Dimensions of faculty evaluation of chair behaviors

Because effective mid-level management is becoming increasingly important in dental education, this study attempted to determine the primary attributes of a chair's role. Using the results from one school's faculty evaluation of its department chairs, a factor analysis was conducted to uncover the underlying dimensions of chair behavior. Four factors emerged: "Departmental Management," "Extradepartmental Relations," "Interpersonal Relations," and "Planning Skills." Chairs rated each of the four factors to be of more importance to faculty job satisfaction than did the faculty themselves. Top-level administrators can use knowledge of these basic factors to aid chairs in improving their administrative skills. In addition, to examine the validity of the logically derived scales initially identified during survey development, the scales were compared to the factors surfacing in this study and to the results of two previous factor analyses.