Nearly 80,000 scholars currently serve as department chairs, and almost one-quarter will need to be replaced each year. Such a high turnover rate is partly due to surprises and unexpected sacrifices embedded in the department chair position. In an effort to help professors prepare for and overcome unforseen tradeoffs, the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) conducted a survey in the spring 1990. This comprehensive survey included 808 department chairs in 101 research and doctoral-granting universities across the United States. Eight department chairs were selected from each institution. The subjects evaluated personal tradeoffs associated with their acquired position as a department chair. Four main questions were asked: (1) Do they have enough time to continue the professional and personal activities they enjoyed before becoming chair? (2) If time has significantly shifted between faculty, managerial, and personal activities, are they satisfied with this change? (3) What stresses and pressures are created when a faculty member assumes the chair position? and (4) What impact will this leadership change have on their professional career? In order to make the chair position more attractive and tenable to promising candidates, five changes are suggested: restructure the position; purge unnecessary administrivia; reverse the hierarchy; protect research interests; and train for leadership. Two tables and 13 references are appended. (LAP)