Standing on the Precipice: Selecting Strategies for Success and Survival

Al Seagren & Daniel Wheeler

9 a.m.–4 p.m. with lunch
Location: Salon 11/12
Fees: $225 with main conference registration; $275 without main conference registration (Space is limited to 25 participants). Your registration fee includes all workshop materials including The Academic Chair's Handbook, 2nd Edition, continental breakfast, plated luncheon, morning and afternoon refreshment breaks, and certificate of attendance.

If you are a seasoned chair looking for new ways to improve your leadership and your department or a new chair looking for processes to assist with your new responsibilities, this workshop is for you! Refresh your skills and learn methods of addressing a departmental vision while dealing with a new resource environment.

This interactive workshop will be focused on The 2nd Edition of the Academic Chair’s Handbook published in 2008. The book, written in the voice of 238 chairs on 94 campuses, reflects over 100 strategies used to deal with the issues of Vision and Direction, Developing a Positive Culture, Accountability, Resources, and Faculty.

The workshop will begin with an overview of the Four Dimensions of the book:

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, participating chairs will use a checklist from the book to provide a framework to review departmental issues. Strategies, both immediate and long-term, related to seven main aspects will be examined and discussed. Those issues are:

• Institutional/Departmental Context and Leadership Role of Chairs;
• Building as a Process;
• Create a Positive Interpersonal Work Environment;
• Developing a Collective Vision and Dealing with Change;
• Adapt to Funding and Resource Challenges;
• Help New Faculty Become Oriented

Department Chairs' Balancing Acts: Managing Stress, Time and Conflict

Walter Gmelch

9 a.m.–4 p.m. with lunch
Location: Salon 11/12
Fees: $225 with main conference registration; $275 without main conference registration (Space is limited to 25 participants). Your registration fee includes all workshop materials including The Academic Chair's Handbook, 2nd Edition, continental breakfast, plated luncheon, morning and afternoon refreshment breaks, and certificate of attendance.

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 of 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:

• explore "the call" to leadership and trade-offs in academic positions;
• identify and manage common stress and time traps of department chairs;
• explore how stress impairs and enhances performance;
• learn how to manage their time management molecule;
• develop skills and strategies for managing interpersonal conflict; and
• balance their personal and professional lives.

Collegiality: Chairs’ Role in Fostering a Collegial Department

Bob Cipriano

Location: Salon 3/4

This workshop will focus on the unique role of the chair in fostering a desired collegial and civil environment in their department. Strategies will be explored that also identify specific responsibilities the university has in reigning in an uncivil and vitriolic faculty member. Approaches will be examined that facilitate departments that invite free expression, exploration, and inquiry, and are enthusiastic, collaborative and exciting. In this interactive workshop, the attendees will actively participate in problem-solving activities regarding the topic of collegiality and civility within a department. The following questions will be explored using experiential case studies and scenarios: How do we operationally define collegiality? Can we develop guidelines to foster collegiality without discouraging productive dissent? Are there proven methods to assess collegial behavior in the interviewing and selection of new faculty members, as well as in the faculty evaluation process? What have the U.S. courts ruled concerning the role of collegiality in tenure, promotion, and termination decisions? What, exactly, is the chair’s role in fostering civility/collegiality in the department? Can ‘lack of civility/collegiality’ be used as a basis to terminate a full-time faculty member? What are the academic policy implications of what the courts have ruled regarding collegiality – in terms of selecting, hiring, training, and evaluating faculty? Are there implied delimitations that the typical chair faces in facilitating a more civil environment in their department? The workshop participants will develop a personal “Plan of Action” that they can use when they return to their campus after the conference.

The Academic Portfolio: A Successful New Way to Document Teaching, Research and Service

Peter Seldin

Location: Salon 9/10

An important change is taking place in higher education. Faculty are being held accountable – as never before – for how well they do their jobs. The traditional approach to evaluating and developing their performance has been to focus on the “what,” but not on the “why.” Thoughtful reflection, significance, and context were not built into the system. But these failings limit the understanding of the full range of a professor's work in teaching, research/scholarship, and service. Evaluators and faculty developers might understand a professor's teaching philosophy and methodology if they did a teaching portfolio. But they wouldn't easily understand the nature of the professor's research, the significance of selected publications, the context of their work, or their most noteworthy accomplishments and goals.

And they likely wouldn't know how a professor's teaching, research, and service are integrated to form a cohesive whole or how they fit with the institutional or departmental mission.

The best way to get at the individuality and complexity of faculty work is the academic portfolio. It may prove to be the most innovative and promising faculty evaluation and development technique in years. What is it? The portfolio is a 16-18 page selective gathering of documents and materials highlighting a professor's performance and suggesting its scope and quality. It's based on deep reflection and provides context and significance. The portfolio template used is the result of extensive research by the presenter. More than 200 faculty members and department chairs from across disciplines and institutions provided specific suggestions and recommendations. The result is a comprehensive template that can easily be adapted to individual faculty and department needs.

The academic portfolio concept has gone well beyond the point of theoretical possibility. Today, it is being adopted or pilot-tested by an increasing number of institutions. Significantly, they are institutions of every size, shape, and mission. This highly interactive session will describe the what, why, and how to develop an academic portfolio. It will discuss the critical role played by department chairs as they assist individual faculty to develop their portfolios. It will provide proven advice for getting started, discuss red-flag dangers, and benchmarks for success.

What Department Chairs Want to Know Most

R. Kent Crookston

Location: Salon 11

In a 2009 national survey, almost 3,000 chairs identified a small number of administrative tasks and abilities for which they most wanted help and information. Survey results will be shared and discussed – what do they tell us about the major needs of today’s American chairs? The workshop will then turn to an interactive discussion around at least the top two issues identified in the survey: "How to deal with problem faculty," and "How to effectively guide department change." Tips gathered from extensive research of current chair literature will be shared. If there is enough time for the number three issue, we will also discuss it – "How to effectively manage time."

Chair-Dean Relations

Donald Chu

Location: Salon 12

In the summer 2009 issue of The Department Chair, Mary Lou Higgerson and Barry McCauliff state the "The most effective strategies for an individual chair will be determined, in large part, by what decisions are delegated to chairs on the campus." Clearly for chairs to fulfill their leadership roles, they must be empowered by their deans. In this session, the relationship between deans and department chairs will be examined. What is the dean's world like? What can chairs do to convey the correct sense of a department and the capability of the chair to not only manage, but to also lead the department and its faculty? In this session, Don Chu will draw upon his experience as a dean and also his work The California State University Department Chair Survey to encourage a better understanding of this essential higher education dynamic, and to guide workshop participants in the development of a game plan for the best chair dean relations possible.

On Being a New Chair: Past, Present and Future

Daniel Wheeler & Alan Seagren

Location: Salon 13

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.

Salon 3/4

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

Workshop
Beyond Systems: Technical and Moral Engagement of Accountability
Grady Bogue, The University of Tennessee
Jean Eledge, Lee University

Accountability in higher education is both systemic/technical and moral/ethical. Accountability turns on the acquisition of performance intelligence and evidence, but also turns on the effective engagement of faculty in accountability measures. Assisting chairs in linking cultures of evidence and cultures of caring is the theme of this session.

Salon 9/10

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

Workshop
Self Assessment: The Cornerstone of Lifelong Learning and Institutional Assessment
Jill L. Ferguson, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

This workshop explores the importance of self-assessment and provides the building blocks for faculty and staff to assess themselves, who then, in turn, can teach constructive self-assessment to students, who can use it in their life-long learning. Self-assessment is the foundation for institutional assessment and for the accreditation process.

Salon 11

1:15 – 3:00 p.m.

Workshop
Reforming General Education: A Meeting of the Minds
Nancy Mitchell, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Rita Kean, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Scott Fuess, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Those working to reform general education will find practical ideas for building consensus. This workshop offers a model, recognizing the critical role of department chairs, which was used to create a new program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A broader discussion lets participants create a plan for their institution.

Salon 12

1:15 – 2:00 p.m.

Paper
Faculty Development in an Accountability Era: Promoting Scholarship through Self-Study
Jill Farrell, Barry University
Catheryn Weitman, Barry University

In an era of accountability, departmental chairpersons must ensure that faculty continues to enhance their teaching practice while also engaging in scholarly work. This parallel track can be more or less challenging when the focus of scholarly work emanates from the teaching/learning environment.

2:15 – 3:00 p.m.

Paper
Using Email Effectively: Academic Communication in a Digital Age
Laura Gurak, University of Minnesota

In academic departments, where constituents are rarely in the same place at the same time, email has become the default communication tool. But features that make email so effective also make it problematic for academic communication. This presentation explores key communicative features of e-mail and offers practical ideas for chairs.

Salon 13

1:15 – 2:00 p.m.

Paper
Issues in Transitioning Traditional Programs to Online Programs
Mindy Haar, New York Institute of Technology

As online courses offer students increased flexibility and convenience, more schools and departments are considering increasing the number of virtual offerings. Lessons learned by one chair overseeing a program transitioning from traditional format to totally online format over a two year period will be shared.

2:15 – 3:00 p.m.

Paper
Implementing Service Learning Across the Curriculum: A Catalyst for Change
Marie Huff, Western Carolina University Linda Stanford, Western Carolina University

The presenters will provide information to enable chairs to support faculty in developing and implementing service learning activities across the curriculum. Research from the professional literature, specific examples of service learning activities, and the presenters’ own experiences with faculty and students engaging in service learning will be shared.

Salon 14

1:15 – 2:00 p.m.

Paper
The Subtle Role of Sexism and Racism in Personnel Decisions
Andy Karafa, Ferris State University

Contemporary forms of racism and stereotyping are likely to influence personnel decisions, regardless of the setting. Given the current focus on diversity and accountability on college campuses, understanding these subtle sources of bias is critical. This session will provide an overview of these influences and ways of combating them.

2:15 – 3:00 p.m.

Paper
Structuring Chair Work for Long-Term Productivity and Personal Satisfaction
N. Douglas Lees, Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis

The multiple responsibilities of academic department chairs have been on the rise creating additional pressure on time available for personal work and creating situations that negatively impact satisfaction and longevity. Many of the pressures of chairing can be relieved through prioritizing work, delegating responsibility, identifying new scholarly outlets, and developing support structures.

Salon 3/4

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Paper
Incivility to Civility in the Department: Here Comes the Bully
Loretta McGregor, Arkansas State University
Don Maness, Arkansas State University

The major focus is reporting incivility in departments and colleges and how department chairs and deans may deal with the issue of incivility. The presentation will report the findings of faculty member’s perceptions of their observations of incivility in universities in Arkansas.

Salon 9/10

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Paper
From Talk to Walk: Nurturing Interdisciplinary Scholars
Anna Stubblefield, Rutgers University-Newark

Challenging current disciplinary boundaries is important not only within the context of reforming undergraduate curricula, but also for progress in our quest for knowledge. Engaging in interdisciplinary research makes achieving tenure, promotions and status within the university context difficult, however. Best practices for nurturing interdisciplinary scholars will be discussed.

Salon 11

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Paper
Effective Strategies for Leading Your Department’s Reaccreditation
Suzanne Prestoy, East Stroudsburg University

This presentation will describe successful leadership and management strategies utilized by the chair to coordinate the department’s reaccreditation process. This project required team development, project management, department committee restructuring, faculty education and participation, attainment of university resources, and motivation in order to prepare a detailed self study report and facilitate a program evaluator visit.

Salon 12

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Paper
Building Bridges: Strategies for Promoting Faculty Involvement in Recruiting Events
Glena Temple, Viterbo University
Deb Murray, Viterbo University

This paper presentation will outline strategies to integrate faculty into the recruiting process. Trends in faculty involvement in admissions will be discussed, as well as strategies for building collaborative relationships between faculty and the admissions office to enhance recruiting.

Salon 13

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Paper
Leveraging Your Library: Partnerships Can Bring New Possibilities
Laurel Littrell, Kansas State University

There may be experts on your campus that you haven’t considered! Working with your library colleagues can help you stretch your budgets, accomplish enhanced educational opportunities for your students, and further your faculty members’ research projects.

Salon 14

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Paper
Using Faculty Learning Communities for Department Assessment: A Case Study
Gary Shulman, Miami University

The chair formed a faculty learning community that developed and then assessed a critical thinking rubric as part of a long-term project to assess student learning outcomes in the major. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the favorable circumstances under which such a transformational model can be used.

Ballroom C

Sharing Success: Mentors Working with Academic Department Chairs
Patricia Anderson, East Carolina University

The roles of academic department chairs are among the most complex and challenging in the university environment. Learning from someone who has already demonstrated success in this critical role eases the transition for new chairs as they learn “from the Master’s” in a planned program. Mentoring suggestions are shared, along with suggestions for making the mentor/mentee relationship successful.

Leading Departmental Change in a Rapidly Changing Society
Sharon Gratto, The University of Dayton

This session will explore change generated by a new department chair and leadership for departmental change in a rapidly changing society. A session goal is to engage new and experienced chairs in a discussion of ideas and strategies for increased effectiveness as leaders and mentors in their own academic settings.

Leadership: Purposeful Change of the Chair's Role for Competitive Success
John Groves, Clarion University of Pennsylvania

A discussion intended to generate purposeful, as opposed to passive, redefinition of the department chair role due to increasing conflict between cooperative and competitive expectations within higher education culture.

Successfully Mentoring New Department Chairpersons
Marianne Hazel, Lock Haven University

This interactive session will focus on mentoring strategies for new department chairpersons to help them to build their leadership skills. Current research, best practices, and resources regarding mentoring and leadership will be shared.

Support Group for Reluctant Administrators!
Linda Holloway, University of North Texas
Caren Sax, San Diego State University

Academic Chairs have increasing administrative duties and have the difficult task of balancing administration and faculty role, often sacrificing their own research agendas in order to complete all the required tasks. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their motivation for taking on this challenging role and the impact that it may have on their career.

First Impressions: New Health Sciences Faculty Orientation Program
Lily Hsu, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Aditi Puri, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

A year-long faculty orientation program was developed and implemented at a health science college . The monthly two hour sessions covered various topics on teaching, classroom management, grant writing and scholarship. Faculty recommended more attention on teaching strategies and to replicate program format the next year.

New Chair / Old Self-Study
Lisa Kriner, Berea College

In my first year as chair of the Berea College Art Department I was responsible for helping the department rework a self-study that had been partially rejected. This paper will address how as a new chair I used the self-study process to learn about, build, and reorient the department.

Alternative Mentoring Programs
Naomi Larsen, Spring Arbor University

This workshop will draw upon social psychological, gender, communication and leadership theories to assist participants in assessing individual and institutional needs for alternative mentoring programs; defining goals for the program; determining and obtaining program resources; developing, implementing, and coordinating the program; training participants; and assessing the program.

Working with Off-Campus Sites and Programs: The Chair's Role
Dianne Lawler Prince, Arkansas State University

This session will address the department chair's role in hiring full-time temporary faculty, adjunct faculty, supervising faculty from afar. Participants will brainstorm lessons learned from working with satellite campuses.

Challenges in Replicating Experiential Learning in a Distance Learning Environment
Michael Londrigan, LIM College Dudley Blossom, LIM College

Many colleges and universities consider experiential learning to be a corner stone of their institutional mission. With the ever increasing offerings in distance learning across campuses, this round table explores how we can ensure the same experiential learning pedagogy is applied consistently in distance learning settings compared to traditional face to face environments.

Chairing a Joint Graduate Program: Seeing Double
Timothy McCarragher, The University of Akron

Chairing a joint program between two universities raises a unique set of challenges. As state resources continue to dwindle, the number of joint programs has increased. This session will provide an overview of specific challenges to consider when chairing a joint program, including budgets, scheduling, technology, staffing, and accreditation.

A New and Innovative Faculty Performance Review System...Does it Work?
Domenick Pinto, Sacred Heart University
Rose Marie Kinik, Sacred Heart University

The purpose of this presentation is to follow up on a new faculty performance review system recently implemented in our university which is based almost entirely on learning outcomes. The three-tiered evaluation of faculty is centered on teaching and curricular development, scholarship and service with the greatest emphasis on teaching. The presentation will focus on the development and design of this new system and the outcomes as perceived by the department chairs and dean after a complete cycle.

Changing Leaders/Leading Change
Dorothy Rogers, Montclair State University

How will the transition in leadership from Baby Boomers to GenX, and later to GenY/Millennials, affect the academy? This roundtable treats the presenter’s experience, as a GenX-er and new department chair, as a case study in leadership change.

Fostering Faculty Friendships: Building Department Morale and Ensuring Productivity
Cynthia Schubert-Irastorza, National University

Increasing accountability, shrinking resources and a shaky economy takes a serious toll on faculty morale and motivation. Maintaining a positive attitude becomes a daily challenge. This upbeat, interactive session provides participants with effective relationship building strategies that capitalize on individual strengths, foster collaboration and increase productivity in academic departments.

Salon 3/4

8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Workshop
A Chairperson's Guide to Program Level Assessment - What To Do & What To Avoid
Susan Hatfield, Winona State University

Often, the job of implementing a program level assessment plan falls on the department chair. While some chairs are lucky enough to inherit well developed, functioning assessment plans, most chairs wind up starting from scratch. Regardless of whether or not your assessment plan is fully developed or just being conceptualized, this workshop will help you move from identifying student learning outcomes to closing the assessment loop.

Salon 9/10

8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Workshop
Effective Stress Management for Chairs During Uncertain Times
Tim Hatfield, Winona State University

Stress is a fact of life for department chairs, who typically are not prepared adequately for the range and intensity of stresses they face daily – and that is in the best of times. Of late, with a floundering economy, diminished resources, and additional uncertainty about what will happen next, there is even more stress facing the persons serving as chairs. This workshop will provide participants with useful concepts and hands-on materials to highlight not only what stresses they face, but also a variety of ways to deal with these stresses effectively. This material also can be adapted to give away to your department colleagues, who are subject to their own stresses and uncertainties. The workshop is designed for the active involvement of participants, with opportunities for small group discussion to reflect on the ideas and on practical applications of them to alleviate the inevitable stresses at work.

Salon 11

8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Workshop
Better Search Committees: Selecting for Retention, Diversity and Fit
Christopher Lee, SearchCommittees.com

It is not enough that your campus search committees hire qualified candidates, but rather candidates who will fit into your organization’s culture, who represent the demographics of communities that your institution serves, and who are engaged and committed to your school’s mission. Learn how to structure and support selection processes in such a way as to improve their decision making. Better define HR’s role with faculty and staff search committees that add value to process.

Salon 12

8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Workshop
Change-Making Conversations through the Excellence in Higher Education Process
Adrianne McEvoy, Mansfield University
Mike Reid, Mansfield University
Robert Timko, Mansfield University

Strategic planning and assessment are intimately interconnected. A workshop based on our experience with the Excellence in Higher Education (EHE) model of assessment will answer the following: What’s the EHE process? How’s it work? What it its value? Our goal is that participants leave with a better understanding of the EHE process and concrete ideas for its successful implementation.

Salon 13

8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Workshop
Promoting a Departmental Culture of Collegiality and Professionalism
Jeffrey Buller, Florida Atlantic University

One of the greatest challenges every chair faces is how to promote a culture of collegiality and professionalism. This workshop consists of tips, exercises, simulations, and ideas that can help any department to break destructive habits and work together effectively and with greater harmony.

Salon 14

8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Workshop
Effective Mentoring: Strategies and Structures
Charles Starkey, Bloomsburg University
Alison Stone-Briggs, Bloomsburg University

This workshop will focus on the various strategies chairs can utilize for providing a comprehensive mentoring program for new faculty members. Participants of this session will engage in numerous activities and dialogue that will allow them to explore how they might develop a mentoring program using the Bloomsburg University Model. Real life vignettes in the form of case studies will be used to guide group discussions and explore participant’s point-of view as they relate to effective mentoring skills/activities and the enhancement of professional interpersonal/intrapersonal dynamics.

Salon 3/4

10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Workshop Continues
A Chairperson's Guide to Program Level Assessment - What To Do & What To Avoid
Susan Hatfield, Winona State University

Salon 9/10

10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Workshop Continues
Effective Stress Management for Chairs During Uncertain Times
Tim Hatfield, Winona State University

Salon 11

10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Panel
That’s Why They Pay Us the Big Bucks!
Linda Holloway, University of North Texas
Tammy Kinley, University of North Texas
Melinda Levin, University of North Texas
Jeff Sager, University of North Texas

One of the biggest challenges chairs face is managing change in an environment where they have tremendous responsibility yet very little authority. Four relatively new chairs from diverse departments will describe their experience and share strategies that have been effective in a university that is undergoing radical changes.

Salon 12

10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Panel
Improving Recruitment and Retention in Your Department: Strategies That Work
Katherine Frank, Colorado State University-Pueblo
Maureen Murphy, Huntingdon College
Bill Withers, Wartburg College
Winnie Yu, Southern Connecticut State University

A panel of department chairs from diverse institutions and departments discuss strategies that work to improve departmental recruitment and retention. These strategies include developing departmental enrollment management plans, using student attributes to project college persistence, exploring the use of emerging campus technologies, and implementing a faculty training program for student recruitment.

Salon 13

10:30 – 11:15 a.m.

Paper
The Department Advisory Board as an Academic Partner
Dan French, University of Missouri

This presentation draws on the author’s experience with department advisory boards to show how they can be used effectively to contribute to the mission of the academic department.

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Paper
Legal Issues in Evaluating Department Faculty: Promotion, Tenure, or Termination?
Jon Dalager, Georgetown College

At most academic institutions, the Department Chair is responsible for evaluating department faculty and recommending them for promotion, tenure or termination. Because any decision may result in significant legal problems for the chair and their institution, it is essential for deans and chairs to be aware of the rights and responsibilities of all involved.

Salon 14

10:30 – 11:15 a.m.

Paper
"Meeting" is Not a Curse Word
Lesia Holder, Midway College

Departments, councils, teams, and committees. Whether you are preparing for an accreditation visit or deciding who will teach at 8:00 a.m., meetings are a common- and often dreaded- aspect of academic life. Learn how to facilitate meetings that make the best use of faculty talents and faculty time.

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Paper
New Media, Curricular Innovation, and Accountability
Janice Rowan, Rowan University

The convergence of traditional media and New Media necessitates change. Issues of accountability require that educators rethink curricula, methods of course delivery, employers’ expectations of graduates, and opportunities for interdisciplinary partnerships. Here is one college’s response to the New Media challenge.

Salon 3/4

1:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Workshop
From a Department of Chance to a Department of Choice
Susan Hannam, Slippery Rock University
Bonni Yordi, MRA-The Management Association

This interactive workshop will focus on empowering chairpersons to effectively engage their department, programs, and faculty. An overview of tools, tactics, and best practices (bench marks) will be introduced to enhance the vision, image, and outcomes of the department. Participants will leave with an engagement action plan of next steps.

Salon 9/10

1:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Workshop
Academic Program Evaluation in Higher Education
Tolulope Filani, South Carolina State University
Tamara Hughes, South Carolina State University

This workshop will offer strategic methodological approaches to the development of and differentiation between curricula goals and objectives, combined with vital discussion of approaches to assessment, data collection and analysis, data integration, and curricula improvements. Specific approaches to program modification and enhancement will be presented via hands-on instruction, simulations, and problem solving sessions in small, interactive, group activities.

Salon 11

1:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Workshop
Challenges and Change: Motivational Interviewing and Evaluating of Teaching Performance
Debra Murray, Viterbo University
Glena Temple, Viterbo University

Evaluation of teaching performance is a necessary, but often stress-inducing process between chairs and faculty members. Through the integration of motivational interviewing techniques this process can become more effective and collaborative. This workshop will provide an overall of communication strategies that can reduce resistance and increase action.

Salon 12

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

Paper
Managing Student Complaints: The Millennial Student and Practical Approaches
Jan Maville, University of Texas-Pan American
Karen Chandler, University of Texas-Pan American

Managing student complaints requires patience, process, and professionalism. The millennium student entering higher education has unique characteristics that impact the number and types of complaints in higher education. This presentation will cover practical approaches to facilitate resolution of complaints including a feedback loop for quality improvement for the department.

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Paper
Innovation and Inertia: If You Build It, Will They Come?
Wallis Metts, Spring Arbor University

Department chairs often experience some pressure to create new revenue streams. This case study examines the challenges and rewards of developing a new online only program while waiting for the institutional support one needs and expects.

Salon 13

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

Paper
Aligning the Department with Institutional Mission: Reforming General Education
Scott Fuess, Jr., University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Nancy Mitchell, University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Presently there is a trend for universities to undertake reform of their general education programs. An effort to reform general education provides a unique opportunity for a department to illustrate how its operations align with institutional goals. This paper recounts the University of Nebraska’s experience to illustrate how departments were able to use the reform effort to (1) clarify their strategic planning and (2) improve their alignment with institutional objectives.

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Paper
Hitting the Ground Running: Making Strategic Changes
John Paxton, Montana State University

This paper offers advice to new academic chairpersons regarding how to facilitate strategic change during their first two years. The paper provides specific examples of changes made in five potential strategic areas: curriculum, research, development, space and public relations.

Salon 14

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

Paper
Deadwood-Rejuvenating the Aging Professoriate
Kathleen Marr, Lakeland College

"Deadwood" refers to faculty, who at the end of their careers have seemed to place themselves in a coasting mode i.e. just getting by until they retire. Students recognize this and so do their Chairs. This paper addresses the growing need to find ways to re-invigorate our aging Professoriate.

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Paper
Building a Cohesive Department during Challenging Times
Cheryl Stevens, Xavier University of Louisiana

Building a cohesive department requires a goal oriented approach to managing faculty contributions. Factors affecting the development of a cohesive department include understanding the department’s mission and expectations, and identifying faculty interests and strengths. A team approach in which all faculty contribute through teaching, scholarship, and service sets the tone for the expectations required of department faculty.