This study investigated what university and college department chairpersons believe are the most important duties of their position, how they view their roles, and the relationship of perceived roles and duties. Possible role definitions included seeing department chair work as leader, scholar, faculty developer, or manager. The study surveyed 800…

Information is presented on a study which investigated the managerial role of the academic department chair and compared it to a study of traditional managers. The study compared management activities to determine whether or not there was a difference between academic management and management outside of the university setting. It made use of the…

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…

Findings from a study that examined stresses associated with the role of the university department chair are presented in this paper. The focuses are on career paths, transitions to the chair position, commitment to administration, role orientation, and strains of chairing. A survey of 808 department chairs in 101 research and doctoral-granting…

This paper discusses development of the department chair, focusing on the need to build leadership capacity in colleges and universities. It suggests that it takes many years to become an expert, noting that one of the most glaring shortcomings in the leadership area is the scarcity of sound research on leadership training and development.…

The Beginning Department Chair Study used qualitative methodology to examine the developing identities of 13 new department chairs at 10 public and private colleges and universities in eight states. Data were gathered during on-site semistructured interviews (approximately two per month) during the chair's first year and periodic telephone…

Issues in the resolution of departmental conflict by university chairs of educational administration departments are discussed in this paper. The need for finding more constructive ways to handle conflict is highlighted by a survey of 808 department chairs at 101 research and doctoral-granting universities, in which chairs identified…

This multidimensional study examined the stress experienced by academic department chairs with emphasis on the chair's "person in the middle" role between faculty colleagues and the institution's administration. The study combined factors from the Administrative Stress Index with the Faculty Stress Index to develop a single,…

Clusters of faculty stressors were investigated with attention to how clustered stressors are associated with the professional characteristics of intellectual discipline, rank, and tenure. The relationship of the stressors to the key personal characteristics of age, gender, and marital status was also examined. A total of 80 universities, 40…

This investigation examined the dimensional sources and perceptions of occupational stress experienced by department chairs in institutions of higher education, and the influence of professional independent variables associated with these stressors. Surveys were mailed to 800 randomly selected department chairs at 100 institutions (523 surveys…

This paper reports on a study that investigated the role, attitudes, and behaviors of department chairs in higher education. Specifically, the study investigated four objectives: (1) to examine role factors of effective chair performance; (2) to assess the impact of antecedent variables such as individual characteristics (gender, marital status,…

Residential instructional faculty in various disciplines report similar types of stressors in national and international studies. To determine whether this pattern holds for librarians, department chairs, cooperative extension faculty and others, a survey was conducted of the sources of stress across all faculty classifications in one university.…

This study examined the relationship between five stress factors (faculty role, administrative relationship, role ambiguity, perceived expectations, and administrative task) and specific personal, positional, and organizational variables in relation to their effect on the roles of department chairpersons. Using a chair stress index, administrative…

A three-phase study examined department chair stress as a multidimensional construct with links to multiple variables and consisting of three phases: American, Australian, and cross-cultural. In this study of the third-phase, researchers conducted cross-cultural comparisons of department chair stress factors, perceptions, and consequences using…

Although 80% of all administrative decisions are made at the department level, many community college department chairs accept their positions without a clear understanding of the demands or training in leadership skills. It is critical to a productive department, however, that chairs possess the leadership skills to shape their departments into…