Management Training for the University Head of Department

Recently, universities have been subject to many changes which have placed new demands on management at all levels. Reports a study, at a university in the north of England, the aims of which were to investigate by questionnaire if heads of departments (HODs) possessed any management qualifications, whether they had undertaken any management training, and to assess the usefulness of training in certain management skills. No one held a recognized qualification in management and 35 per cent had not undertaken any management training. The two areas of management training that HODs considered to be the most important were those of financial and personnel management. Findings also suggested that HODs now regard their management role as being of greater importance than in the past. However, an ambiguity is that management skills are often not considered for promotion to HOD and that research performance is still the major criterion.