IDEA Feedback for Department Chairs

The IDEA Feedback for Department Chairs system is the only nationally available tool for evaluating and developing department chairpersons. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of academic chairpersons or department heads. This instrument is intended for use early in one's appointment to provide formative feedback (at the conclusion of the third or beginning of the fourth semester), as well as later to develop an overall summary evaluation. It is unique in higher education today and provides national comparative information. Both the Chair Information Form and the Faculty Survey are administered through the Internet for convenience, speed, efficiency, and confidentiality.

The IDEA Feedback for Department Chairs system assesses the effectiveness of the academic chairperson or department head, recognizing that to be effective, different management styles and strategies need to be employed, depending on the goals of the department.

The system measures effective management by obtaining faculty views of how well departmental goals are being met, and the degree to which different administrative methods are used. The system combines ratings by both faculty members and the chairperson to yield reliable and relevant information.

Features of the System

• The chairperson identifies the importance of 20 responsibilities in his or her role as chair.
• Provides faculty ratings of five types of administrative responsibilities
• Provides details on 20 specific duties within these five types.
• Assesses strengths and weaknesses associated with success for each duty.
• Highlights specific recommendations for areas of improvement.
• Includes detailed statistical information about how faculty responded to each question, permitting an in-depth analysis of specific concerns.
• Summarizes faculty ratings of overall effectiveness.