Assessing the Performance of Academic Chairs: A Leadership Approach

Academic chairs play an essential role within their educational institutions because they work closely with faculty, staff, and students to address important challenges. This research examines faculty perceptions about the organizational performance of their program chairs in one institution of higher education in Baja California, Mexico. The study was grounded on the Full Range Leadership model instrumented with the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The regression models suggest that organizational effectiveness, workplace satisfaction, and extra effort positively correlate with transformational and transactional leader behaviors. The models also suggest that these same outcomes negatively correlate with passive leadership. The main conclusion is that program chairs should aim to inspire faculty members to pursue positive change, clearly communicate performance expectations and rewards systems, and accept responsibility for the outcomes of their departments. This study is original because it offers educational institutions a replicable process to assess program chair performance as well as recommendations to improve the effectiveness of training and development programs.