The Roles and Responsibilities of Middle Management (Chairs and Deans) in Canadian Universities

Abstract

This chapter examines the roles and responsibilities of department chairs and faculty deans in Canadian universities to determine whether these academic middle-management positions are changing in terms of mandate, orientation and scope. A review of institutional policy documents and faculty association collective agreements at 30 public universities across the country reveals no significant formal shifts in middle-management functions in recent years. The incumbents of both department chair and faculty dean positions are predominantly academics, prima inter pares, who are largely concerned with internal management of financial and human resources. The chair’s job does not appear to be professionalising. It involves a highly internal recruitment process for a short term of office with modest remuneration. The dean’s situation is somewhat less clear; decanal salaries are growing substantively higher than comparable compensation for their senior academic peers. A major factor inhibiting dramatic change in these roles may be faculty unionisation. Collective agreements prescribe selection requirements, specific duties and reporting relationships. An increase in newly created functions at the executive level, with a focus on ‘advancement’ and ‘external relations’, including fundraising, may also be a reason for the steady nature of the expectations of the chair and dean.