Beginning Aug. 1, the position of dean was removed from management structures across four distinct schools within Dallas College and has transitioned that position to a chair role instead. Additionally, all department chairs have been elevated in the Dallas College administrative structure to reflect the extensive range of responsibilities and tasks tied to having this role, according to an email sent to employees by Dallas College provost Dr. Brenda Floyd.
Administrators say the choice was a result of prolonged discussion. “For the last several years, we have been working to kind of figure out what that right blend is for credit and non-credit programs. Because one of the things the state has charged us to do is to align those,” said Dr. Greg Morris, senior vice provost of academic services.
The core of this decision came from trying to figure out what the right structure that best supports academic programs while simultaneously keeping the faculty to chair ratio in check. And the topic of possible overbearing workload with the old structure was not unnoticed. “One of the things that kept bubbling up as a topic of concern for faculty was this distribution of chairs and situations where the workload would be too much for chairs,” said Morris.
Often, it left the chair having a broader scope of responsibility with the number of people reporting to them in the administration ladder. “So, one of the strategies that this decision allowed us to do was almost level out that entire organization,” he said.
While the functions, roles and responsibilities of the chairs aren’t changing, Morris said that some challenges may occur. “It could involve a faculty member having a new chair to report to, or a new chair having maybe an additional discipline that now falls under them,” said Morris.
This change also impacts students and staff, as one of the goals this new structure implements is creating a more manageable handling of programs and disciplines. “In essence, it will help them serve the students more frequently and at a quicker pace,” said Morris. “Moving to this chair model allows a more direct relationship between a chair and a smaller subset of faculty, which really streamlines the ways in which we do business.”
As the Dallas College administration settles into this reorganization, it continues to prioritize setting up their students for success and sets a foundation to better support its leaders and workforce.
