“I wasn’t trained for this!” – What are core skills for department chairs and how can you prepare yourself for taking on a leadership role in your department
Career Planning
- From the Chair's Perspective: Insights on Academic Leadership (NCFDD multi-week course facilitated by Nell Huang Horowitz, Anjana Narayan & Anthony Ocampo; recorded Fall 2024 and available on demand)
- Academic Leadership: When, Why, and How to Step Up (NCFDD webinar facilitated by Tasha Souza) upcoming live via Zoom February 20, 2025 (and subsequently available on demand)
- Hidden Handbook: The Art of Saying “Yes” (NCFDD webinar facilitated by Lisa Hanasono; recorded August 2024 and available on demand)
- Department Chair Intensive (NCFDD multi-week course facilitate by Julie Artis; recorded in 2014 and available on demand)
Leadership, Visioning & Mentoring
- Academic Leadership: Cultivating Your Mentorship Network (NCFDD webinar with Lisa Hanasono, Tasha Souza and Jen Sandoval) upcoming live via Zoom April 17, 2025 (and subsequently available on demand)
- Mentoring Matters: Putting Programs into Action (NCFDD webinar facilitated by Maria Zuniga, Luna Lu, & Chelsea Chandler recorded in Fall 2024 and available on demand)
Management – Budget, Scheduling, Reviews & more
- Budgeting and finances workshop slides and notes (from October 2024)
- Data Dashboard workshop recording and slides (from November 2024)
- Managing Multiple Roles: How to be a Faculty Member & an Administrator (NCFDD webinar recorded in January 2019 and available on demand)
- Touchstone Teamwork (NCFDD webinar facilitate by Lisa Hanasono; recorded in Fall 2024 and available on demand)
Interpersonal – working with students, faculty and staff
Staff – UNH Human Resources Coaching for Performance
Faculty – UNHLU- AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement (lecturer faculty contract)
Faculty - AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement (tenure-track faculty contract)
Faculty – Promotion & Tenure (Office of the Provost site)
Students - Diversity, Equity, Access & Inclusion trainings related to working with student veterans, students with disabilities, international students, low-income and first generation students, and LGBTQ+ students
All – Reporting obligations (CREO office video)
Well-Being
- Beyond Burnout: Approaches for Faculty Well-Being (two-part NCFDD webinar with facilitator Rebecca Pope-Ruark, recorded in Fall 2024 and available on demand)
- Supporting Faculty Well-Being: Transformative, Accessible, and Impactful Approaches (NCFDD webinar, recorded in March 2024 and available on demand)
Resources
- Kevin Dettmar How to Chair a Department (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022)
- Chronicle of Higher Education (especially the ‘Ask the Chair’ columns)
- Inside Higher Ed (especially ‘Advancing as an Administrator’ or ‘Seeking an Administrative Job’)
- HER Institute https://hersnetwork.org/
- Your discipline may have opportunities, for example:
- Modern Languages Association (English, World Languages) https://www.maps.mla.org/About-MAPS
- American Chemistry Society https://institute.acs.org/acs-center/leadership-development.html
Contact info
- Reach out to E3 leadership fellow Holly Cashman holly.cashman@unh.edu to talk about planning for taking on leadership role in your department or college
