But more frequently chairmen complain about being picked on by people inside and outside the department, and about how much time they devote to pushing paper. Chairmen and chairwomen spend remarkably little time on scholarly ideas, including their own. Their days are consumed by dealing with recalcitrant faculty members, fighting for resources, shuffling an incredible amount of paperwork, and coping with an ever-expanding array of personal problems that professors and staff members bring to the office. The position went to Maureen Quilligan, a scholar of Renaissance literature. Next academic year, Mr. Berube will be joining Pennsylvania State University's English department.
Department heads do have some influence.
They frequently decide who gets extra resources, including money for computers and research equipment. Although they can't decide whom a department hires, chairmen can put together a search committee and tell its members what kind of person to look for. If the chairman doesn't agree with the committee's choice, he may not be able to veto it, but he can be less than enthusiastic when making the candidate an offer. Still, academic chairmen lack the power of middle managers in the corporate world. Although they are responsible to administrators for their department's bottom line, they can't force their faculty members to do anything.