Participation of lecturers in management of the department: analysis of university practices

This is a research article presenting the results of monitoring lecturers’ and students’ activities at university departments. Based on monitoring lecturers’ and students’ activities at university departments authors evaluated the level of their involvement into university management processes and suggested mechanisms for attracting lecturers, post - graduate and graduate students to department management. Research covered 350 department heads from 24 universities all over Russia and 26 experts - representatives of university management from 20 Russian universities. The object of the research is the level of postgraduate students and lecturers’ involvement into university management processes. In order to conduct these monitorings authors used special forms of information collection: check lists for experts and questionnaires for Chair heads. Analysis of monitoring university chair lecturers’ activities demonstrated low level of lecturers’ and post - graduate students’ involvement into the chair management: only 55.6 % of chair heads managed to organize chair work in such a way to provide all staff with chair responsibilities; 14 % chair heads make all decisions concerning chair activities by themselves. 40 % of them believe that delegating functions is a useless procedure as nobody can do the work better than the chair head; only 41,4 % of chairs have official position of vice - head of the chair. Authors suggest mechanisms for encouraging lecturers, graduate and post - graduate students to participate more actively in the management of the chair. Particular attention is given to designing organizational and functional structure of chair management, increasing the role of vice -chair heads and conducting chair meetings and seminars. One of the necessary prerequisites of university chair effective functioning is the active participation of lecturers in management. Suggested mechanisms of attracting lecturers to chair management require evaluating efficacy of their implementation which can also be an object of further research. Authors suggest using the following mechanisms of attracting lecturers, graduate and postgraduate students to chair management: - constructing effective organizational and functional structure of chair management - forming the institution of vice - chair heads - organizing and conducting chair meetings and seminars The use of suggested mechanisms in case of organizing team work of chair head, lecturers, graduate and post - graduate students will facilitate significant increase in publication activities of teaching staff of the chair; strengthening of extra - mural work with the students; growing number of received grants and research conducted; successful employment of graduates which is the most important outcome of chair activities. The article contains the results of monitoring lecturers’ participation in chair management which justify the need for their active involvement into managerial processes at the chair. The difference between this research and other works on the topic is that it offers and justifies measures aimed at effective formation, implementation and development of lecturers’ potential by means of increasing the level of their involvement into university management processes.