The Joys of Leading an Academic Department

Abstract

t is often said that being a professor is the best job and being a department head or chair is the toughest job in an academic institution. This observation stems from the fact that, particularly in U.S. research universities, faculty members have considerable freedom, outside of assigned teaching and service duties, to manage their own time and scholarly effort and directions. Meanwhile, department chairs operate in a buffer zone between deans and upper administration, faculty colleagues, students, and increasingly institutional and government regulators and alumni. This necessitates wearing many hats, as administrator, teacher, researcher, lawyer, entrepreneur, and juggling a multitude of responsibilities.