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Descriptors:
Higher Education; Leadership; Foreign Countries; Strategic Planning; Facilities Management; Educational Administration; Professional Autonomy; Administrator Role; Colleges; Case Studies; Governance; Professional Development; Semi Structured Interviews; Department Heads

Abstract:
Middle-level academic managers play a central role in university management; however, their roles are not always clear and straightforward. Although this research subject has been comprehensively investigated in the last 40 years, most studies are western-biased. This study examines the roles of Heads of Department in a newly established university in Vietnam to fill this literature gap. Through 24 interviews and document analysis, the study finds that the main task areas of the Heads of Department centre on programme management, academic staff management and facilities management. Other areas such as strategic management and budget management appear to be neglected. The paper supports the findings of the existing literature that Heads of Departments' responsibilities vary in detail and the roles demanded are governed in large measure by departmental contexts. The study concludes that the Heads of Department enjoy a low level of autonomy and also act more as managers than as leaders. It is recommended that an enhanced leadership role should be given to the Heads of Department so that they can perform to the best of their ability, hence improving university performance. (Contains 1 table and 5 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Educational Strategies; Visual Impairments; Foreign Countries; College Students; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; Student Participation; Intervention; Qualitative Research; Statistical Analysis; Interviews; Deans; Department Heads; Assistive Technology; Teacher Role; Student Role; Measures (Individuals)

Abstract:
This article presents the attitude of lecturers towards the visually impaired students in one of the universities in the Limpopo Province. First, it is argued that the experience of a visual impairment by a student has a greater effect on the strategies and methodologies used for instruction than on the curricular content to which the student is exposed. Specialized instructional strategies facilitate the visually impaired students' successful participation within regular education classrooms. The degree of specialized intervention needed depends upon the intensity of the students' impairments. Despite the fact that the university has each year been registering students who are visually impaired, there is no indication that staff members are being trained to handle these students. Both qualitative and quantitative findings from interviews with visually impaired students, HODs (heads of departments), and deans/directors of centers suggest that lecturers found teaching visually impaired students is a problem, because they were never trained to teach visually impaired students and that the institution should employ a permanent specialist in teaching visually impaired students and create a resource centre for them. This paper examines some of the concerns that the visually impaired students encounter and raises questions about how they learn and how they are being taught. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
College Faculty; Publicity; Faculty Development; College Presidents; Department Heads; Deans; College Governing Councils; Trustees; Governing Boards; Outcomes of Education; Educational Administration; School Business Officials

Abstract:
Typically viewed as an academic issue, faculty development discussions too often take place between academic interests. The vice president for academics encourages deans or department heads to make their plans for enhancing the abilities in their areas. Funds are made available, and committees composed of representative faculty members decide who will be able to make what trip, what scholarly presentation will be supported, and what research will need to wait for new budgetary sources. Likewise, the arena for the publicity and professional adulation of successful accomplishments tends to be equally fixated on academic settings: (1) the faculty senate; (2) the faculty assembly; and (3) the faculty meeting. It is no wonder that those with only a casual appreciation of higher education "argo" would opine that the academy consists of "scholars writing for scholars." Beyond the dean and the faculty senate president, who is responsible for professional development of the faculty? In this article, three educational practitioners present a "hands-on" approach from outside the traditional academic circle and present their views as trustee, president, and financial officer regarding creating a campus-wide environment that promotes and achieves faculty development. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Department Heads; STEM Education; Administrator Attitudes; Questionnaires; Strategic Planning; Professional Autonomy; Decision Making; Research Universities; College Faculty; Teacher Selection; Regression (Statistics); Gender Differences; Correlation; Power Structure; Student Characteristics

Abstract:
Using questionnaire data from the 2010 Survey of Academic Chairs, the study focuses on decision autonomy, a component of the power wielded by science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) department chairs in U.S. research extensive universities. A "power index" is developed to measure chairs' decision autonomy, specifically their control of resources employed in negotiations with faculty job candidates. The study asks: What determines the degree of decision autonomy power possessed by department heads; and, what are the strategic implications of department heads' degree of this particular aspect of power? Results of an ordered logistic regression model show that having more power is associated with being hired from outside the current university, being male, and with department size. The power index is employed to predict departmental strategic priorities. Results show that the power index is positively associated with a strategic priority for research. The results show a negative relationship between degree of chair decision autonomy and a priority to increase faculty lines. A student-focused strategy is not predicted by the power index but is related to the size, with larger departments placing less emphasis on numbers or quality of students. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Higher Education; Organizational Development; Foreign Countries; Change Agents; Department Heads; Administrator Role; Role Conflict; Group Dynamics; Performance Technology; Job Simplification; Organizational Change; Institutional Characteristics; Case Studies; Program Descriptions

Abstract:
This article provides a detailed description and analysis of how one Canadian institution used groups of department heads as change agents to address their most acute department head role tensions. It is demonstrated that this institution's change initiative aligned very closely to the recommendations proposed, in both the literature pertaining to organizational development in a higher education context, and the broader organization development literature regarding the use of groups as agents of change. In conclusion, it is suggested that how work is broken down and structured into various groups can facilitate the change process, that enabling and engaging the change targets as change agents may be of value, and that institutions may benefit by broadly increasing member knowledge, competencies and experience with team work, team dynamics and an understanding of how groups can successfully be used as agents of change. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Higher Education; College Faculty; Governing Boards; Search Committees (Personnel); Leadership; Strategic Planning; Department Heads; College Administration; Budgeting; Teacher Attitudes; Decision Making; Governance

Abstract:
Colleges and universities looking to recruit leaders from within the faculty ranks will face more and more difficulty. From their respective positions--as a provost (Janel) and a search consultant (Dennis)--they often hear senior executives in higher education say that building a new generation of faculty leaders will be a major challenge in the next decade. They hear the same thing from trustees and members of search committees seeking college and university leaders. At stake is the effective governance of the academy. All too often in academe, taking an appointment as department chair is seen as a demotion or simply a temporary term of service. Those who do become chairs are thought to be sacrificing what they want for what the institution decides it needs. Department chairs see themselves as mere paper-pushers rather than leaders. That represents a lost opportunity, because they are on the first crucial step toward leadership on campus. Decision-making structures in higher education also contribute to limited leadership development for faculty members. Faculty members must accept that change is the norm. Higher education is going through significant changes at a fast pace. Some faculty members simply do not comprehend how challenging the times are. Governing boards may grasp that better, but they have difficulty understanding the decision-making culture of academe. The question is: Can faculty members lead in this context of rapid change? The times demand a different sort of academic leader, one adept at strategy. Can this culture be changed? The authors believe it can, but it will take intentional action on the part of the faculty and those in administration. Structures need to be developed that provide professors with meaningful opportunities to learn vision-setting, strategic planning, and budgeting at the departmental level. But it will also take a change on the part of faculty. What is needed are breed of professors who will not nurture antipathy toward leadership. Maybe the immediacy of the leadership dilemma will galvanize faculties and administrations alike to re-examine their prejudices. Then again, maybe this culture is too entrenched, and higher education will have to continue looking beyond the traditional faculty for its leaders. Either way, one thing is clear: Faculty members can lead. Everything they need is available to them. The future of leadership in the academy, then, turns on that latter question: Will they? Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Grading; Writing Instruction; Health Insurance; Assignments; Employees; Department Heads; Adjunct Faculty; Federal Legislation; Part Time Faculty; Corporations; Course Evaluation; College Faculty

Abstract:
Allison G. Armentrout, an adjunct instructor at Stark State College, does not get paid by the hour. She earns $4,600 to teach two English composition courses. But now she carefully tracks how many hours she works on an electronic time sheet. During a recent week, she spent three hours preparing for her lectures, close to six hours in the classroom, and 16 more grading assignments for a grand total of about 25 hours. So she can breathe a sigh of relief because she will not lose her job: She came in under the college's new 29-hour-a-week wire designed to keep her ineligible for health-care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Stark State, in North Canton, Ohio, is among a growing number of colleges that have limited the number of weekly hours part-time employees can work to keep them below the level at which employers are required to provide health insurance. Under the new law, which takes effect in January 2014, employees of large companies who work 30 hours or more a week must receive health benefits from their employers. In the case of Stark State, each course was evaluated by department chairs, deans, and faculty members to determine how many hours were needed to teach it. Ms. Armentrout says she has considered reducing the number of pages she requires for her essay assignments, to cut back on the grading time. But, she says, she has to be careful not to violate page requirements set by the Ohio Board of Regents. Most weeks, she works 22 or 23 hours, she says, so it is not an issue. "But everyone wants to know: What happens if we go over?" Ms. Armentrout says some faculty fear that if their average work weeks are ever over the limit, the university might not renew their contracts. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Secondary Schools; Collegiality; School Organization; Administrator Responsibility; Teacher Leadership; Middle Management; Teacher Role; Department Heads; Power Structure

Abstract:
Collegiality is often advocated as the best way in which to run a successful school subject department. This article explores this proposition in the light of power relationships within hierarchical organizations. Rather than viewing collegiality merely as a management model, it looks at the power relationships which condition the working lives of subject leaders to pose the question, is collegiality a deliberate strategy by, or an unavoidable necessity for, subject leaders? Fieldwork is considered in reaching the conclusion that collegiality can be seen not as a philosophical choice but as a straitjacket imposed by the severely circumscribed power resources of the subject leader. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Environment; Foreign Countries; Department Heads; Educational Needs; Needs Assessment; Professional Development; Interviews; Content Analysis; Skill Development; Skill Analysis; College Faculty; Leadership Role; Context Effect; Administrator Attitudes; Job Skills; College Administration

Abstract:
Although middle-level academic managers really need training in order to perform their roles adequately in the very changing context of higher education, little formal training is provided, particularly in less developed countries. This paper identifies the training needs of Heads of Department in a newly established university in Vietnam as a first step in preparing a professional development program for them that might fill this gap. Through document analysis and interviews with 24 participants, the study finds that the Heads of Department have the most critical training needs in generic management knowledge and skills, the roles of the Heads of Department, English language proficiency, research methods skills and practice. They also have a need to improve their communication and planning skills. These results both confirm and contradict previous studies on Department Heads' training needs from developed Western universities. The paper concludes that the Department Heads' training needs are both context-based and competencies-biased. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Department Heads; Leadership Styles; Leadership Role; Case Studies; Productivity; Leadership Effectiveness; Administrator Responsibility

Abstract:
Studies since the mid-1980s suggest that university heads of schools experience the role as a series of tensions between enlightenment and enterprise-building agendas. It is apparent that the headship requires skills in management and capacities in leadership not necessarily furnished via typical academic pathways. In such light, the present investigation asks could the headship be different, given evidence that scholarly productivity and professional satisfaction are often compromised, even where heads value the role and demonstrate effective leadership? My aim is to contribute to the study of leadership and management in higher education; interpret discourses generated about the experience of the headship; analyse how the role is constituted and bounded; and explore how it might be transformed. Focusing on understandings of the headship at the University of Tasmania, Australia, the work is contextualised to experiences elsewhere, and should have salience across the sector. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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