

As the responsibilities entailed in being a department chairperson are ever evolving, those who occupy the position must continually adapt and build upon their skills in order to meet new challenges and expectations. In the first edition of Academic Leadership, Deryl R. Leaming helped thousands of chairpersons navigate changes in higher education and effectively lead their departments. While maintaining its focus on practical application, this new edition has been significantly revised and expanded to address new aspects of the role of department chairs. Now organized into six parts, the second edition contains best practices and ideas from some of today's leading scholars. It also incorporates information on emerging challenges and expectations for department chairpersons, including Developing a departmental vision Working with constituents Retaining students Conflict management Mentoring faculty Post-tenure review Written to assist chairpersons in carrying out their duties, each concise chapter offers advice and practical suggestions for aspiring, new, and experienced chairpersons. Readers are provided with the expectations of the chair role as well as examples for handling specific tasks. In addition, this book encourages chairpersons to analyze their departments in order to effect improvement and develop their own approaches to solving problems. Featuring useful checklists, tables, and sample forms, this book also provides practical tools on the key areas of chair work—departmental management; interacting with faculty, students, and upper administration; financial matters; legal issues; assessment and evaluation. This invaluable resource will help guide chairpersons through the many responsibilities of their position.

There are many guides for academic administrators that explore differing philosophies of administration, theoretical approaches to management and leadership, and new trends in higher education administration. Books such as these can inspire department chairs to develop a major new vision for their discipline or even their entire institution. But in order to make that vision a reality, chairs must know how to excel at the many administrative tasks assigned to them. For instance, how do you cultivate a potential donor for much-needed departmental resources? How do you interview someone when your dean assigns you to a committee searching for an administrator in a different academic area? How do you fire someone? How do you get your department members to work together more harmoniously? How do you keep the people who report to you motivated and capable of seeing the big picture? This book is about the "how" of academic administration. Based on a series of workshops given by the author in the area of faculty and administrative development, each topic deals concisely with the most important information chairs will want to have at their fingertips when faced with a particular challenge or opportunity. Intended to be a ready reference that chairs turn to as needed, this book emphasizes proven solutions over untested theories and stresses what chairs need to know now in order to be most successful in their administrative positions.