So, this professor I have been working with used to be Chem. E head department, but for some reason has been demoted to a faculty member. There is a rumor about an embezzlement, but it sounds apocryphal to me.
What causes a demotion within a department? I can only guess reasons-he is lazy, that I know-but I want to hear from people who have worked in universitieis.
Are you even sure it is a demotion? If there was embezzlement that could be an issue that could ultimately lead to the professor’s dismissal.
At my D’s college professors in her major took turns being department head (2-3 years a a turn) because none of them really enjoyed the administrative part of the job that went along with being department head.
Yeah, at a lot of places, the department head rotates. Also the department head typically also teaches classes as a professor, so they are still considered faculty members. I doubt any demotion took place.
Not knowing the professor nor the school, my guess would be the same as @happy1: It is quite likely that the professor didn’t like being the head of the department, and demoted himself intentionally and willingly.
I know several cases of this happening in industry, where engineers demoted themselves back to being engineers (usually with some enthusiasm, and an informal celebration).
It is often a rotated position (considered punishment by many professors to have to fill the job – it is political, and can take time away from their own research and teaching). That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have enemies in the department or university, or that there isn’t some grain of truth to the rumor you heard. But it could be just that he has taken his turn and is glad to be done with it.
Oh ok! That makes sense.
Department chair is NOT a status position! It means that the person has agreed to attend meetings and deal with bureaucratic paperwork for a couple of years. In most colleges, this position rotates. In some, department chair falls to the person with the least research/teaching responsibilities.
Piling on- it is likely just a rotation. My advisor just became the head of the department because the head stepped down after a few years.
It is VERY stressful and time consuming. It’s why most people only stay in those positions for a few years.
Thanks for the enlightenment. I thought it was fancy. Guess not lol.
Yeah, my dad did not like being department head. Too much politics and drama, even in engineering!
But I thought we were all nerds who loved and science and only science.
DH enjoyed it. But when the time was up, he rotated out. The dept had a schedule, by length of service, who was in line.
H hated being department head. It cut down on his classroom hours and replaced them with politics and paperwork. He was thrilled when his rotation was over and he could go back to full time teaching.
There are occasionally profs who love being department head. That can be a relief to others who would prefer to avoid the position.
Gah, I don’t want to imagine how worse the politics are in politic major department
Well, I used to be department chair and I no longer am.
It’s purely personal. I took 5 years off to be home with my kids when they were young. When I returned, there was a department head in place.
It’s entirely possible that there’s a rotation. Or that he has personal stuff going on that you’re not privy to that prevent him from spending the time that the job entails.
If it were, as you suggest, a question of embezzlement, then I doubt he would remain on staff.
A couple of my professors in undergrad were the chairs of my departments, and they were always the busiest.
Pretty sure the one is going to throw a party when their term is finally up.
^ Our dept head threw a party when she stepped down this year 