Suggests that department chairs should be instrumental in faculty development assignments of semester- or year-long leaves, giving these decisions as much weight as those regarding tenure, curriculum, and merit salary. Promotes recognition of value of programs for women and minority group members due to possible faculty life adjustment issues.…

Analyzes why it is important to establish professional advisory councils for communication programs. Discusses their implementation and maintenance. (SR)

Outlines current critiques of U.S. higher education. Describes the activities and findings of the Illinois state task force on assessment of language arts in the 1980s. Describes how Illinois State University's English department defined the goals of English majors and dramatically altered the curriculum. (HB)

Department chairs must facilitate positive relationships, increase faculty productivity, and empower faculty. Through training and evaluation, nursing leaders can improve support for this pivotal position. (SK)

Attempts to identify what makes a recommendation letter effective (and what does not). Presents several guidelines for different conditions and circumstances under which recommendations are frequently written. Concludes by suggesting not to write a letter if the writer cannot put him/herself in the place of the candidate, because the writer's…

Compares the structure of the headship of an English department with that of a chair, and then discusses the implementation of a chair.

The speech communication department chair's most important function involves creating a healthy departmental climate for professional growth and development. While the department chair must be able to recognize and accept the fact that some faculty members cannot or will not improve their performance, there are still four principles he or she can…

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate some of the significant factors that relate to the effectiveness of the geographer and departments of geography in developing the important role that the discipline of geography has to offer to higher education in the United States. Geography must continually be conscious that many administrators, faculty,…

The departmental concept, while widely accepted in the Anglo-Saxon nations as a way to organize educational institutions into homogenous groups, is not used in many continental European countries and elsewhere. This paper analyzes various structures for organizing academic institutions at lower levels in certain national systems, dissects the most…

Defends the data from the author's previously published study (v2 n1) against the criticisms offered by Renee T. Betz (this issue). Further defends the hybrid study of both literature and composition. (JAD)

Defines the legitimacy of speech/language pathology and audiology as an academic field of study within a college of liberal arts and sciences. (PD)

Reviews tasks and duties of department chairs, stressing the importance of establishing priorities and delegating appropriately. Includes an Appropriate Chair Role analysis for the Communication Department, George Mason University. (PD)

Considers the department chair crucial to the welfare of the university, responsible for housekeeping functions (scheduling, planning, etc.), recruiting faculty and students, and assuming advisory/leadership roles in the campus community. (PD)

Offers advice to professional colleagues on the transition from a large university to a small college department. (PD)

A chairperson and professor of a small, college communication program examines his transition with respect to students, courses and curricula, support services, equipment, and administrative and faculty relations. (PD)