Thoughts for New Chairs, and a Reading List
Beate Schmittmann
Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy
So you have taken the leap and agreed to be the next leader of your department. Now what?
First, ask yourself some questions. Many of these probably already crossed your mind while you were considering this opportunity. Why did you agree to serve? What are you hoping to accomplish? What expectations, motivations, and values do you bring to the position? What surprises are in store, and what workload will you face? How will your faculty colleagues view you, and how do you work with your dean? Do you have experience supervising staff? Have you ever managed a budget?
Below, you find a few reflections and some advice, drawn from my own experience and many conversations with other chairs.
You will make a difference, whether you choose to or not. You will make thousands of decisions, set standards and expectations, participate in countless conversations, and act as the face and voice of your department. So, be very clear and purposeful about the kind of difference you want to make.
As chair, you have one leg in the faculty and one leg in the administration. For the staff, you are the boss. For the faculty you are, at the same time, their colleague and their leader. That creates a certain ambiguity and tension that you have to live with.
Some chairs say that their department run themselves, and they just need a few hours a week on the job. If that is the case, you are either blessed with an unusually collegial group of faculty and a superb staff or you are not doing your job. The latter is far more likely.
Identify a network of mentors. You will have many questions, regarding policies, procedures, institutional history, and current practice, and it will be really helpful to pick up the phone and get advice. A previous chair – assuming he/she has walked away from the position with a sense of satisfaction – can be a good resource. Seek out a thoughtful, experienced current chair in your college. Look for someone outside your college, to provide context. People from outside the institution can be helpful provided they know your local culture well enough. Ask them whether they are willing to serve as your mentors.
Beginning immediately, everything you say – and I mean everything – carries considerable weight. Yesterday, you were just one more participant in the departmental conversations, and today, you are suddenly expected to pass judgment, give recommendations, and make decisions on all kinds of issues. Breathe and learn. If you don’t know what to do in a particular situation, just say that you need to think about it. Let the other person know when you will get back to them, and then talk to your mentors or your dean.
The first year will be tough. Everything will come across your desk for the very first time, and the learning curve will be steep. This is normal, and the job will get easier, once you are familiar with the annual round of activities, policies, procedures, practices, and personal stories.
There are always at least two sides to every story. Never ever come to a conclusion or make a promise or a decision after having heard just one side. Exploring issues takes time. Let people know that you are working on their problem and get back to them within a reasonable time frame.
Administrators work much faster than faculty committees. Respond promptly to requests. If your dean or the provost’s office needs information, provide it in a timely fashion. If you are given a short timeline, this is not always a sign of incompetence of the college administration. They may be on a very short timeline as well. If you have a request and the dean does not get back to you within a reasonable time frame, send a friendly reminder.
And finally, dress appropriately. You will be interacting with parents, students, alumni, donors, and other administrators, and they will expect you to bring a professional attitude and appearance to these interactions. Suit and tie or the equivalent for women are not necessary on a daily basis, but wear your favorite old T-shirt and torn jeans at home or on weekends.
Reading List (Beate’s personal favorites; there are many others)
· On Being a Department Head. John B. Conway
Personal reflections by a mathematics department head. Sound, basic advice; often very funny bits of wisdom.
· The College Administrator’s Survival Guide. C.K. Gunsalus
A more institutional view, with a focus on policies and personnel challenges.
· Difficult Conversations. D. Stone, B. M. Patton, and S. Heen
From the Harvard Negotiation Project – “how to discuss what matters most.” How to make sure a difficult conversation remains a conversation and does not burn bridges.
· Getting to Yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. W.L. Ury, R. Fisher, and B. M. Patton
Also from the Harvard Negotiation Project. Good advice on negotiations of all kinds.
· The Essential Department Chair: A Practical Guide to College Administration. J.L. Buller
More formal than Conway’s book; focused on a small liberal arts college rather than a large research university but still good food for thought.
· The Essential Academic Dean: A Practical Guide to College Leadership. J.L. Buller
You need to know what the world looks like, when viewed from the dean’s end of the table. This will help you formulate more effective requests.
· The Academic Deanship: Individual careers and institutional roles. D.F.Bright and M.P. Richards More of the same. Your most important problem is only one of the dean’s many important problems.
· The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. P. Lencioni
Good advice that you will need, whether you like it or not.
· The University: An Owner's Manual. H. Rosovsky
Quite dated, but shares very good insights on what makes a university a university, from a dean of arts and sciences at Harvard University in the 1980s.