Department Chair Boot Camp

This is a new, three-day seminar designed and intended for new academic department chairs and academic center directors. As a whole, the seminar provides a hands-on primer about how to lead a department.

The seminar is led by experienced chairs and other campus leaders, and includes sessions on priority setting, money and budgets, working effectively with faculty and staff colleagues, managing conflict, mentoring faculty and staff, and communication and fundraising.

An event notification and invitation has been sent to eligible department chairs and center directors.

Wednesday, 23 August

9-10:30 – What Chairs need to know: resources, people and the annual cycle

Facilitators:
Michael Bernard-Donals, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff
Mo Bischof, Associate Vice Provost
Patty McManus, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Plant Pathology
Beth Meyerand, Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering

10:45-noon – Leadership Expectation: survive the everyday, plan for the future

Facilitators:
Jim Sweet, Professor, Dept. of History
Lisa Naughton, Professor, Dept. of Geography
John Booske, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

1-2:30pm – Living with Disruptions, Ambiguity and Crises: In-box exercise

Facilitators:
Mo Bischof, Associate Vice Provost
Michael Bernard-Donals, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff

Special topic: crisis management
John Lucas, Director, University Communications

Thursday, 24 August

9-10:30 – Money and budgets

Facilitators:
Melissa Amos-Landgraf, Associate Dean, School of Education
James Montgomery, Associate Dean, College of Letters & Science; and Professor, Dept. of Sociology
Jake Blanchard, Associate Dean, College of Engineering; and Professor, Dept. of Engineering Physics

Special topic: Revenue-generating programs
Jeff Russell, Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning, and Dean, DCS
Katy Duren, Associate Dean, DCS

10:45-noon – How to Motivate faculty and staff: it’s not just about supervision

Facilitators:
Mark Rickenbach, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology
Dorothy Edwards, Professor, Dept. of Kinesiology
Paul Robbins, Academic Program Director and Professor, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

1-2:15 – Effective departmental governance: meetings, committees, and strategic planning

Facilitator:
Michael Bernard-Donals, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff

Friday, 25 August

9-10:15 – Managing conflict and having difficult conversations

Facilitators:
Rosa Garner, Ombuds Emerita, Ombuds Office
Patrick Sheehan, Office of Human Resources
Kristin Eschenfelder, Professor and Director, iSchool

10:30-11:45 – Mentoring Faculty and Staff (it’s more than tenure and promotion)

Facilitators:
Christine Pfund, Associate Scientist, Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)
Stephanie Robert, Professor, Dept. of Social Work

1-2:15 – Communication, outreach, and fundraising

Facilitators:
Bob McMahon, Professor, Dept. of Chemistry
Rebekah Sherman, Director of Development, UW Foundation
Susan Cook, Professor, School of Music