Department Heads + Chairs: Professional Development Series
Continued Workshops and Learning Opportunities Specifically Designed for UIC Department Heads, and Chairs Beyond Orientation
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Where department leaders connect, learn, and lead with confidence.
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We invite you to join us this academic year for offerings designed to support your continued leadership development journey and to engage with peers for meaningful discussion and support.
This workshop series is specifically designed for new and continuing department heads and chairs (UEOs) as we strive to provide targeted support and resources tailored to the unique leadership responsibilities of such roles.
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We appreciate your understanding as we dedicate these sessions to meeting the specific needs of UIC’s department heads and chairs. For additional professional development opportunities that may be relevant to your role, please feel free to contact us.
Below you will find materials from recent sessions, as well as information about upcoming workshops for the spring semester. All sessions focus on timely topics that directly support the work of department heads and chairs across the university.
Upcoming Events
RAPID Decision-Making
Series Workshop Archive
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Workshop Description
As a unit executive officer, you play a central role in shaping a positive and productive departmental climate. This session highlights leadership development opportunities through engagement with the Vice Provost and other campus leaders, alongside practical strategies for fostering an inclusive and collaborative climate.
You will also leave this session with resources to support your success and promote faculty wellness and belonging within your unit.
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By the end of the workshop, participants will:
- Understand how faculty engagement impacts departmental climate, retention, and productivity.
- Explore leadership strategies to cultivate faculty presence and active participation on campus.
- Consider the implications of departmental decisions, such as remote work policies, on engagement and equity.
- Learn from peers’ real-world leadership experiences through a panel discussion.
- Develop actionable strategies to take back to their departments to improve faculty engagement.
Combatting Faculty Burnout: Leadership Strategies for Promoting Well-Being
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Workshop Description
Join Faculty Affairs and EAB for an interactive session focused on supporting faculty well-being, sustaining motivation, and developing unit-level practices that prevent burnout. Participants will examine the six key drivers of burnout, assess their own unit’s climate, and begin identifying strategies they can put into action.
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By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Understand the problem
Understand the growing imperative to combat burnout as a workplace problem and bolster well-being support for faculty
- Address faculty burnout
Learn best-practice strategies to use in your role to begin addressing faculty burnout in your division
- Gain support
Obtain tools to address workload concerns
Navigating Difficult Conversations: Strategies for Department Chairs
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Workshop Description
UEOs regularly encounter situations that require thoughtful, direct, and well-structured conversations—whether addressing performance concerns, resolving conflict, clarifying expectations, or implementing policies. This session offers a focused opportunity to build confidence and skill in navigating these moments while maintaining strong working relationships. Participants will engage with campus partners and experienced faculty administrators who will share effective practices and cautionary lessons. Department heads and chairs will leave with practical resources to support challenging interactions in their units and approaches that strengthen trust, transparency, and a healthy departmental climate.
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By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Recognize common types and sources of difficult conversations in academic departments.
- Apply communication strategies that promote clarity, respect, and trust during challenging interactions.
- Navigate conversations involving performance concerns, interpersonal conflict, equity considerations, and policy enforcement.
- Practice structured approaches for preparing, facilitating, and following up on difficult conversations.
- Draw insights from peers through a facilitated panel discussion of real scenarios.
- Identify concrete steps to support a constructive departmental culture through effective communication.
Workshop Description
Learning Objectives
Workshop Description
This workshop equips department chairs and budget leads with practical budgeting principles and decision-making tools to align spending with strategic priorities. Participants will learn more about institutional budgeting structures, how departmental budgets are developed, and strategies for balancing restricted and unrestricted funds while making transparent, equitable fiscal choices. Through a panel of campus leaders and hands-on scenario planning, attendees practice justifying decisions and communicating priorities to faculty and leadership.
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By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Learn practical budgeting principles
- Gain confidence in communicating departmental and college priorities
- Explore leadership strategies for applying equity and transparency in fiscal management