Effective leadership is crucial for organizations to remain competitive in this expanding higher education environment as they lead their followers, especially those in their academic units or departments. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe the understanding of academic department chairs of U.S. colleges and…

Conflict is inevitable in every part of life and institutions of higher education are not immune to experiencing interpersonal conflict. Department chairs hold a key position between upper administration and the rest of the faculty and staff within the department, all while still teaching classes. The purpose of this research study is to explore…

The purpose of this study was to understand K-12 school department chairs' lived experiences with burnout, a condition caused by chronic workplace stress that manifests as exhaustion, cynicism and mental distancing from one's work, and a sense of ineffectiveness (World Health Organization, 2019). Semi-structured interviews conducted over Zoom with…

While Academic Nurse Leaders (ANLs) are vital to the functioning and quality of nursing programs in academic settings, many enter their roles with limited or no prior academic leadership and management experience. The inadequate preparation and development of ANLs remains a critical concern. For this reason, ANLs positions can be challenging and…

The objective of this research was to interview other program directors and department chairs about their challenges and the strategies they used to overcome issues encountered while preparing for the program accreditation. The primary purpose of this research qualitative phenomenological study was to explore program directors' and department…

Academic department chairs are middle managers in higher education that have unique positions within an institution. This study examined novice department chairs' leadership identity within eastern United States community colleges. Novice was defined as a person having three or fewer years of experience in the department chair position. The gap in…

The principal goal of this research paper is to gain knowledge of leadership roles in academic systems. Principals, heads, and directors are in positions of leadership in educational institutions. It is the responsibility of leaders to support and direct individuals in the proper implementation of their duties and responsibilities, to provide…

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to obtain community college career technical education (CTE) department chairs' lived experiences toward synthesizing leadership skills. This study sought to identify the lived experiences of CTE department chairs at community colleges. The research question was "How do CTE department chairs…

High expectations of schools to produce positive results at the end of each school year continue evolving and often include rigorous accountability measures; however, the centuries-old structure of public education remains. Teacher and leader turnover continues rising while fewer professionals enter the field prepared to teach. School leaders are…

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…

Department chairs are tasked with a variety of responsibilities including informing institutional decisions, yet approximately 65% of department chairs have reported receiving no training, and two-thirds of those who received training believed it was not adequate. I conducted an external program evaluation of a department chair institute for…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the lived experiences of department chairs who participated in leadership training to determine if it added value in preparing them to be effective in their role. More specifically, the study focused on department chairs who attended the Department Chair Workshop hosted by the Institute for Academic…

LGBTQ rights have progressed tremendously in recent times, not long ago LGBTQ individuals could be arrested simply for being themselves. Though many rights have been won, the fight for equity continues. This is especially true in the field of education, many think of higher education as a pathway to equity, but in reality it can serve to solidify…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive was to explore how dissertation faculty leaders describe the knowledge creation process as a means of developing dissertation chairs at a private university in the southwestern United States. The theoretical model underpinning the study was the knowledge creation process model developed by Ikujiro…

Academic department chairs are key in helping universities achieve student success. To succeed in their decisions and furthering their university's educational mission, department chairs can use institutional data to inform their decision-making. In many cases, however, there are gaps, misalignments, and inefficiencies between department chairs…