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…

The managerial behavior of academic department chairpersons and nonacademic unit managers across 140 colleges and universities were compared. Faculty and administrators completed questionnaires that profiled their formal leader's behavior, their work group characteristics, and their personal satisfaction. (Author/MLW)

Outlining the premises of role theory applicable to the dean's role, this paper attempts to analyze the dean's role from several perspectives. It recommends ethnographic research for a true understanding of the dean's role and as a means of hastening the reform of education. Recent studies of the deanship, the professoriate, and schools of…

An historical perspective on the role of the college president is presented, including a review of the literature that reveals familiar themes: presidential autocracy; the president as facilitator, caretaker, or leader; and the president as mediator and crisis manager. Increased responsibility is noted, and selected readings are listed. (MLW)

A long-time observer of the college presidency finds that the power of the presidency is often overestimated. The faculty see the president as having authority when they want favors, students see the president as an absent figure to be blamed for problems, and journalists see the president as having enough authority to justify lavish attention.…