Online Training

New Programming!

Gain in-depth knowledge and prepare for the fall semester with hands-on, intensive workshops for department chairs:

Program Assessment and Curriculum Review
June 14, 2012
12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

The Highly Effective Department Chair
June 21, 2012
12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

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BOOKS

FERPA Clear and Simple: The College Professional’s Guide to Compliance

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliance has always been challenging due to complex regulatory language and exposure to risk. However, institutions that do not comply are in jeopardy of losing federal funding. Accessible and user-friendly, FERPA Clear and Simple clarifies the regulations and provides a ready reference for compliance and problem solving. This need-to-have guide offers critical and relevant material (including the 2008 Amendments) from a new perspective to help staff in student affairs, academic departments, and administrative support positions understand and comply with FERPA guidelines.

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JOURNAL

This quarterly periodical for department chairs and deans features practical advice, useful information, and up-to-date resources. Its applications, techniques, case studies, strategies, and guidance are directly relevant to today's academic leaders.

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E-NEWSLETTER

ASK THE EXPERTS

9/1/2011 12:00 AM

Role Expectations

From The Department Chair Insider, September 2010 – Vol. 1

Q. How can chairs meet the increased expectations of their position?

A. In order meet their increased expectations, chairs must translate some of this work into department responsibilities and adopt models of workload delegation. In one model an Administrative Committee may be established to handle tasks such as class scheduling, transcript evaluation, routine teaching assignments, and adjunct faculty recruitment and evaluation. Another model would be to assign distinct tasks to one or more faculty members. The types of faculty identified for this work fall into two categories. In the first category the individuals would be senior faculty who have had solid careers but wish a change in routine that would still allow them to continue to contribute to the common good. A second category of faculty members may be those who are not achieving the expected 100% effort/productivity. In this case, the department must consider a differential load model and address the missing productivity by assigning additional work in administrative service. The final model is that of the assistant or associate chair. This is not a new idea, and the traditional model of chair stand-in with some assigned administrative tasks remains effective. However, one might consider a developmental model where the individual identified is someone with administrative aspirations. Here the relationship has mentoring aspects and the assigned work may change to provide the apprentice with tasks where personal ownership of the results is possible. In all models the recognition for good work in terms of merit or other types of reward must be present.

—N. Douglas Lees is associate dean for planning and finance at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.