Shared governance is unique to higher ed. It’s the joint responsibility of faculty, staff, students, administration, and governing boards to develop policies and make decisions that impact academic and administrative operations. And this matters because it enables the people who work most closely with students to have a vested interest in how their students will reap the benefits of learning — both now and in the future. Faculty and staff are the heart of the university, and their involvement in shared governance is imperative.

As a department chair, one of your responsibilities is to support the shared governance process and ensure that it is effective, collaborative, and inclusive. By doing so, you can enhance trust and collegiality, (re)engage faculty and staff, improve decision making, and increase innovation. Given the impact that shared governance can make to all involved, it remains the heart of transformative leadership.

In this three-part discussion series, we will explore your role as a department chair in facilitating an effective and inclusive shared governance process.

The series consists of three one-hour discussions. We will begin each session with a short lesson that will introduce key concepts and strategies related to the topic, and you’ll have a chance to reflect on how you can implement those ideas in your own leadership practice. You’ll then spend most of the session in conversation with other department chairs from across the country exchanging ideas, sharing current practices, and providing space to ask questions. Each session may include a combination of large-group discussions and small-group breakouts.

You may choose to attend some or all of the discussion sessions. To get the most out of the series, we encourage you to attend all three; however, if you can only attend one or two, you will still benefit from the information and collective dialogue involved.

This discussion series is specifically designed for any/all department chairs or program directors who are looking to facilitate an effective, collaborative, and inclusive shared governance process. Deans who are interested in supporting their department chairs in this work will also benefit from this discussion series.