Academic Leadership Programs and Resources

This page provides resources for professional development of department chairs, academic leaders and those interested in learning more about these roles. In addition, resources are provided to assist leaders in working with their departments and units.

Programs and Workshops

FDE Programs and Workshops

Quarterly Department Chair Briefings

Chairs of departments and academic units on campus participate in quarterly Department Chair Briefings hosted by the Provost. These events present opportunities to learn about Stanford-wide initiatives and discuss issues and topics of mutual interest. Department chairs and other academic leaders receive invitations to attend these briefings from FDE. For more information contact facultydevelopment@stanford.edu.

New Chair Orientation

New department chairs are invited to the New Chair Orientation held in the fall, which also includes a workshop on Legal Issues, as well as other topics of interest. For more information contact facultydevelopment@stanford.edu.

Equity-Minded Leadership – Canvas Course

(for department chairs, academic leaders and faculty members) The video modules and materials in this course on Equity-Minded Leadership have been provided by the Faculty Advancement Network for use by its member institutions. The Equity-Minded Leadership series covers a number of topics including faculty service and workload, faculty recruitment and hiring, mentoring, graduate education, and culture and climate. Leading scholars in these areas are featured, including: Estela Mara Bensimon, Ph.D.; Kimberly Griffin, Ph.D.; KerryAnn O’Meara, Ph.D.; and Damani White-Lewis, Ph.D. Click here for the self-registration link.

You may also access individual modules from the Equity-Minded Leadership course directly:

Equity in Faculty Searches and Hiring
Equity-Minded Faculty Workloads in Departments
Equity-Minded Mentorship
Graduate Education Culture – Changing or maintaining the status quo?
Judging Others: Excellence Merit & Peer Review
Leading Culture Change towards Equity

Faculty Advancement Network

The Faculty Advancement Network (FAN) is a consortium of national research universities collaborating to advance diversity and inclusion in the American professoriate. The consortium members are leaders in faculty affairs, advancement, development, diversity, and inclusion across peer institutions who agree: realizing a diverse and inclusive professoriate is a systemic challenge that demands cooperative solutions. The group is working to reimagine the norms, structures, policies, and programs that shape university cultures and the academic workforce.

Since 2020, FAN has hosted a number of Inclusive Leadership Workshops, open to all consortium members. FAN also hosts the Institute on Inquiry, Equity and Leadership in the Academic Department. Each year member institutions may nominate up to 5 department chairs or other senior academic leaders as Fellows to this institute. More information about Stanford’s participation in the FAN Leadership Institute Fellows program is available here.

Additional Programs and Resources

Development Programs for Stanford Leaders

University Human Resources organizes a number of programs for chairs and other aspiring members among the faculty who show potential and capacity for leadership at Stanford. The programs are cohort-based and by nomination, usually by the most senior leader within their school or unit in partnership with their local human resources representative. The programs with faculty participants are:

Additionally, there are programs for leadership development such as the Earth Leadership Program, and several programs focused on various areas of leadership in business and other organizational settings through Executive Education at the Graduate School of Business.

Tools and Guides

Readings

For Chairing the Department

Overall references:

Buller, J. L. (2006). The essential department chair: A practical guide to college administration. Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

Buller, J. L. and Cipriano, R. E. (2015). A toolkit for department chairs. Rowman & Littlefield.

Chu, D. (2006). The department chair primer: Leading and managing academic departments. Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

Gunsalus, C. K. (2006). The college administrator’s survival guide. Harvard University Press.

Wheeler, D. W., Seagren, A. T., Wysong Becker, L., Kinley E. R., Mlinek D. D. and Robson, K. J. (2008), The academic chair’s handbook (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

The Department Chair. Quarterly journal that discusses topics of leadership and management for chairs across institutions. Stanford University has an institutional subscription, so current and past issues are available via Stanford University Libraries.

Managing People, Communication and Conflict

Cheldelin, S. I. & Lucas, A. F. (2004). The Jossey-Bass academic administrator’s guide to conflict resolution. Jossey-Bass.

Crookston, R. K. (2012). Working with problem faculty: A six-step guide for department chairs. Jossey-Bass.

Eddy, B. (2014). BIFF: Quick responses to high-conflict people, their personal attacks, hostile email and social media meltdowns (2nd ed.). Unhooked Books, LLC.

Leaming, D. R. (Ed.). (2003). Managing people: A guide for department chairs and deans. Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R. & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill.

Weston, J. (2012). Mastering respectful confrontation: A guide to personal freedom and empowered, collaborative engagement. Heartwalker Press.

Leading Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Transformation

Chin, J. L. & Trimble, J. E. (2015). Diversity and leadership. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Chun, E., & Evans, A. (2015). The department chair as transformative diversity leader: Building inclusive learning environments in higher education. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Kezar, A. & Posselt, J. (Eds.). (2020). Higher education administration for social justice and equity: Critical perspectives for leadership. Routledge.

Stewart, A. J. & Valian, V. (2018). An inclusive academy: Achieving diversity and excellence. The MIT Press.

Additional topics of interest

Hansen, C. K. (2011). Time management for department chairs.

Jossey-Bass.Smith, D. O. (2019). How university budgets work. Johns Hopkins University Press.