The President of the Department of Higher Education: views of serving Presidents & members of the Teaching and Research Staff (T.R.S.) p. 7

The topic addressed in this theoretical and research study is the role of the President in the management of the Department. The main purpose of the study is to explore the views of Presidents and faculty members on the role of the Department Chair in the administrative hierarchy of the University. Furthermore, to highlight the points of convergence or divergence of the views of Department Chairs and Board Members, as each of them as a separate and integral link in the same chain, the Departmental Administration of the University, perceives the institution of the President from their own point of view. In the context of the research investigation of the topic, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with two male and two female Presidents and Deputy Presidents of University Departments as well as three male and one female members of the Board of Directors respectively, all of whom come from the Democritus University of Thrace. An attempt was made to investigate the views of the Presidents and members of the Board of Trustees in order to determine the obstacles they face in their professional administrative development, to study the main tasks of the University Department Presidents, to detect whether the research participants would aspire to higher administrative positions in the hierarchy of the University and, to evaluate the leadership of the Presidents and assess the specific institution. Key findings of this theoretical and research study are as follows: (a) during their administrative progression to the position of University Department Presidents, political beliefs have been an important and very decisive factor in their hierarchy; (b) defending students’ rights, a properly structured curriculum, regular and in a climate of unanimity general assemblies, a good climate of cooperation, the quality of educational work and the proper prioritization of departmental affairs are some of the most important tasks for the Presidents, c) occupying the position of the Chair of a University Department does not imply their simultaneous desire to take up higher administrative positions and finally, d) most interviewees consider the evaluation of their work to be a complicated and difficult process, however they claim to have done their best and to the best of their abilities.