The role of the departmental chairperson at Victoria University Wellington

Abstract

In the last decade there have been many changes in education and its administration throughout New Zealand. The university as an education institution has been less affected by these changes than most. I do not believe however, that universities can remain isolated from the effects of these educational and social changes. These changes in society in which the university is becoming increasingly more integrated will permeate through and the university will inevitably have to move with and respond to these changes. At the heart of the university infrastructure is the Departmental Chairperson. This position has been described by one member of the Victoria University faculty as "the interface between the collegial and the managerial". As managerial influences increase in societal structures so also do they increase within the University. As a result departmental chairpersons find themselves treading the middle ground between administerial influences on one hand, and the academic and collegial needs and demands of their departmental staff on the other. This paper looks at the changing role of the Departmental Chairperson at Victoria University. It seeks to find how chairpersons themselves feel about their role, and attempts to identify areas of undue stress and hopefully provides some direction in the resolution of problems in order to build positively upon the chairperson's role..