It was a much different commencement ceremony than the University of West Georgia usually hosts.

No one wore a cap and gown. There were only a couple dozen graduates, most of whom had already earned a terminal degree in their field. Everyone who graduated was more accustomed to conferring diplomas, rather than earning them.

The inaugural class of the UWG Chairs Academy hosted its first commencement ceremony for its students – the faculty members who serve as chairs of their respective departments – with Dr. Micheal Crafton, UWG provost, donning a tam and handing out certificates.

Chairs Academy is a yearlong program that, for the 2017-18 academic year, hosted all department chairs for eight sessions in which academic affairs issues were discussed at length. Going forward, however, the Academy will host only new department chairs or faculty members with aspirations of becoming chairs.

Crafton said this past year established a “standard and baseline” for all subsequent years and allowed him to ask the current chairs what a new chair needs to know when they take the job.

“In the past, we offered more organic, baseline training for department chairs,” Crafton said. “We’ve supported them along the way, of course, but we’ve recently identified the opportunity to shape more consistent, formalized training to guide them in what they need to know and what they need to do based on best practices and processes. Conventional thinking suggests that a good faculty member will make a good chair, but it’s really more complex and involved.”

Crafton said the Chairs Academy was launched so that when a new chair comes on board, the resources and mentor network are already established and close at hand to make their jobs easier.

“Most everyone in higher education and academic affairs across the country recognizes that department chairs have a difficult job that’s fraught with challenges and liabilities,” Crafton said. “Everyone agrees on that, but most institutions have done little to change that. UWG, however, created a robust, progressive curriculum during the past year in which we are proud.”

The 2017-18 graduating class of the Chairs Academy proactively made recommendations surrounding the timing of future classes and the sharing of valuable information.

“We organize our sessions around thematic arenas, dealing with fellow faculty members, students, legal issues and budgets in separate sessions,” Crafton said. “Some of those items aren’t what they’re used to thinking about as faculty members. We’ve also worked out the timing of the different sessions so that the things they learn in the Chairs Academy will be challenges that are coming up or what they’re dealing with in real time.”

Crafton said these processes will serve to keep the academy experience more responsive and, in the end, more beneficial.

“We can arm our talented set of chairs with valuable information, and they can take it back to their jobs the very next day to apply and test,” Crafton said. “When our chairs find new challenges or opportunities, they can come back and share what worked or didn’t work for them.”

The ultimate goal of Chairs Academy, Crafton said, is to empower department chairs to have more agency and confidence in their role.

“This will give new chairs and faculty members who want to one day become chairs a clearer sense of what the job entails and if they truly desire the responsibility,” Crafton said. “They’ll leave each session with a better understanding of what’s expected of them, which will give them greater confidence and knowledge that they’re being supported in their quest for academic leadership and excellence.”