Reflections of a Former Department Chair: A Path to University Service and Leadership Skills

Introduction: My Three Stints as Department Chair

I was surprised when I re-read my professional profile on the back inside cover of my just-published book. During this more focused reading of a sentence I had written a few months earlier, the reality of the words struck me as odd: "Janice L. Sumler-Edmond is professor of history and chair of the Department of Humanities and Fine Arts and Director of the W. E. B. DuBois Honors Program." The sentence was accurate; I was holding down three major positions at my university. I thought to myself, "That is a lot of responsibility and a lot of work for one person." I enjoyed each one of my jobs. After declaring my intentions at the age of five that I would grow up to become a teacher, I had indeed found personal fulfillment and rewards working and interacting with students and the entire university community. But it was still quite a load to have on my academic plate. So, my first piece of advice for future department chairs is this: try to avoid having more than two university assignments on your daily schedule.

I should have known better than to take on three assignments simultaneously. After all, I was living that three-assignments-reality during my third stint as a department chair. Reflecting chronologically on my academic career, I first became a department chair in 1987 at Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark had hired me the previous year as an assistant professor of history in the Social Science Department. My first academic year at Clark was about to end when I learned that our then-current department chair was being promoted. I went to his office to offer my congratulations. Our conversation turned to his choice of a successor, and much to my surprise, he named me! After a little persuasion on his part, mainly that a newcomer like myself could handle the job, I accepted the position. I was both honored and humbled by his gesture of confidence in me. I remained chair for two years and had many memorable experiences, some of which I share in this paper.

My second opportunity to serve as chairperson was from 1997 to 2001 at Clark Atlanta University, the institutional merger of Clark College and Atlanta University. I was appointed chair of the History Department. At the previous Clark College, I had been given chairmanship authority over a Social Science Department, consisting of ten full-time academicians in the disciplines of sociology, history, political science, and social work. At Clark Atlanta University, we were a single-discipline History Department, consisting of eight or nine full-time historians and several adjunct faculty members.

Lastly, I served as a department chairperson at Huston-Tillotson University (HT) in Austin, Texas, from 2005 to 2007. At HT, the dean appointed me to chair the Humanities and Fine Arts Department of the university, consisting of professors of music, English, literature, Spanish, French, speech/communication, and history. During my tenure as chair at HT, the full-time faculty numbered about fourteen, and we also hired nine or ten adjunct faculty members each semester. Drawing upon my three experiences as a department chair, what follows are my personal reflections, the results of journal research, and my takeaways from discussions with colleagues about the position. I also make assessments about how serving as a chair has impacted my career.

Training for the Position of Department Chair and Adopting a Leadership Style

It was sometime during my second period as a department chair that I attended my first workshop dedicated to training chairs. Several of my research sources agreed that many new department chairs embark upon their positions with little or no administrative experience. Chairs are typically appointed from the institution's faculty pool. That scenario described my situation. I too had been hired as a first-time chair without any experience or training for the job. When offered the opportunity to attend a training session...