To successfully implement Learning Analytics (LA) systems within higher education, we need to engage administrators, faculty, and staff alike. This paper is by and primarily for practitioners. We suggest implementation strategies that consider the human factor in adopting new technologies by analyzing the viability of our Learning Analytics…

Ways are discussed for making faculty assessment an integral part of a department. Suggestions relate to developing career plans, specifying goals, identifying skills, conducting regular reviews, and locating assessment within the departmental and institutional culture. Guidelines and procedures are illustrated with sample letters and third-year…

A revision of one published in April 1985, this checklist yields useful information for preparing self-study reports. Questions are categorized as follows: data on community and institution; goals and priorities; curriculum; faculty; teaching; students; operational activities; and resources. (Contains one reference.) (LB)

Suggestions for a new language department chair are presented. They include the following: assemble teams to help; be accessible; learn administrative details; make decisions; create a procedures manual; be chair of all the department; and be an individual. (LB)

A discussion of conflict in academic departments describes current philosophies in conflict resolution, including a principled approach emphasizing positive benefits. Structures within organizations that inherently create conflict are identified, and various strategies for dealing with conflict are outlined based on one theory of response modes.…

A discussion of college faculty renewal looks at the word's etymology and at concrete ways for departments and their administrators to promote quality faculty research. It also describes four archetypal examples of faculty in need of research renewal, each related to literary history and the workings of a research committee. (Author/MSE)

These four issues of the CSSEDC Quarterly (Conference for Secondary School English Department Chairpersons) represent the quarterly for 1988. Articles in number 1 include: "Relearning Leadership" (Tom Jones); "The English Coalition Conference" (Robert Denham); "The Reluctant Writer and Word Processing" (James…

The reward structure in higher education is reviewed, followed by a discussion of the way it is viewed and the terms in which it is discussed outside as well as inside the profession. The reward structure in foreign language departments is then examined. (Contains 86 references.) (LB)

The department chair's responsibilities for program planning and development are discussed, embracing three broad areas: conception and development of new projects, application and inclusion of projects in the department's course of study, and cultivation of agreement and support within the wider college community. (LB)

School department heads should be classroom teachers first. Their responsibilities in administration (for instance, keeping textbook records) and in curriculum management should be reduced, and their major responsibilities should involve teacher assistance, including teacher observation and aid to new teachers, and special departmental activities.…

Examines the shift in the role of the college and university language department head from that of colleague and leader to manager, resulting from changing institutional and professional culture. Argues department chairs must read recent research on department leadership, learn about changes in higher education and the faculty's role, and…

Analysis of responses of 36 academic departments in a research university to a newly-implemented program review process after its first 6-year cycle, and to the 236 specific recommendations emerging from it indicated departments were most likely to act on recommendations if action was explicitly assigned and that most department chairs felt the…

This book records highlights of the development of electrical engineering education at the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), first known as the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM). Chapter I focuses on the formative years (1871-1924), discussing the first course of study in electricity, expansion of the electrical…

Policy statements of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages are presented for administration of foreign language departments; use of outside reviewers; and statement of good practice: teaching, evaluation, and scholarship.(LB)

This paper applies the quality concept of continuous improvement to academic departments, very few of which engage in a continuous improvement (CI) initiative. The goal of a CI initiative is for a department to become self-regarding, self-monitoring, and self-correcting. CI efforts begin with the development of a department-level assessment plan…