The Academic Department Chairs Success Series is designed to support academic department chairs/ directors by providing opportunities to enhance their leadership and management effectiveness. Each fall and spring semester chairs will have the opportunity to explore topics related to their role and discuss effective ways to lead at the departmental level at the Â鶹ÊÓƵappÏÂÔØ. The sessions’ focused-discussion format is intended to encourage sharing of ideas, insights, experiences as well as foster collaboration, creative synergy and success.
Developed and offered by The Office of Faculty Affairs, The Academic Department Chairs Success Series is intended to complement the work of the Academic Chairs Council.
Possible topics include:
- Reducing faculty stress, burnout and apathy
- Creating a healthy department culture
- Engaging in difficult conversations
- Making Connections: Caring, and Title IX
- Dealing with conflict
- Leading change
- Working with external stakeholders
- Self-care
For more information, contact the Office of Faculty Affairs facultyaffairs@uno.edu.
Events
Strategies for Strategies for Managing and Reducing Faculty Stress
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
LIB 407
Led by Dr. Christopher T. Belser, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Counselor Education Graduate Programs, this workshop is designed to provide faculty with strategies to manage and reduce work related stress. Additionally, presenters will share actions that department chairs and supervisors can take to support their faculty, including basic active listening skills and tips for reducing stress with teaching and scholarship.
Click here to view the presentation from this workshop.
Fall 2024 Chairs Development Convening
Monday August 12, 2024, 1pm- 4pm
LIB 407
This meeting provided an opportunity for department chairs/directors to engage a number of key topics that are necessary to address at the beginning of the academic year. The convening was also the first opportunity for chairs/directors to come together as a community of leaders to exchange ideas and support each other as the new academic year begins.
NCFDD - From the Chair’s Perspective: Insights on Academic Leadership
From the Chair’s Perspective: Insights on Academic Leadership, consists of four webinars that provide an insider’s view of the realities of being an academic chair. This series provides an insider’s look at the realities of serving as a university department chair. Over four sessions, veteran chairs will share their experiences and perspectives on this uniquely vital leadership role. Participation is free with UNO's institutional membership to NCFDD. Activate your NCFDD account with your UNO email (details available here). Then visit to sign up for the webinars.
- Wednesday, September 18: It’s All About the Relationships (12-1:30pm CDT)
- Wednesday, September 25, You’re the Boss and Other Myths about Being Chair (12-1:30pm CDT)
- Wednesday, October 2, Little Fires Everywhere (12-1:30pm CDT)
- Wednesday, October 9, Live Q&A (12-2 CDT)
Panel Discussion | What I Wish I Would Have Known: Transitioning to Department Chair
NCFDD Webinar followed by UNO Discussion via Zoom
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
1:00pm – 2:30pm
From creating institutional change to supporting students and colleagues, becoming a department chair presents many exciting opportunities. However, this transition can be challenging as department chairs take on new responsibilities, expand their skill sets, manage budgets, and navigate organizational policies and politics. In this session, a panel of current and prior department chairs will share their insight, identify relevant resources, and offer advice.
Panelists
- Joy Gaston Gayles, Ph.D., is professor of higher education and University Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University.
- Julie Artis is a Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago.
- Kimberly Blockett is Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at the University of Delaware
Step 1:
- Visit to register for the webinar. You will need to have an active NCFDD membership to register. If you have not yet activated your free NCFDD membership, follow the instructions that pop up when you try to register or visit this page for more information.
Step 2:
- Join your fellow UNO chairs on Zoom immediately after the webinar (from 2:00-2:30pm) for a follow-up discussion relating ideas presented in the webinar to your role as Department Chair at UNO. Please RSVP to the Office of Faculty Affairs at facultyaffairs@uno.edu.