Describes the joys and frustrations of serving as head of a university English department. (AEA)

Applies the ruling strategies from Machiavelli's "The Prince" to the job of successfully holding the position of English department chairperson. (HTH)

Describes how chairs of English departments can help their departments prosper in economic hard times. (SR)

Describes the management appropriate to different kinds of new curricula within the English program and urges the department chair to assume intellectual, as well as managerial leadership of the department. (HOD)

Exposes the myth of the department chairperson as omnipotent. Demonstrates that by identifying the common interest of the myriad components of an English department, a chairperson can unify them into a successful, dynamic department by power of the faculty members themselves. (HTH)

Discusses the role of the English department head in a time of shrinking budgets. Considers popular and governmental conceptions of college faculty productivity. Calls for increased attention to undergraduate teaching. Criticizes attacks labeling college faculty as lazy and incompetent. (HB)

Develops several perspectives of the discipline of college English teaching that include local, state, regional, and national levels of involvement as well as viewpoints of others outside the discipline. (AEA)

Reflects on being selected as the first female head of the English department. Discusses the selection process (done at a poker game), women's academic advancement, power, and job related responsibilities. (EL)

Advocates a "trust relation" between English department chairpersons and the English teaching profession, examined in light of the composition-literature tension, cultural appreciation, literacy, student diversity, meetings and associations, English teacher education, course improvement, graduate education, reentering adult students, English…

Sketches a picture of how different institutions of learning engender different working and business environments for department heads. Discusses various departmental activities and how the departmental environment affects their success or failure. (HB)

Discusses the particular challenges of budgeting facing English department heads. Analyzes political and psychological issues related to department budget management. (HB)

Identifies the difficulties faced by a female English department head. Creates several case studies of typical moments of conflict experienced by a department chair of feminist leanings. (HB)

To determine how English department chairmen perceive the role of the freshman English director, a study surveyed English department chairmen from 250 randomly selected medium/small to large universities nationwide, representing every state (with a 54% response rate). The questionnaire solicited data about the tasks and responsibilities of…

Describes dividing up the responsibilities of the department chairperson among senior members of the department, then reconsiders the profession and the state of the humanities. Discusses views advocating "excellence," cultural literacy, great books, and a core curriculum in the humanities. Identifies political tasks and continued…

Describes faculty recruitment from the perspectives of a department chair and a college dean. Argues that administration and faculty must imagine ways in both recruitment and curriculum whereby interdepartmental alliances that foster interdisciplinary work can be forged. (MM)