Department chairs serve a vital function at community colleges. They are middle managers, mid-level leaders, and faculty members. They serve a unique position within the organization because they interact with nearly every unit: academics affairs, student affairs, senior administrators and students. At a time when professional organizations are…

Many teachers have known of (or been members of) departments in which all of the potentially successful chairs--after having proven themselves by running subunits or graduate programs--have decided to devote themselves solely to research or teaching, and to leave department administration to whoever is willing to do it or whoever can be talked…

Discusses the role of English department chairmen, the increased unionization of college faculty, and the advantages of collective bargaining in higher education. (RB)

In 2004 the Executive Council of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) created a task force to examine current standards and emerging trends in publication requirements for tenure and promotion in English and foreign language departments in the United States. To fulfill its charge, the task force reviewed numerous studies, reports, and…

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)

Maintains that one of the most difficult problems faced by English department chairpersons arises from the widely divergent theoretical or ideological positions of faculty members. Argues for faculty to stop abusing one another and illustrates departmental discord in an imaginative fiction involving "Roger" and "Rose." (HB)

Reviews five years' experience as an English department chairperson to show how a chairperson teeters between administration and faculty, constantly addressing questions of identity and allegiance. ( GW)

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)

Suggests that the most important piece of advice for the survival of English departments is that all faculty members, especially chairs, learn to collaborate effectively. Discusses the kinds of collaboration required for the retention of faculty lines. (RS)

Lists guidelines to help department administrators reduce their liability and strengthen their position when faced with grievances or lawsuits. (AEA)

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…

Reveals that black professors make up 6 percent of the 979 full-time English department faculty at the 25 highest-ranked universities, with 30 being tenured and 10 holding chairs. The paper lists and briefly profiles these 30 tenured faculty. (GR)

Suggests two principles for successful evaluation of college faculty members: chairs should know their departments; and "always, always pay attention." Describes how the chair of the English department at Michigan State University developed and implemented these suggestions. (RS)

Calls attention to some of the psychological dimensions of English department chairs' responsibilities to mentor and evaluate faculty members. Notes an estrangement effect between chairs and faculty; the importance of making the right initial appointments; usefulness of written performance evaluations; and the importance of mentoring junior…

A survey of 174 deans revealed that budget management, communication skills, encouragement of faculty development, communication with the dean, and rewarding faculty achievement are high priority skills for English department heads. Regardless of discipline, chairs must have a range of sophisticated managerial skills for which they may need…