Free Department Chair’s Survival Guide

Lead with clarity, confidence, and balance starting today.

Stepping into the chair role can feel overwhelming. This guide from NCFDD offers proven strategies to help you lead effectively, support your faculty, and protect your own well-being.

Becoming a department chair is one of the most complex transitions in academia. You are expected to lead peers, navigate institutional policies, manage conflict, and maintain your own research, often without formal training.

We created this guide to help you:

  • Gain clarity on your priorities as a department chair
  • Build a healthy, inclusive departmental culture
  • Manage time, conflict, and energy with confidence
  • Support faculty growth and development
  • Protect your own well-being and work-life balance

Each chapter offers practical tools, reflection prompts, and real-world strategies you can apply immediately.

What You’ll Find Inside

  • Leadership Foundations: Understanding the shift from colleague to chair
  • Strategic Planning: How to align your department’s goals with institutional priorities
  • Faculty Support and Development: Encouraging productivity, equity, and engagement
  • Navigating Conflict: Proven frameworks for difficult conversations
  • Time and Energy Management: Strategies to prevent burnout and sustain balance

Bonus: Get a preview of NCFDD’s Department Chair Success Program (CSP), the next step for chairs ready to deepen their leadership practice.

Chairs_Survival_Guide

Download Your Free Guide

Who This Guide Is For

  • New or interim department chairs navigating their first term
  • Aspiring academic leaders preparing for future chair roles
  • Deans and provosts seeking to better support their chairs

If you have ever thought, “I wish someone had told me this before I became chair,” this guide is for you.

Why NCFDD

Trusted by more than 500 colleges and universities.
NCFDD has supported over 150,000 faculty and academic leaders nationwide. Our programs, including the Faculty Success Program and the Department Chair Success Program, are designed to promote:

  • Faculty productivity and retention
  • Leadership confidence and clarity
  • Inclusive, thriving academic environments

“The NCFDD Chair Success Program is one of the most practical, supportive, and empowering experiences. You need this program to understand the different facets of being a chair, beyond just the day-to-day tasks.”

— Tejas Dhadphale, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota

About NCFDD

NCFDD is an independent professional development center dedicated to supporting faculty, postdocs, and academic leaders across all disciplines. We partner with more than 500 institutions to foster faculty success, retention, and well-being.