This book presents 11 contributed papers which examine communication aspects of the department chair position in academia. It is noted that most academic department chairs are not trained in management skills, including communication strategies. After an introductory chapter by Christopher H. Spicer and Ann Q. Staton, the following papers are…

This book demonstrates how academic chairs at institutions of higher education can learn the skills that are essential to their becoming leaders and faculty developers and having a significant impact on their departments. The book assists chairs in building cohesive teams in their departments and facilitates learning and using survival skills. It…

One of the most distinctive features of academic departments in community colleges is their multi-disciplinary nature. While the creation of multi-disciplinary departments usually results from pragmatic considerations, they do present some advantages over one-subject departments in that faculty are obliged to learn other disciplines and a system…

Describes a five-meeting cycle which enables a high school English department to cooperate in making constructive curriculum changes. (DD)

Presents a plan that extends current teaching practices through a strategy that increases teacher salaries without the use of merit pay. (MD)

A literature review, the experiences of the authors, and the results of the Project To Improve and Reward Teaching (PIRT) at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, are used to derive suggestions for change in academic departments. A qualitative study of change in eight PIRT departments has provided data to support the suggestions. Assessing the…

Academic departments across the nation must reinvent new forms of collegiality and become more outward-oriented, more focused on results, and more entrepreneurial. They must develop new systems to reward their members, enhance productivity, and assure the quality of their work. Change strategies in the literature fall into six categories: (1)…

Inventory by cash register is recommended as an efficient means of keeping orderly, departmentalized college store records. A series of procedures and suggestions are provided for accuracy and completeness of records. (MSE)

The author provides the regular teacher, the department head, and the principal with tips for helping the substitute teacher. (SJL)

The business and technical writing teachers at Iowa State University conducted a public relations campaign within their English department to gain respectability, understanding, and acceptance from their English department colleagues. Their campaign included examples of student work, lists of their course objectives, and explanations of business…

Fluctuations in the role of foreign language department chairs since 1958 are discussed, with focus on the "intellectual expansion" of language educators' roles in American education as a whole. The nature of leadership is considered. (one reference) (LB)

Suggests a methodology, enterprise process engineering, for rethinking business processes and applying them to higher education, either across the institution or at the department level. Nine steps for ensuring a successful effort are presented, followed by a discussion of critical success factors and the benefits of this method. (Author/MSE)

To date few studies have been conducted to assess the preparation of health educators in the area of cultural sensitivity and competence. The purpose of this study was to assess efforts and opportunities offered by health education professional preparation programs to prepare health educators in the area of cultural competence. One hundred…

Resources available to department chairs from the following sources are described: the department's discipline; the national higher education community; the local institution; and the chair's own skills, background, roles, and structural placement within the organization. The use of these resources to deal with common problems faced by chairs is…

The leadership, management, and academic concerns of deans and provosts are addressed in this casebook based on 25 original case studies on issues related to finance, personnel, organizational structure, curriculum, and academic freedom and standards. Two or more practical options for action accompany each presentation of a challenging problem.…