The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership

by Christopher J. Jochum

Overview

While serving as a department chair can be one of the most rewarding leadership positions in higher education, it is also one for which most people are not adequately prepared. Given the significance of this position and its impact on students, faculty and staff, this book provides a practical approach to leadership based upon the notion that the best way to improve organizations and the lives of those within them is by improving their leaders. As a result, readers will first be challenged to identify their true intentions for leading as a department chair which means acknowledging that what makes one a successful faculty member does not, by itself, equate to being an effective leader. In addition, readers will learn how to establish a healthy culture, the importance of hiring, how to courageously address conflict, the value of mentoring and developing others along with the significance of effectively leading students. In addition, readers will learn about crisis leadership and how to effectively assess if and when it’s time to move on from the chair position.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475862522
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/15/2021
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

Christopher J. Jochum currently serves as the Chair of the Teacher Education Department at Fort Hays State University (Hays, KS) where he leads a large teacher preparation program with over 1,000 students. As a former public-school teacher with 15 years of experience working in higher education, Dr. Jochum has worked with his colleagues to create new programs and policies designed to increase student engagement, retention and success.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: Becoming a Department Chair
Chapter 2: People Are Your Business
Chapter 3: It’s Not All About You
Chapter 4: Leadership Requires Courage
Chapter 5: Culture Matters
Chapter 6: The Culture You Inherit
Chapter 7: The Culture You Create
Chapter 8: Conflict Preparation
Chapter 9: Conflict Application
Chapter 10: Conflict Scenarios
Chapter 11: Crisis Leadership
Chapter 12: The Importance of Hiring: Part I
Chapter 13: The Importance of Hiring: Part II
Chapter 14: Student Leadership
Chapter 15: Mentoring and Moving On
Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership by Christopher Jochum, is as useful as it is relevant for examining effective leadership within higher education settings today. Dr. Jochum brings two decades of experience as a teacher education scholar and administrator to his comprehensive text and illuminates philosophical issues that face administrators (and their often unintended consequences), while it provides avenues for confronting them practically. At this historic moment—when institutional accountability for diversity, equity, and inclusion that is prodigious instead of perfunctory is being made at a range of educational institutions—the case studies, critical questions, and analyses contained in The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership provide us with a concrete path onward.

Jared R. Rawlings

Whether you are thinking about becoming a department chair, stepping into the role, have been in the role for some time, or are a key supporter/cheerleader for a department chair, Christopher Jochum’s The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership should be added to the top of your reading list. Jochum’s friendly and accessible writing style reads like coffee with a close friend and gives the hard work of chairing a fresh feel.

The Department Chair

Christopher Jochum’s The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Providing Effective Leadership provides a guide to administration that both new and experienced department chairs will find valuable. The advice it contains is instantly applicable and practical for all types of institutions: large and small, public and private, growing and struggling. It’s exactly the sort of book I wish I’d had when I was first starting out as an academic leader.

Jeffrey L. Buller

The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership by Christopher Jochum with its focus on the chairs leadership which requires courage, character and relationships is a welcome addition to the chair literature. The book contains many questions and challenges to chairs and potential chairs as to their motivation and fitness for the work. Jochum understands that chairs will only go as far as departmental people will take them so selection, thoughtful development and authentic relationships are critical. Following the suggestions and reflections can go a long way to being a departmental servant leader.

Daniel W. Wheeler

Whether you are thinking about becoming a department chair, stepping into the role, have been in the role for some time, or are a key supporter/cheerleader for a department chair, Christopher Jochum’s The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership should be added to the top of your reading list. Jochum’s friendly and accessible writing style reads like coffee with a close friend and gives the hard work of chairing a fresh feel.” —The Department Chair

“Christopher Jochum’s The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Providing Effective Leadership provides a guide to administration that both new and experienced department chairs will find valuable. The advice it contains is instantly applicable and practical for all types of institutions: large and small, public and private, growing and struggling. It’s exactly the sort of book I wish I’d had when I was first starting out as an academic leader.” —Jeffrey L. Buller, senior partner, ATLAS Leadership Training

“The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership is a timely resource written from an experienced and highly successful department chair to readers who are considering or already serving as chair. Dr. Jochum succinctly guides readers to reflect on their motives for serving and the awesome responsibilities of leading faculty, staff and students and follows with a practical and ethical approach to effective leadership with numerous illustrative real-world examples. His guide is an important contribution in a critical area of higher education leadership that has received far too little attention to date.” —Neal Schnoor, President, Northern State University

“The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership by Christopher Jochum with its focus on the chairs leadership which requires courage, character and relationships is a welcome addition to the chair literature. The book contains many questions and challenges to chairs and potential chairs as to their motivation and fitness for the work. Jochum understands that chairs will only go as far as departmental people will take them so selection, thoughtful development and authentic relationships are critical. Following the suggestions and reflections can go a long way to being a departmental servant leader.” —Daniel W. Wheeler, Professor Emeritus of Leadership Studies and former Department Head, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

“The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership by Christopher Jochum, is as useful as it is relevant for examining effective leadership within higher education settings today. Dr. Jochum brings two decades of experience as a teacher education scholar and administrator to his comprehensive text and illuminates philosophical issues that face administrators (and their often unintended consequences), while it provides avenues for confronting them practically. At this historic moment—when institutional accountability for diversity, equity, and inclusion that is prodigious instead of perfunctory is being made at a range of educational institutions—the case studies, critical questions, and analyses contained in The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership provide us with a concrete path onward.” —Jared R. Rawlings, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the School of Music, The University of Utah

From the Publisher

The Department Chair: A Practical Guide to Effective Leadership is a timely resource written from an experienced and highly successful department chair to readers who are considering or already serving as chair. Dr. Jochum succinctly guides readers to reflect on their motives for serving and the awesome responsibilities of leading faculty, staff and students and follows with a practical and ethical approach to effective leadership with numerous illustrative real-world examples. His guide is an important contribution in a critical area of higher education leadership that has received far too little attention to date.

Neal Schnoor