Have you ever considered becoming a head of an academic department? If the answer is yes, what follows should give you plenty of useful information. If the answer is maybe,
Like many academics, I recently watched Netflix’s The Chair, and like a lot of those academics—especially those from a humanities background—much of it seemed quite painfully realistic. The mess that
Data can be a powerful tool to guide your recruitment efforts. This article invites you to adopt a creative, entrepreneurial spirit as you expand your reach. In what follows, you
What data does your institution supply to you as a chair or program director? How does your institution use data about your unit to make decisions? Given what you know
As a physicist, I spend time thinking about different ways to measure things. As we reach the COVID-19 pandemic’s one-year mark, we should take an opportunity and reflect on progress,
Being a department head is one of the hardest jobs on campus. Representing both the unit and the administration can be a real balancing act, and your most vital partner
Michelle Obama’s best-selling book, Becoming, offers a glimpse into her life becoming not only the first lady of the United States but also, and more importantly, a strong African American
I was recently watching the Emmy-winning HBO series Succession, and something one of the characters expressed struck a chord with me. Roman Roy, one of the heirs to a media
Like many others in the trenches of academia, we’ve chaired, taught, and advised in a small, understaffed, underfunded, and oversubscribed program. While other understaffed and oversubscribed departments limped along, ours
As traditional revenue streams continue to wane, academic leaders at colleges and universities are increasingly expected to acquire new sources of support. While fundraising is nothing new for colleges and
