Handbook for Department Chairs

Connections

The ideal chairperson of a department/program:

  • keeps the department connected to its professional communities beyond the campus
  • knows whom to call upon—within and beyond the department, within and beyond the campus—with problems or questions, for advice and counsel
  • mentors and prepares upcoming leaders, including new faculty colleagues, as well as potential candidates for future departmental or campus leadership
  • has easy access to the provost, deans, others in positions of influence on policies and decisions that affect the department/program.
Getting Support & Budget for Your Great Idea, Part I
Peter Facione's essay develops a scenario through which a faculty member (or a team of faculty) with a good idea builds internal connections within a campus in order to secure resources to advance their ideas. He urges faculty to figure out how a single good idea fits into their long-term goals for professional advancement, into the departmental and institutional priorities, and how to articulate that connection to people with decision-making responsibilities. His main point is that good administrators "remember people who have good ideas and show initiative and energy, even if [they] cannot support the person at that moment and in the way the person is asking. [They] are talent scouts and coaches, mentors and leaders...looking for motivated people whose work and vision they can use for the betterment of that person and of the school."
Investing in the future: Securing, allocating, and reallocating resources
How persistence; persuasive telling of your story; and knowing to whom, when, and how to tell your story are all key to securing needed resources.
Math and Bio 2010