25th Annual Conference
Invited Presentations
Administration | Civic Engagement | Diversifying the Faculty/Student Body | Diversity | Evaluation/Assessment | Faculty Development/Roles | Financial | Leadership | New Faculty Appointments | Other | Promoting Interdisciplinary Activities | Scholarship Across Disciplines | Technology
Administration
Papers
Legal Issues in Faculty Recruitment and Hiring
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 – 2:50 p.m., Symposium
Jon Dalager
Georgetown College
A typical department chair generally seeks to strengthen his or her department by finding and hiring candidates that have desired strengths in teaching and/or research, that are accepted by all existing faculty, and that will create a smooth working unit within the university or college setting. Unfortunately, the recruitment and hiring arenas are laden with pitfalls that might snare the unsuspecting chair, his or her department, and the university. This paper and presentation will address some of those pitfalls and advise the academic chair on the legal and illegal ways to conduct search, especially in light of recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. Armed with a general knowledge of academic employment law, chairs will be able to better plan their recruitment and avoid potential legal problems as they build and strengthen their departments.
Export Controls and Universities: A Primer for Compliance
Friday, February 8, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Legends Ballroom 3
Debra Burke
Western Carolina University
LeVon Wilson
Georgia Southern University
In the wake of 9/11, attention to export controls has significantly increased due to heightened concerns about national security. These controls present unique challenges to universities and colleges because they require balancing concerns pitting national security and U.S. economic vitality against the traditional concepts of unrestricted academic freedom and the unfettered publication and dissemination of research findings and results. This presentation will provide "the basics" on how and when export control issues may arise in departments and institutions. Violations can result in both criminal and civil penalties, so an understanding of the issues is crucial. The discussion will assist university researchers and administrators in understanding how these laws may apply toward sponsored and non-sponsored research, and the extent to which the regulations affect normal university activities.
Avoiding Lawsuits by Creating Happy Students: The Customer Service Solution
Wednesday, February 6, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Traditions
LeVon E. Wilson
Mildred N. Wilson
Georgia Southern University
The purpose of this presentation is to provide some basic information to help chairpersons and other academic administrators recognize some of the problem areas that lead to student discontent and to assist them in becoming better providers of appropriate levels of customer service. This understanding will be helpful, as failure to do so can result in student retention problems, strained relationships with alumni, and yes, even litigation. Participants will learn good customer service techniques, including the five secrets of good customer service and hints on building a service culture within their institutions. Chairpersons will observe how providing good customer service is also good for student retention and makes for a good alumni base. They will also be exposed to service recovery techniques that can be employed after a customer service mistake has been made.
Civic Engagement
Paper
Regional Universities and the Entrepreneurship Imperative: Could this be Boyer's Fifth Domain?
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 – 2:50 p.m., Legacy South 3
Charles Harrington
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Tim Schibik
University of Southern Indiana
Cammie Hunt-Oxendine
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
With stories highlighting the many social, economic and educational benefits of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education programs are proliferating in colleges and universities around the country. Universities, particularly regional and rural public institutions, are facing significant pressure to provide entrepreneurship education and technical support to drive regional workforce and economic development. This increased expectation places significant stress on faculty to support entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship endeavors, all in the name of service. The presenters will discuss the impact that entrepreneurial engagement is having on faculty work.
Workshop
Does Higher Education Educate Students for Civic Engagement?
Wednesday, February 6, 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legacy South 1 & 2
Tom Hoffman
Crown College
A number of colleges and universities have vision and mission statements related to civic involvement (Palmer & Standerfer, 2005). This leads to a couple of very important questions. How can I contribute to public welfare and knowledge through policy work? Is it the responsibility of higher education to educate our students for civic engagement?
This presentation summarizes the notion of civic engagement in higher education institutions. It will provide exemplary models for the audience. Finally, participants will have the ability to share about their own intuitional initiatives regarding opportunities for students to engage in the political process as a part of their broader education learning.
Diversifying the Faculty/Student Body
Workshop
Faculty Recruitment: A Case Study for Department Chairs
Thursday, February 7, 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legends Ballroom 3
Joyce Yen
Coleen Carrigan
University of Washington
Faculty recruitment and selection is a key activity for department chairs. Efforts to diversify the faculty may often make recruitment and selection challenges feel even more acute. UW ADVANCE has developed recruitment case studies that provide chairs with an opportunity to discuss best practices and actively participate in learning how to facilitate the advancement of women and faculty of color.
Diversity
Workshop
Mentoring Faculty in Teaching Multicultural Students
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 - 3:50 p.m., Legends Ballroom 2
Marcia A. Kilsby
Andrews University
This presentation is designed to provide chairpersons with the techniques, tips, and insights into helping faculty to teach and mentor students that are from diverse ethnic, cultural, or international backgrounds. Topics will include verbal and nonverbal communication differences when English is not the first language, assessing learning in the context of diversity, and creating a climate that is accepting of cultural differences.
Evaluation/Assessment
Papers
Getting Better Ratings by Learning to Be Better Teachers
Amy Gross
IDEA Center
Faculty with negative student ratings results may seek assistance from department chairs to "get better results." This session will present research based on a nationally available student ratings instrument that not only asks students to rate the excellence of the teacher and the course, but also instructor behaviors, progress on learning objectives, and their own characteristics that influence learning. Chairs will be equipped with some research-based tools that will not only help faculty "get better ratings," but teach them about employing teaching methods that will facilitate student learning.
Quality, Potential, and Cost Model: Taking University Program Assessment to the Next Level
Thursday, February 7, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Legacy North 1
Kathy J. Booker
Cheryl Hilgenberg
Millikin University
Deans and Chairpersons share a responsibility to focus assessment activities that have the potential to ensure program improvement and planning for change. Although designed to ensure that programs are systematically assessed, the analysis of programs is often dissimilar across academic programs. The Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Dean's Council at a small, private, midwestern university developed the Quality, Program and Cost (QPC) model in 2006. The QPC Model provided chairpersons, directors, and deans a means to assess programs consistently and to ensure that all academic leaders are speaking the same language. The results of the application of the QPC model across 50 majors and its usefulness in guiding decisions to improve university program effectiveness and allocation of resources will be presented.
A Means for Updating and Validating Academic Programs
Friday, February 8, 9:30 – 10:20 a.m., Symposium
Laurie Dunlap
University of Akron
Leading an academic department through periodic reform is one of the critical roles of the chairperson. In this presentation, some of the reasons why program reform has gained increasing importance will be discussed. Then, a means for updating and validating academic programs will be discussed. Questions generated by a Delphi survey with participants from a random sample of colleges across the Midwest are used in this process.
Getting Better Ratings by Learning to be Better Teachers
Friday, February 8, 8:30 – 9:20 a.m., Legacy South 3
Amy Gross
The IDEA Center
Faculty with negative student ratings results may seek assistance from department chairs to "get better results." This session will present research based on a nationally available student ratings instrument that not only asks students to rate the excellence of the teacher and the course, but also instructor behaviors, progress on learning objectives, and their own characteristics that influence learning. Chairs will be equipped with some research-based tools that will not only help faculty "get better ratings," but teach them about employing teaching methods that will facilitate student learning.
Strengthening Assessment Through the Implementation of Electronic Portfolios
Wednesday, February 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Salon Three
Glena Gilbert Temple
Viterbo University
The use of portfolios has been documented to have a positive impact on students, faculty and programs. The portfolio provides a roadmap of the skills and program outcomes for students as they progress through the curriculum. For departments, the portfolio can serve as the central device for program-level assessment. This presentation focuses on: 1) the benefits and limitations of electronic portfolio systems in program-level assessment; 2) a discussion of resources and time required to implement electronic portfolios in a program; and 3) survey and focus group results of student and faculty perceptions of the use of electronic portfolios.
Implementing a Student Evaluation System: Issues to Address and Pitfalls to Avoid
Thursday, February 7, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legacy North 1
Thomas Wangler
Benedictine University
This presentation will discuss the nuts and bolts of implementing the IDEA student evaluation system at a small private university. The roles and responsibilities of the deans, department chairs, program directors, and support staff will be discussed. Some of the issues that invariably come up when trying to do this kind of thing will be addressed. Issues concerning how such a system can be used for improving teaching, making personnel decisions, and making programmatic changes will also be discussed.
So How Different are the Disciplines?
Wednesday, February 6, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legacy South 3
Bill Pallett
The IDEA Center
The IDEA Student Ratings of Instruction instrument asks instructors to identify essential and important goals for the course and then asks students to rate their learning on those purposes. In addition, the instrument asks students how frequently instructors employ different teaching methods. This session will summarize findings about disciplinary differences that exist concerning course objectives, student self-report of learning, and teaching methods employed.
Workshops
Appraising Teachign Effectiveness: Beyond Student Ratings
Bill Pallett
Amy Gross
IDEA Center
Assessing Student Learning Outcomes at the Program Level: What Chairs Need to Know About Assessment
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legends Ballroom 2
Susan Hatfield
Winona State University
Program level assessment has become a number one priority of regional and professional accrediting agencies. This workshop will focus on what chairs need to know about assessment in general, and how to write program level student learning outcomes that are meaningful and measurable.
Managing Difficult Performance Review Sessions
Thursday, February 7, 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legacy South 1 & 2
Mary Lou Higgerson
Baldwin-Wallace College
This workshop will focus on the challenge of counseling faculty who are not performing well. Participants will have an opportunity to practice leadership communication skills and strategies essential to conducting effective performance counseling sessions.
Faculty Development/Roles
Paper
Departmental Leadership: Engaging Others in Mentorship
Thursday, February 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legacy North 1
Marcia Stockham
Kansas State University
This session presents one Chairperson's experience using a formalized, structured mentoring program to foster success of newly hired, pre-tenured faculty. Along with a description of the program model, discussion will include the benefits, challenges, and group dynamics of working with junior faculty having a formal mentoring relationship outside the department.
Financial
Paper
The Politics of Securing Campus Budget Resources II: The Results
Wednesday, February 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legacy South 3
Wallace Southerland III,
Walden University
This presentation is part two of a session that was given several years ago, prior to the data collection phase of the author's presentation research. The research examined the budget strategies, or influence efforts, of three reputedly exemplary chairpersons who sought campus budget resources to support their academic priorities. Many years later, the results of the study are in. In sum, the chairs in the study had a reputation for converting their relevant power resources into successful budget strategies. This presentation will discuss the key findings of the study, including the chairs' relevant power resources, practical applications based on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations for future research.
Leadership
Papers
Building Buy-in: Working with DE Faculty from a Distance
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 – 2:50 p.m., Traditions
Thomas C. Bailey
University of Maryland University College
As a department chair, leading and managing faculty can be quite challenging. When your faculty members are located throughout the world, even greater opportunities arise. Developing a climate that makes faculty members feel that a sense of collaboration exists becomes more difficult. Integration of electronic means can help - but this needs to be a total integration with leading and managing. This presentation will focus on those means of communicating and reaching beyond the physical separation to build a coordinated distributed faculty.
Leading Change in a Newly-Combined Academic Unit
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 – 2:50 p.m., Legacy North 1
Jamie M. Byrne
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
The combining of two academic units presents special challenges for the chairs who lead that change. There are lessons chairs can learn from the experience at UALR, including the importance of listening, giving faculty ownership, re-positioning conflict, celebrating individual as well as group achievements, and acknowledging and valuing differences. The importance of the chair as servant leader is also explored.
Preparing Faculty for Academic Leadership: The Senior Faculty Fellows Program at the University of Central Florida
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 - 2:50 p.m., Salon Three
Richard Harrison II
Denise Young
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida (UCF) created an in-house fellowship program 16 years ago that has been extraordinarily successful in preparing faculty at the senior ranks for academic leadership positions, such as department chair or dean. Faculty chosen to participate learn more about the broad work of the university across units through project assignments in planning, assessment, faculty credentialing, policy formulation, and other key developments. This paper describes UCF's Senior Faculty Fellows program and outlines the rationale for its establishment; discusses its history and funding; reviews the application and selection procedure; describes the fellows' projects and experiences and their transition (or not) to administration; discusses recent developments with the program in light of UCF's changing campus culture; and suggests future directions and practical recommendations.
Promoting Collaboration: Development of a University-wide Department Chairs Group
Wednesday, February 6, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Salon Three
Margaret R. Kasschau
Andrew M. Peterson
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
The University-wide Department Chairs Group (DCG) at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia is convened by the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, to whom no chairs report. The DCG is an excellent forum from across the university that promotes communication and allows for the discovery of common issues. The convener recommends changes suggested by the group and brings policies to the DCG for feedback. The DCG is an excellent support group for new chairs. Using a convener that is not a chair or dean makes this DCG and this conference session unique.
Accountability and the Role of the Department Chair
Thursday, February 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Symposium
N. Douglas Lees
David Malik
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Calls for accountability in higher education are increasing and are not likely to subside in the future. Chairs represent the individuals who will receive the requests and who will have the responsibility for assuring that the appropriate information is gathered and submitted. Chairs are essential in this process and must identify strategies to involve faculty in productive ways to improve unit performance, success, and image. This session will seek to increase chair awareness of the various dimensions of accountability, help identify approaches that assure faculty buy-in and participation, reframe department work to align with campus priorities, and more.
If I Only Knew...Leadership Development on the Job
Friday, February 8, 8:30 – 9:20 a.m., Symposium
Regina Miller
University of Hartford
This presentation will share the experiences of a chair who agreed to take on the chairperson role for three years and served instead for eight years. The work encountered as chair included defining and re-defining the job as it and the chair evolved, endeavoring to help others understand the reality of the workload. A major undertaking revolved around working through several state and national accreditation visits. Also to be shared will be the tasks not yet accomplished, the grooming of a successor - all from lessons learned.
Internally vs. Externally Hired: Does it Make a Difference for a New Chairperson?
Wednesday, February 6, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Symposium
John Murray
Georgia Southern University
This presentation focuses on the benefits and liabilities associated with being a newly hired chairperson who originates either from within the faculty ranks of the department (internal) or from a different department (external). The author will present the results of a series of interviews conducted with relatively new chairpersons across a variety of disciplines, both internal and external, and will shed light on this issue. The talk will end with a set of recommendations for different circumstances for problem situations unique to internal and external chairpersons.
Academic Chair: Leadership in Demand
Thursday, February 7, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Symposium
Michael Petty
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
In many ways, academic chairs are directly responsible for the vitality of their institutions. This interactive session provides an overview of the essential skills needed by, the crucial tasks required of, and the critical job challenges facing academic chairs. In addition, a group process for establishing academic priorities by chairs and a structure for creating professional development action plans for chairs will be discussed and demonstrated.
The Chairperson's Role in Work-Family Flexibility for Faculty
Wednesday, February 6, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Traditions
Kate Quinn
University of Washington
Faculty demographics are changing and so are faculty expectations around work-family balance. To recruit and retain the best and brightest faculty, academic culture needs to permit work-family flexibility. This presentation offers concrete strategies for chairpersons to lead their departments for work-family cultural change, as well as ways to support faculty across the life- and career-course.
New Chair: 1) Review the Past; 2) Access the Present; 3) Look to the Future
Thursday, February 7, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Symposium
Alan T. Seagren
Daniel Wheeler
Ed Kinley
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The context/environment that chairs operate in today is much more complex and multidimensional than that of a few years ago. The information gathered from two research efforts provides a picture of the changes that have taken place over the past two decades. The issues chairs identified, as well as the strategies they suggested, will be presented. Special focus will be given to issues related to resources, technology and assessment.
Leading a Department Out of Crisis and Controversy: A Case Study
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 – 2:50 p.m., Symposium
Anthony Shafer
Cardinal Stritch University
What strategies can a new chair utilize to lead a department out of unproductive conflict and controversy? The presenter will outline, in case study format, the strategies, successes, and challenges associated with leading a department from a difficult period and into new collaborative and innovative efforts. The presenter will address everyday practices that build trust and create a safe, productive departmental culture.
A Collaborative Approach to Successful Departmental Transformation
Friday, February 8, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Legacy South 3
George Shields
Hamilton College
In this paper the author will describe how the chemistry department at Hamilton College went from being a below average department to one of the best chemistry departments among liberal arts colleges. The process of how the department developed common goals and worked diligently to implement them is relevant to academic chairpersons and deans at all institutions. Central to success was the development of several five-year plans, which guided and focused efforts. In this presentation, the author will discuss the steps that: (1) created a common sense of mission: (2) created a 100-percent research-active faculty; (3) maintained excellence in teaching while developing excellence in research; (4) managed faculty tensions; (5) impacted other departments; (6) reset goals after initial success; (7) developed new leadership; (8) attracted talented new faculty; (9) transitioned to new leadership; (10) led to national recognition.
Leading Department Meetings that Encourage Open Communication, Creativity, and Civility
Wednesday, February 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Symposium
Gary M. Shulman
Miami University
Thinking and conversation often proceed in a rambling or unfocused manner. Based on the work of Edward de Bono, this paper shows how chairpersons can facilitate community-building and enhance the quality of decision outcomes in faculty meetings. The methodology helps the chairperson choose the appropriate type of thinking and discussion approach for a given situation.
Riding Winds of Change: New Dean, Department, Chair, and Programs
Thursday, February 7, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Salon Three
Garrett Smith
Kennesaw State University
This presentation is about initiating and managing change. In July 2006 at Kennesaw State University a new dean created a new department headed by a newly elected chair. The department implemented two new degree programs, moved into a new building and hired new staff. This paper will provide practical advice on how to seize opportunities in an evolving institution and will conclude with a discussion on managing change. The presentation will focus on four parts: 1) tips on how to work with a new dean; 2) tips on how to create a new department; 3) tips on how to survive your first year as chair; 4) tips on how to create new programs within that department.
Rebuilding a Small Department: A personal perspective
Friday, February 8, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Legends Ballroom 2
Peter Turner
Clarkson University
In this presentation, the challenges facing an arriving department chair in rebuilding a small, research-oriented department will be examined. Challenges inherent to the situation include issues with faculty mentoring, hiring, department balance and building a graduate program. The presentation will focus on approaches used to rebuild the department, including targeted hiring, demand-led growth, new degree programs, and mentoring.
The Chair's Role When Negotiations Get Tough
Friday, February 8, 9:30 – 10:20 a.m., Legacy South 3
Nancy VanArsdale
East Stroudsburg University
Many of our public universities and community colleges operate under collective bargaining agreements. These agreements not only identify the responsibilities of chairs and faculty members, but the collective bargaining process itself sometimes calls upon chairs to support union efforts. Negotiation years often require department chairs to take on increased responsibilities with regards to negotiation communications. This paper reports on qualitative interview research with department chairs at the Community College of Philadelphia California State System Universities, and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Universities. The year 2007 presented critical challenges to faculty and chairs at these public institutions, which all conducted strike authorization votes and organized faculty to prepare for strike actions. Indeed, the faculty at the Philadelphia Community College did strike during a two-week period in Spring 2007. What kinds of tasks were chairs asked to perform? How did chairs react to these duties related to the negotiation process? This presentation will address these questions.
How Did You Get to Be Chair?: Proving Oneself in the Chair Role
Wednesday, February 6, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Symposium
Carol Westcamp
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith
What happens when a young faculty member with less education and less experience than most faculty members within the department is appointed department chair? How can such a newly appointed department chair prove oneself in the role of department chair? The focus of this presentation is on resolving problems that young or newly appointed chairs might face.
Workshops
Creating a Culture of Cooperation in the Academic Department
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legends Ballroom 3
Jerry Fliger
Toccoa Falls College
Mary Vaughn
Belmont University
Chairpersons often find themselves in positions that require more training than they have received and in departments that do not want to be led. This workshop will begin the process of developing a values-based leadership strategy that will encourage cooperation and mutual satisfaction. Those in attendance will participate in guided discussion and practical application in the area of vision, planning, relational intentionality and personal development.
Leadership for Diversity: The Chairperson's Role
Wednesday, February 6, 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legends Ballroom 3
Myra Gordon
Kansas State University
This workshop addresses six critical aspects of the chairperson's role in advancing diversity at the departmental level. Topics addressed include: (1) planning and accountability for diversity; (2) best practices for diversifying the faculty; (3) how to diversify the curriculum; (4) departmental roles in multicultural student recruitment and retention; (5) understanding and enhancing the climate for diversity; and (6) fundraising for diversity. Participants will engage in exercises and receive handouts and guidelines. Participants will leave the workshop with a greater understanding of how to exercise leadership for diversity, along with a view of what an outstanding department in this regard looks like.
Defining Your Leadership: The Emotional Intelligence Connection
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 - 3:50 p.m., Legacy South 1 & 2
Karen Greenockle
University of Tennessee at Martin
Whether experienced or inexperienced in leadership techniques, the understanding and development of emotional intelligence skills has been shown to be essential in current leadership practice. Discover the components of the emotional intelligence model and learn strategies for developing an EQ that maximizes one's own leadership potential.
A Dilemma: Balancing Administrative Duties and Scholarship
Thursday, February 7, 10:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m., Legends Ballroom 2
Barbara J. Hunt
Alice K. Pate
Terry S. Irvin
Columbus State University
As department chairs' duties grow, scholarship often becomes a casualty. There is much literature to help chairs hone academic leadership skills and promote faculty scholarship. However, there is almost nothing to help chairs balance administrative duties with their own scholarly activities. This workshop will help participants identify their own research goals, the roadblocks to these goals, and the means to achieve them. Activities will include survey analysis, case studies, group discussion, and goal setting for professional development.
Leadership: Planning, Evaluation and Best Practices-Benchmarks through Group Activity
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legacy South 1 & 2
Robert Kehrberg
John Williams
Western Carolina University
Developing leadership within any organization requires participation by constituents. This workshop is designed to demonstrate how one might accomplish this through defined activities that affect how well an organization may achieve goals. All organizations have expertise on what actions and policies best fit their unique workplace. This session provides hands-on activities that demonstrate how to develop these best-practice benchmarks. Real leadership is the ability to bring ideas and vision to fruition. The workshop focuses on developing leadership within one's unit to bring vision into reality and ideas to application. This workshop, split into two distinct portions, is designed to provide real-time help and identification principles that move through platitudes and "feel good" statements. The planning portion of the workshop focuses participants on how to define activities with priority factors within a calendar cycle. The evaluation portion demonstrates aspects within given organizations and helps develop descriptors for quality of work categories.
Leaders Role in Promoting Successful Change
Friday, February 8, 8:30 – 10:20 a.m., Legends Ballroom 3
Carleen Vande Zande
Marian College
This session will assist campus leaders to identify collaborative leadership strategies to support the creation of innovative solutions to today's dilemmas in higher education. This session addresses relevant themes of institutional change that require administrative flexibility on the part of academic deans and chairpersons to use leadership strategies that promote faculty buy-in and that motivate faculty to support a change agenda.
Managing the Academic Chair's Paradoxical Role
Friday, February 8, 8:30 – 10:20 a.m., Legacy South 1 & 2
Frank Fletcher
Charles Roberts
Midway College
This is an interactive workshop on managing the academic chair's paradoxical role. Participants will reflect on their role as an academic chair and using current leadership and management theories develop strategies to deal with an issue back on their campus.
Servant Leadership in a Time of Hard Choices
Wednesday, February 6, 2:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legends Ballroom 3
Daniel Wheeler
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
In these difficult times, higher education leadership is facing hard choices. Although the present trend seems to centralize authority and decision-making, an alternative is servant leadership. Participants will learn what constitutes servant leadership and its applicability.
New Faculty Appointments
Paper
How Two Novice Department Chairpersons Learned to Become Effective Leaders!
Friday, February 8, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Symposium
Loretta Neal McGregor
Dianna Lawler-Prince
Don Maness
Arkansas State University
The presenters in this session will share and discuss experiences and lessons learned during their first few years as new department chairpersons. The presenters hope that this session will be an interactive session where other new chairpersons will find a supportive and encouraging environment where they may address issues and concerns.
Other
Papers
How to Make Effective Use of an External Consultant
Friday, February 8, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Legacy South 1 & 2
Daniel Bibeau
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Douglas Ross
Douglas Ross Associates, LLC
Chairpersons are increasingly stretched in an attempt to juggle the expanding expectations being placed on their departments. This presentation is founded on the work between a department head, the faculty, and a consultant over the past several years. In particular, we will explore how the utility of a consultant with experience in the private sector and with government agencies can be a great value to a department. An experienced chair and an experienced consultant team-up to deliver practical advice on what you need to know and how you need to proceed to find and effectively use an external consultant. The consultant will provide insights into and guidelines for the proper use of consultants. The department head will explain how the use of a consultant can benefit a department and make the chairperson more effective and efficient in his or her position. Participants will learn how the use of a consultant can evolve over time to continue to help the chairperson.
Strategies for Improving the Research Climate for Department Chairs
Friday, February 8, 8:30 – 9:20 a.m., Legacy North 1
Eugene Rice,
Fort Hays State University
Chairpersons commonly encounter difficulty in maintaining an active scholarly life while serving as chair, a source of both personal and professional frustration. This presentation will detail the various quantitative and qualitative results of an in-depth research climate survey, as well as the findings of a separate peer review study. In addition, it will carefully outline the final recommendations and policy initiatives that came out of the committee's work as a way of fostering a discussion among participants about other ideas for improving the research climate for department chairs.
How To Develop and Conduct Collaborative and Constructive Faculty Evaluations and Appraisals
Thursday, February 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legacy South 3
Patricia Schmakel
Lourdes College
This presentation is an interactive exchange of applied knowledge and experiences, focusing on attendees' specific questions about their own challenges and needs. It will highlight the experiences gained by a midwestern college as it developed and implemented a faculty evaluation process. The institution's Faculty Senate, department chairpersons, faculty and administration collaborated successfully over a three-year period to fashion a tool and procedures for faculty performance appraisal. Most importantly, special care was taken to reflect the college mission, values, and strategic goals and to encourage faculty mentoring. The committee that developed this project empowered all levels of faculty, especially department chairpersons, by applying innovative approaches to gather input and feedback throughout the three-year design and pilot program period. The development of the evaluation system and its associated practices was consistent with the principles of learning organizations (Senge, 1990), goal-setting theory (Kotter & Heskett, 1992), leadership by employee empowerment (Kouzes & Posner, 2002) and cross-organizational collaboration (Kanter, 1984).
Internationalizing the Curriculum: The Role of the Chairperson.
Friday, February 8, 10:30 – 11:20 a.m., Legacy North 1
Simona Wright
Karen Jenkins
The College of New Jersey
The issue of campus internationalization has for long been on many administrators' agendas and faculty's minds. Until a few years ago, international initiatives at various institutions had been driven in many cases by a student body that was becoming increasingly interested in taking advantage, while in college, of a study abroad opportunity. As the students' demand for study abroad grew, so did the disorientation of many institutions, which found themselves unprepared to face the new trend in an organized and coherent structure. In many cases, a high interest and eagerness to include the international dimension into the academic experience were met with little know-how or expertise, leaving some institutions to provide disconnected and fragmented solutions to the demand. In other, happier cases, the new trend forced institutions to look beyond what they had until then provided, to more strategic and comprehensive approaches.
This workshop is addressed to those chairs and institutions that are planning to or in the process of transforming their curriculum to include the international dimension.
Workshops
Practically Well: Stress Reduction and Well-Being for Department Chairs
Wednesday, February 6, 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Legends Ballroom 2
Tim Hatfield
Winona State University
One practical definition of stress is "any additional demand made upon a person." For both veteran and relatively new department chairs alike, this is a very useful description of the endless list of role demands that face them every day. None, it seems, have been prepared adequately for the inevitable multiple stresses of the role of chair. This hands-on session will provide participants with practical information and supportive experiential opportunities to discuss and process not only what stresses they face but also how to deal with them effectively on a daily basis.
Topics will include:
- identification of key job stressors
- attributes of a stress-resistant personality
- a practical model of stress management skills
- action planning for lowered stress-reactivity
Promoting Interdisciplinary Activities
Paper
Engaging Teacher Education Communities: A Collaborative Model that Really Works
Friday, February 8, 9:30 – 10:20 a.m., Legacy North 1
Marjorie Economopoulos
Ronald Matson
William Griffin
Kennesaw State University
How does a university-wide structure support departments and chairs in preparing teachers? Working collaboratively with colleagues has some advantages and some challenges. How do we coordinate programs and curriculum with faculty from diverse settings? The Professional Teacher Education Unit (PTEU) at Kennesaw State University distributes ownership and responsibility for teacher education across five colleges and 11 departments in a university of 20,000 students. Department chairs from three colleges give their perspectives. This session will be of interest to department chairs that support the teacher education programs.
Workshop
Increasing Faculty Motivation through Interdisciplinary Professional Learning Communities
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 – 3:50 p.m., Legacy South 3
Karen Moroz
Angie Nippert
Matt Mauch
Kris Bransford
Concordia University St. Paul
It is this group's experience that in higher education settings many faculty members, while experts in their field, often have little training in effective teaching pedagogies. This, coupled with the isolation that occurs due to varying schedules and commitments, can lead to unexpressed frustration that ultimately affects student learning. For the past two years, this interdisciplinary group has created an environment for sharing concerns, frustrations, and classroom success stories. Through collaboration, centered on the sharing of active learning strategies, the group's individuals have become increasingly motivated to take risks in the classroom to enhance student scholarship. Of equal importance is the satisfaction of connecting with colleagues in a manner not found elsewhere. In this presentation, the group will reflect on how it formed, and the process the professional learning community engages in as it continues to grow professionally while working to engage and motivate students. Through facilitated reflection, attendees will have time to discuss ways to replicate similar professional learning communities at their institutions.
Scholarship Across Disciplines
Paper
Interdisciplinarity: Moving Beyond Traditional Boundaries
Wednesday, February 6, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Salon Three
N. Douglas Lees
Gautam Vemuri
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Our increasingly complex world requires that we combine multiple skills to solve problems and that we prepare our students with sets of tools that cut across traditional disciplines. This trend dictates that we collaborate as teams and that we develop academic programming that is truly interdisciplinary. Such cultural shifts do not come about easily and department chairs will play vital roles in promoting and implementing new structures in scholarly work and programming. This session will focus on encouraging chairs to partner with others in order to create innovative programs and research new opportunities for their departments.
Technology
Papers
Evidence-Based Program Review and Curriculum Assessment Model
Thursday, February 7, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m., Salon Three
Jennifer Hixon
Jill Russell
Karin Camihort
Charles Milch
Springfield College
The primary objective of this presentation is to provide a replicable model useful to academic departments to demonstrate the alignment of curriculum across general education requirements, pre-professional coursework and experiences, professional standards, and outcomes. Although the curriculum and outcomes will vary from institution to institution or department to department, the process used and resulting approach is applicable to any academic unit. Chairpersons will learn how to lead faculty in building a curriculum model for themselves, how to share the information within the model with various audiences, and how to better prepare for accreditation visits.
Technical Innovation for Student Participation
Thursday, February 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Salon Three
Nancy MacMullen
Linda McCann
Governors State University
The presentation focus is on how to utilize a blog to encourage interaction and participation of non-traditional students in any program and university activities and governance. The presenters will discuss the development, the technology requirements, and relevant information that can be provided to not only non-traditional students, but also traditional students using the blog. The material will additionally cover how the chairperson can utilize the blog as a means of keeping the students updated on important issues related to the program and the college/university community.
The Development, Preparation and Implementation of a Revised Blended Multi-section Introductory Technology Course
Thursday, February 7, 2:00 – 2:50 p.m., Salon Three
Domenick J. Pinto
Sacred Heart University
This presentation will focus on how, as a chairperson, the author needed to interact with administrators, other chairs and faculty to begin the development and implementation of a new course. Participants will come away with a greater knowledge of areas such as introducing the idea of a university-wide blended course and selecting and retraining faculty.
Virtual Community Experience: A Student Success Initiative
Wednesday, February 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Traditions
Deborah Raines
Florida Atlantic University
A Virtual Community is an innovative and accessible method to familiarize incoming freshman with the responsibilities and opportunities of being a college student. For a virtual community to be healthy and to provide information, to support connections among the university community and to nurture the freshman's image of self as a successful university student, participants must integrate their on-line experience with the in-person experience. The activities in the virtual community experience are conceptualized to be a value-added experience for the incoming freshmen, a career skill building/service learning experience for upperclassmen and to promote a sense of belonging to the university community.
Workshops
Data-Driven Decision Making: Strategies for Department Chairs
Friday, February 8, 8:30 – 10:20 a.m., Legends Ballroom 2
Jeffrey Hecht
Northern Illinois University
Department Chairs are called upon to make numerous decisions regarding different aspects of their department's functioning. Many of these decisions could benefit from the examination of relevant historical data, yet chairs are often not oriented to a reliable process for collecting, redacting, and analyzing data for this purpose. This workshop will review one systematic and easy-to-implement approach for integrating data into the department-level decision making process. Participants will use examples to: identify the kinds of questions and problems that might benefit from the inclusions of analyzed data; discuss the kinds of data that could be brought to bear on such problems (and, within their own organizations, where and how such data might be obtained); and review ways to reduce and analyze such data for inclusions in the decision process.