While all would agree that intra-department tasks (assigning teaching, hiring adjuncts, recruiting new faculty, completing reports and other paperwork, evaluating faculty and staff, mentoring, advocating, etc.) are important and need to be done well, there is much more to effectively chairing academic departments at this point and a good deal of this work is enhanced or made possible by external exposure and collaboration across units.
Beyond Programs: Leadership Lessons from Ireland’s Inclusive Universities
During a recent sabbatical studying inclusive postsecondary education in Ireland, I visited four universities—University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and Mary Immaculate
Ashley Rodrigues
July 20, 2026
