Abstract
This article examines the expectations and contradictions that shape the role of the academic department chair, emphasizing the gap between idealized conceptions and the constraints of institutional reality. It begins by illustrating the impossibility of the archetypal chair who simultaneously embodies exemplary teaching, scholarship, leadership, and administrative mastery. The discussion then turns to the variability of chair responsibilities across institutional contexts, arguing that appropriateness is determined by the norms, culture, and structural demands of each setting. Drawing on an extensive inventory of departmental tasks, the article underscores the scope and complexity of chair work and critiques systems that impose expansive responsibilities without adequate support. It engages the principle of complementarity to explain the tension between managerial and scholarly roles, contending that prioritizing one necessarily limits the other. The analysis concludes that effective chairing depends on disciplined prioritization, strategic delegation, realistic self appraisal, and awareness of contextual constraints. The appended role statement illustrates how these principles may be operationalized within a specific institutional environment.
Recommended Citation
Taylor, Anita
(1985)
"The Ideal Chair: Appropriate and Inappropriate Roles,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 52, Article 2.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol52/iss1/2
