But of course a department chair's role in the institution is not to worry about total costs but to secure the largest proportion of resources for his or her department. When I allocate faculty positions, I use three criteria. The first and most important to these is excellence. All administrators want to invest available resources in strong units that will use them effectively. Perhaps the most obvious way is by national rankings, by research productivity.
Nothing jeopardizes a department's claim on resources so quickly as factionalization.
Often factions are so convinced of the truth of what they are conveying to the dean that they don't realize they are compromising their department's credibility. Administrators also pay close attention to the quality of teaching. Departments that take teaching seriously and teach well have a greater claim on institutional resources. The third criterion I use in allocating faculty positions is centrality to the institution's mission. Again, English departments do not tend to have much trouble on this score.