For a university to realise its mission, all its constituent faculties or schools need to have their own vision and strategy. Hence each academic division should have its clearly defined goals and measurable indices which make it a coherent part of the larger university mission and direction.

The role of the dean or head of school is therefore critical in the direction of a faculty or school. The dean, as mentioned earlier, must be chosen through an international and transparent process and must be accountable. But beyond that the dean must take all the departments together under his or her charge.

Preferring one department over another or holding different departments to different standards only creates confusion and division. Hence each faculty must have its own internal set of rules which define the role of the dean, the department chair, and the heads of various other committees. It is also the job of the dean to ensure that the faculty rules are comparable internationally and that they are specific to the faculty itself.

For example, in science articles are the main avenue of publication of research while in the humanities and some social sciences books are still the mainstay. Therefore, while assessing research output these subject specific differences must be taken into consideration. Similarly, conferences are ranked and its papers considered major publications in some scientific fields while that is not the case in the humanities and social sciences generally. So each faculty must create its own rules of peer review and assessment so that no faculty member is wrongly evaluated.

The appointment of a head of department is a critical decision and must be done through a process. In most Pakistani universities the senior most professor becomes the head of department, without taking into consideration his or her research and administrative skills. This kind of an appointment is never good either for the scholar, the department or the university. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to the choice of a departmental head as that is the person who formulates and implements a vision and plan for the department.

Since most teaching is through departments this person is also primarily responsible for the formulation of syllabi, teaching schedules, examinations and the like. Therefore, the head of department must be a person who has good research skills, sound administrative experience, and significant teaching experience, so that he is able to ably shoulder these three distinct yet overlapping tasks. Within the department the head of department is usually the all in all. Therefore the head needs to be clear that he or she is transparent, ethical and collegiate in their dealings. The head needs to not only take strategic and critical decisions with regards to the department but also take the faculty along.

The tasks of a head of department are manifold, and are the most critical building blocks in a university set up. First, the head of department chairs the departmental faculty hiring committee. This committee is important as it selects the next member of faculty and through that sets the research agenda for the department.

Therefore, before a search is conducted the head must make a document outlining the vision of the department in consultation with their colleagues and ascertain what kind of a new colleague the department needs in terms of its teaching requirements and research profile. The head needs to ensure that the department does not expand on whims, but on a clear agenda as to where it wants to be and why.

For example, in a history department the head needs to decide which area will the department specialise in and expand accordingly. It would not make sense for a history department, for example, to have a specialist in say Asian history and then lone people in African and American history. While diversity of topics is a good thing and might be important especially in terms of teaching, the research agenda of the faculty in a department must connect at some level in order to create collaborative synergies. So it is essential that great thought and care is taken while developing a research vision for the department. Furthermore, just like with other hirings the head needs to ensure that such faculty hiring is transparent and thorough.

Secondly, the head of department needs to be an able administrator who facilities the work, both teaching and research, of their faculty. The heads are usually the first administrative person the faculty interacts with and so their role in streamlining and smoothing out administrative tasks is key. If the head of department is too aloof or bureaucratic the faculty becomes disillusioned, unmotivated and even disinterested. This then leads to a fall in research output and bad teaching standards, which overall adversely affects the university. In fact, more than the dean or the administrative people above that rank, it is the attitude and dealing of the head of department which directly relates to the happiness of faculty and students in a university.

Thirdly, the head of department is the primary organiser of teaching at the department. The vision and aim of the major and minor, the assignment of teaching, examinations, and interaction with student queries, are all within the domain of the head of department. Hence, the head must be a leader in curriculum development and teaching methods.

A head must ensure that the faculty is both qualified and equipped to teach the subjects assigned to them. Also the head must ensure that the coursework achieves the aims and objectives of the degree. Here it is essential that the head focuses on the twin importance of the knowledge value and marketability of the degree.

These days in Pakistan there is a lot of emphasis on if the degree is ‘marketable’ i.e. will the degree get the holder a job? But the aim of degree is much more than just a ladder for a job; a degree is a learning process through which a person becomes more informed, discerning, thinking -- educated in all forms.

Hence this ‘higher’ calling of a degree must not be lost on the head of department as papers and courses are set, together with the real work marketability of the degree. In today’s globalised world almost every degree is marketable if properly organised. People with history and philosophy degrees, for example, head tech and scientific firms, and so in such an interdisciplinary world there is no limit to where a degree may lead.

Therefore, heads of department need to be very discerning about their degree programme. They also need to regularly update their degrees programme according to latest trends in scholarship and the market. A degree which combines the best of knowledge in the field together with practical experience and professionally marketable skills is the best strategy for success. 

To be continued