George Justice focuses on the complicated professional life of a department chair who is also an associate professor. He provides a tip that might make the job more productive to faculty members still seeking promotion.
Transcript:
You’re chair, and you’re still associate professor. Maybe you really
wanted to do this job, maybe it was forced on you. But it’s harder than
you anticipated.
Really, it would consume every waking moment, if you let it. In some weeks, you let it. The work environment is collaborative, and you’re learning things, and it’s satisfying when you see that the work you do, whether it’s fixing the copier or mentoring a colleague, that work makes a difference to the institution that gave you lifetime employment.
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Here’s a tip. Put blocks of time in the calendar every week. Maybe it’s a consistent hour each day, maybe all of Thursday and Friday afternoon every
week, you’re not in your office. Maybe you’re in the library, maybe the lab. You’re working, but you’re working on the things that drew you to academic life, every week.
These hours are sacred.
Video provided by Dever Justice LLC.
Learn more about The Chronicle’s Strategic-Leadership Program for Department Chairs
