Tag: department chairs
I imagine we have all experienced the following scenario: a staff member retires or leaves for another opportunity providing better pay and benefits, and the department[1] finds itself down a valued academic support staff member. ...
The Facebook post showed three smiling young faculty members standing next to a departmental banner. The caption ready simply “We are recruiting!” What did this post tell us? So little. What was missing? So much. Faculty ...
A former department head of mine closed many of their emails with “Thanks for all you do.” It was nice the first time I read it. The second and third time, not so much. I ...
Although students, faculty, and administrators are now back on campus at most higher education institutions, the effects of the pandemic loom. Research confirms what many have suspected to be the case: the social isolation caused ...
One refrain I hear repeatedly from the faculty and leaders I work with via coaching, workshops, and virtual retreats is that there is simply too much work for one person to ever realistically complete. Junior ...
“Stop thinking,” the petite Vietnamese nun instructed the small group of retreatants. We sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor in the enormous meditation hall at Magnolia Grove Monastery in Batesville, Mississippi. Our minds ...
Your department has just hired a new tenure-track professor, and for them, it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Now what? New faculty joining a department may feel an array of emotions—excitement, anxiety, curiosity, and ...
In the first two articles in this series, I focused on building on faculty strengths and improving the curriculum as core areas to which a new department head should devote attention. In this final part, ...
Last month I discussed ways to build on faculty strengths. This month, I take a close look at questions that new and continuing department heads will want to ask about the curriculum. The goal here ...
In this series, I share some of the most useful questions I asked—or wish I had asked—when I became department head. If the things I describe seem obvious, here’s the reason to read on. You ...
