Cover image for Academic leadership : a practical guide to chairing the department
Title:
Academic leadership : a practical guide to chairing the department
Personal Author:
Edition:
2nd ed.
Publication Information:
Bolton, MA : Anker Pub. Co., 2007
Physical Description:
xviii, 491 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN:
9781933371177

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30000010182989 LB2341 L424 2007 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

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.


Author Notes

Deryl R. Leaming is former professor of journalism and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He earned his Ph.D. in mass communication from Syracuse University, his M.A. from the University of Nebraska, and his B.A. from Fort Hays State University. He is also a graduate of a special program at the Menninger School of Psychiatry. Dr. Leaming served for more than 20 years as a department chair and dean at several universities. He is an active member of the Society of Professional Journalists, having also served on the society's national board and as a regional director. He and his colleagues at Marshall University won the coveted First Amendment Award from the society in 1993 for their courageous support of the university's student newspaper and the principles embodied in the First Amendment. He is editor of Managing People: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans (Anker, 2003); the founder editor, and publisher of the online journal Academic Leadership, which he recently turned over to his undergraduate university; and the author of many journal articles, Dr. Leaming is in the process of developing two other new web sites-www.academicleadership.net and www.grammargeeks.com-both of which will be live by fall 2006.


Table of Contents

About the Author
Foreword. Preface
Part I Leadership
1 Advice for New Chairpersons
2 Seven Habits of Successful Chairpersons
3 Providing Leadership
4 Duties and Responsibilities of Chairpersons
5 Timesaving Tips for Effective Chairpersons
6 Communicating
Part II Department
7 Developing a Departmental Vision
8 Improving Your Department
9 Developing Outcome Assessment Programs
10 Managing Change
11 Building and Maintaining Morale
12 Managing Conflict
13 Working With Constituents
14 Working With Your Dean
15 Dealing With Curriculum Matters
16 Conducting Effective Meetings
17 Budget and Financial Management
Part III Legal Issues
18 Avoiding Legal Problems
19 Understanding Sexual Harassment and the Americans with Disabilities Act
Part IV Faculty
20 Recruiting and Hiring Faculty
21 Retaining, Mentoring, and Terminating Faculty
22 Strategies for Faculty Development
23 Evaluating Faculty Performance
24 Handling Promotion and Tenure Issues
25 Dealing With Chronic Low Achievers
26 Dealing With Difficult Faculty
Part V Students
27 Recruiting and Retaining Students
28 Dealing With Emotional and Disrespectful Student Behavior
Part VI Looking Ahead
29 Moving Up the Administrative Ladder
30 Where Do You Go From Here?
Appendixes
Index