Making department chair positions more appealing to compensate for the challenges: Opinion

The role of department chair is one that “almost no one wants,” writes Megan Zahneis in a recent article for the Chronicle of Higher Education, and faculties should consider taking the steps to improve the position. Zahneis discusses the challenges of being a department chair during the pandemic and recounts the stories of department chairs who found the combination of added responsibility and their desire to create change to be exhausting. The author recommends that faculties make chair positions more appealing by providing a more appropriate level of compensation, ensuring that becoming chair does not damage scholars’ advancement opportunities, providing initial and ongoing training, and publicly recognizing the contributions of chairs. The Chronicle of Higher Ed (Subscription) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.