The Changing Role of the Department Chair in the Shifting Landscape of Higher Education

Abstract

Historically, empirical research exploring the roles, responsibilities, and challenges of department chairs has been limited and narrow in scope. In addition, these studies have not kept pace with the rapidly changing nature of higher education. The current study consists of data collected from a survey of current and former chairs at a small, rural university in Pennsylvania. Questions in the survey included topics such as dealing with bureaucracy, lack of time for individual research, job-related stress, dealing with noncollegial faculty, excessive workload, and training for department chairs. Findings are in line with previous empirical research and illustrate the need for evidence-based decisions regarding the nature of academic department chair leadership training and support.