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Kansas State University

25th Annual Conference

Pre-Conference Workshops

  1. Managing Especially Difficult People and Conflict Situations; Monday, February 4
  2. The Academic Chairperson: Making a Difference Through Effective Practices; Monday, February 4
  3. Department Chairs' Balancing Acts: Managing Stress, Time and Conflict; Tuesday, February 5
  4. Continuing Chair Challenges: Evaluating Faculty and Facilitating Faculty Careers; Tuesday, February 5

Monday, February 4

1. Managing Especially Difficult People and Conflict Situations
Presented by Mary Lou Higgerson
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. with lunch
Legacy South 2
Fees: $220 with main conference registration; $250 without main conference registration

This full-day workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to practice leadership communication skills essential to managing especially difficult people and conflict situations.

Even experienced chairs report feeling uncomfortable and sometimes ineffective when managing especially difficult people and conflict situations. The morning will focus on managing conflict in difficult situations including, for example, conflict with the dean and embittered conflict among faculty. The afternoon will focus on a few specific difficult personalities: the Confrontation Junkie and the Passive or Indifferent Soul.

An interactive format will be used throughout the day that involves case study analysis, group problem solving, and role-play. The workshop is designed to provide participants with greater understanding of how to manage difficult people and conflict situations more effectively as well as an opportunity to practice the recommended leadership communication skills.

About the Presenter:

Mary Lou Higgerson is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. A social scientist, educator, administrator, author, and specialist in organizational communication, she has been a speaker and consultant on topics of leadership, performance counseling, conflict management, shaping mission, and leading change.

Combining her knowledge of communication literature and skills with her administrative experience, Higgerson has focused her writing, research, and consulting on the application of communication and management theory. Since 1990, she has taught a variety of topics for the American Council on Education and seminars offered through the Department Leadership Program and has served as a consultant to institutions of higher education.

She has contributed book chapters and numerous articles on the department chair as academic leader, communication skills for administrators, and issues of academic administration that have appeared in such publications as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Journal of College and University Personnel Association, Continuing Education Review, and The Department Chairs (1996). Complexities of Higher Education Administration: Case Studies and Issues (1993, with S. Rehwaldt), and The Department Chair as Academic Leader (1999, with I. Hecht as first author and W. Gmelch).

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2. The Academic Chairperson: Making a Difference Through Effective Practices
Presented by Daniel Wheeler, Ed Kinley and Alan Seagren
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. with lunch
Legacy South 3
Fees: $220 with main conference registration; $250 without main conference registration

The best advice on effective academic practices would naturally come from excellent chairs. Such advice was compiled through a 15-year period of research, involving 94 campuses and 238 department chairs. A series of in-depth interviews brought out the voices of chairs and resulted in the publication of the Academic Chairperson's Handbook.

The workshop, is based on this research and will open with an overview of four dimensions of institutional change: (1) Be sensitive to the developmental growth of people and the organization; (2) Understand the departmental, institutional and disciplinary context in which this growth occurs; (3) Acknowledge that building is a process; (4) Recognize that chairs make a difference.

After the initial overview, six aspects of best practices in building a positive work environment for promoting faculty growth and professional development will be examined and discussed throughout the day including:

About the presenters:

Daniel W. Wheeler is Professor of Leadership Studies and head of the department of Ag Leadership, Education and Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Previously he was Coordinator of the Office of Professional and Organizational Development at Nebraska. He has degrees from Antioch College, Cornell and SUNYAB. Dr. Wheeler has made numerous contributions to faculty development, chairing departments and leadership. For example, he has co-authored The Academic Chairperson Handbook (1990), Enhancing Faculty Development: Strategies for Development and Renewal (1990) and has contributed numerous book chapters and articles on faculty development and department chairs. Wheeler is a past president of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education and recipient of the prestigious Spirit of POD Award. He is a member of the advisory boards of the Academic Chairperson Conference, Department Chair Newsletter, Council of Independent Colleges and Effective Practices for Academic Leaders. Wheeler is a Senior Fulbright Scholar in higher education. At Nebraska, he teaches graduate and undergraduate leadership courses. He consults and leads workshops in all of these areas in the U.S. and internationally.

Ed Kinley is Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Indiana State University. He has been involved with higher education administration for over 30 years and has more than 35 years of administrative and managerial experience in the field of information technology. In his present capacity, he has responsibility for the Center for Instruction, Research and Technology, guides faculty and department chair professional development. Prior to joining Indiana State University, he was a senior administrator at Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM and University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA. During his career he has worked in both the private and public sectors. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for over 18 years, teaching in a variety of environments including the traditional classroom, prison programs, interactive television, and asynchronous online courses; he presently holds graduate faculty status in the PhD Technology Management program at ISU. He is actively engaged professionally at the state and national level. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Notre Dame, has completed graduate work in Business Administration at Indiana University - South Bend, and holds a Ph. D. in Educational Administration from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Alan T. Seagren is Professor Emeritus of Educational Administration and Vice President for Administration Emeritus at the University of Nebraska. He was an administrator at the University of Nebraska for 32 years, serving as a chair, dean, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Vice President for Administration. For the past 15 years he has been the coordinator of the online Graduate Program in Educational Leadership and Higher Education and professor teaching courses in the online ELHE program. Seagren has made numerous contributions to chairing departments, leadership education and organizational development and has contributed numerous book chapters and articles on department chairs and leadership. He has co-authored The Academic Chairperson Handbook (1990), The Department Chair: New Roles, Responsibility and Challenges (1993), and Academic Leadership in Community Colleges (1994). He is a member of the advisory board for the Chair Academy for Leadership Development, the International Business Studies Program King Willem I College of the Netherlands, and the Campus Ministry for ELCA. He consults and leads workshops in the areas of leadership, department chairs and he has been a visiting professor at institutions in Australia, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

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Tuesday, February 5

3. Department Chairs' Balancing Acts: Managing Stress, Time and Conflict
Presented by Walter Gmelch
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. with lunch
Legacy South 2
Fees: $220 with main conference registration; $250 without main conference registration

Many provosts and presidents contend the most critical role in the university is the department chair. Deans add that their success depends on the leadership capabilities of department chairs. However, department chairs represent one the most complex, elusive, and intriguing management positions in America. It is unique, without common parallels in other organizations.

Chairs typically begin their positions without leadership training, without a clear understanding of the time demands, without knowing the conflict inherent in the position, and without an awareness of the stress and demands on their academic careers and personal lives. This workshop will focus on strategies department chairs can use to balance leadership-scholarship and personal-professional challenges. Specifically, participating department chairs will:

About the Presenter:

Walter H. Gmelch is the Dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. He formerly served as Dean of the College of Education at Iowa State University and Interim Dean of the College of Education, Professor, and Chair of the Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology department at Washington State University. Currently, Dr. Gmelch also serves as Director of the National Center for Academic Leadership. Gmelch earned a Ph.D. in the Educational Executive Program from the University of California (Santa Barbara), a Master's in Business Administration from the University of California (Berkeley), and a Bachelor's degree from Stanford University. As educator, management consultant, university administrator, and former business executive, Gmelch has conducted research and written extensively on the topics of leadership, team development, conflict, and stress and time management. He has published numerous articles, books, and scholarly papers in national and international journals. Dr. Gmelch has authored three books on team leadership and two on management and stress. He has additionally co-authored three books on the deanship. Today, Gmelch is one of the leading researchers in the study of academic leaders in higher education, serving as editor of two journals and on the editorial board of six other journals including The Department Chair, Innovative Higher Education, Academic Leadership, and the Center for Academic Leadership Newsletter. Dr. Gmelch has received numerous honors including a Kellogg National Fellowship, the University Council for Educational Administration Distinguished Professor Award, the Faculty Excellence Award for Research, and the Education Press Award of America. In addition, he served in the Danforth Leadership Program and has been an Australian Research Fellow.

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4. Continuing Chair Challenges: Evaluating Faculty and Facilitating Faculty Careers
Presented by N. Douglas Lees and Christine Licata
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. with lunch
Legacy South 3
Fees: $220 with main conference registration; $250 without main conference registration

While many aspects of chair work change over time, one that remains constant is the dual role of the chair in evaluating faculty performance and in promoting individual faculty growth and success. However, this work has assumed new dimensions with an aging faculty, some of whom may delay retirement for fiscal reasons, and persistent calls for accountability for documentation of faculty performance and productivity. This movement has played out in a very public way with many institutions modifying evaluation practices to include systematic assessment of all faculty members. As a result, chairs are now challenged to conduct objective reviews, to create environments that sustain faculty performance over the course of a career, and to intervene in formative ways in cases where performance lags. This workshop will provide new and experienced chairs with the opportunity to discuss strategies for establishing an effective departmental evaluation culture. Participants will be asked to write and critique evaluation reports; provide feedback on how to conduct positive performance feedback meetings and discuss experience-based approaches to sustain faculty excellence, alter a career path, and improve marginal or unsatisfactory performance. Focus will be placed on faculty at all stages of their careers

Attendees should come prepared to share an example of an evaluation "success", an evaluation "disaster", and a paragraph or two [with all identifying information removed] from a difficult performance review that the chair has written which outlines a performance problem and the recommended improvement strategy. [For new department chairs or for workshop participants who do not have available examples, it is recommended that the chair confer with institutional colleagues and bring examples from another unit]

About the Presenters:

N. Douglas Lees is Professor and Chair of Biology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He has served as chair for sixteen years and also holds the title of Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He has been active on a number of campus projects and committees focused on student retention and graduation rates including work in improving student success in Gateway courses, the development of the freshmen work program, and in establishing career-based internships for students in the health sciences. Dr. Lees has been nationally active on several higher education topics such as department staffing, post-tenure review, faculty evaluation, and fostering change. He has published widely on these and other topics related to department leadership, and has recently authored Chairing Academic Departments: Traditional and Emerging Expectations (Anker Pub./Jossey Bass, 2006). Dr. Lees holds a BA from Providence College and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University with a specialty in Microbiology. His disciplinary research interests are in the areas of sterol biosynthesis and regulation in yeast and pathogenic fungi.

Dr. Christine M. Licata has worked in the field of education for 39 years. She has held various faculty and administrative posts within two- and four-year institutions including department chair, division director, assistant dean and associate academic dean. In her current role of Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute for the Deaf, she is responsible for leadership and oversight of the college's curriculum and faculty including 25 programs, 220 faculty, research, instructional support and faculty development.

Licata holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a graduate degree in Education from Canisius College, Buffalo, New York. She received her doctoral degree in higher education from George Washington University, Washington, DC. Her research has been in the area of faculty evaluation and specifically post-tenure review. She authored one of the first national reports on this topic, Post-Tenure Review: Threat or Opportunity, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report (1986).

From 1998-2004, she served as senior associate at the American Association for Higher Education's New Pathways Project - a project which focused on Faculty Careers and Employment in the 21st Century. In that role, Dr. Licata and impact of post-tenure review. From 1998-2001, she worked with the Harvard Project on Faculty Appointments as an adviser and analyst on post-tenure review issues.

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