Abstract
This article presents a competency-based perspective on academic leadership, focusing on the role of department chairs in higher education. It critiques traditional trait, style, and functional approaches to leadership for their limitations in explaining how chairs contribute to departmental effectiveness. The study reports faculty perceptions of nineteen competencies necessary for effective leadership, which cluster into four categories: resource management, climate management, image management, and faculty development. Findings indicate that these competencies are generalizable across different academic units and strongly predict perceptions of leadership effectiveness. The discussion emphasizes the chair’s role as a mediator between faculty and administration, requiring skills that support decision making, faculty morale, and departmental identity. The article concludes that a competency approach offers a promising foundation for refining models of academic leadership and guiding the preparation and evaluation of department chairs.
Recommended Citation
Hirokawa, Randy Y.; Barge, J. Kevin; Becker, Samuel L.; and Sutherland, Judith L.
(1989)
"The Department Chair as Responsible Academic Leader: A Competency--Based Perspective,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 67, Article 3.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol67/iss1/3
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