Welcome to the Department Chair Leadership Academy
A message from the Provost:
Provost and
Senior Vice President
Welcome to the Department Chair Leadership Academy (DCLA) offered by Marshall
University (MU) and its Division of Academic Affairs (AA). DCLA is a commitment of MU
to professional development of one of the most important, essential and significant
members of the University leadership – Academic Department Chairs. Chairs manage
a variety of academic disciplines and programs, and work with all faculty and students
in the department. Chairs represent their faculty colleagues to the administration and
the administration to the faculty. Chairs speak for the department to the college and
university community, serving as a channel of communication on program, personnel,
and budget matters. Chairs encourage and foster excellence in research, scholarship,
creative discovery, teaching, and professional and university service. Chairs also provide
crucial leadership in implementing the University’s strategic vision and its
commitment to diversity and inclusion and a positive campus climate. Simply put, no
university can succeed without informed, empowered, innovative and engaged
department chairs who champion the broader university goals, collaborate to
innovate and discover the best practices, and then foster excellence in their own
academic unit for long–term success.
We have a wonderful program that will feature sessions with Presidents, Provosts, VPs,
Deans and Chairs representing Marshall and a variety of other institutions. And I want
to extend a sincere note of gratitude to EAB for sponsoring this academy. As you
know, EAB is a world leader in higher education analytics and strategies, and has been
a long-time partner for MU. Thanks to Simone Williams and Kurtis Hagans from EAB
for enabling this collaboration.
Most importantly, this program would not have been brought to fruition without the
tremendous work by our Chair of Chairs Council, Dr. Allison Carey, who has worked
very closely with me on this project over the past six months. Dr. Carey has worked
tirelessly to solicit ideas from everyone, benchmark with peer institutions and
brainstorm with all stakeholders. Thank you, Dr. Carey!
A message from the Chair of Council of Chairs:
Chair of the Council
of Chairs and
the Department
of English
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to our second Department Chair Leadership Academy at Marshall
University!
I’m pleased that we can offer this opportunity again to department chairs and
program directors. Last year, when Dr. Mukherjee initially suggested that we design a
leadership program for department chairs, I was heartened and relieved. As you
know, becoming a department chair can feel like being thrown into the deep end of
a swimming pool, but this workshop is intended to support you in your work and
encourage you as you move through the challenges ahead.
Our speakers will include leaders—university presidents, provosts, deans—who know
from experience what a department chair faces. We will also hear from colleagues—
from Marshall University and beyond—whose expertise in data analytics, research,
and diversity will inform us in guiding our programs.
I look forward to working with you and learning from you this semester, as we all
strive to become stronger leaders of and advocates for our departments.