1. Moving to Higher administration
American Mathematical Society Workshop for Department Chairs and Department Leaders
Baltimore, Maryland
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Professor Gloria Marí Beffa
Associate Dean for the Natural, Physical and Mathematical Sciences
College of Letters and Science
University of Wisconsin, Madison

2. Discussion 1: What is higher administration like?
What do you think administrators do in higher administration? Try to come up with a list of main duties for an administrator position (choose positions you are curious about, and discuss general duties, not details).
What makes a good administrator? List expectations.
What are the duties that make it harder for Chairs to want to join higher administration?
What are the duties that make it most attractive?
Room discussion

3. Discussion 2: How does one generate the next generation of leaders?
Can you think of junior faculty you feel would be terrific leaders? What are they like? How do we identify them?
Can you suggest ways to encourage them to take on leadership positions, while keeping them in a path of increasing academic success?
Is there anything that you wish someone would have told you/trained you in before you became Chair, and that you feel would have been very helpful to you as leader? How can we provide it to others?
Room Discussion

4. Discussion 3: Should Mathematicians be involved in higher administration?
Universities are changing dramatically and fast. Advances are changing the scientific world fast. Decisions
taken during the next decade will determine in part how these changes affect academia.
List reasons why mathematicians need to enter higher administration, not only at the University level, but also at the Federal level (in Funding agencies, for example). List reasons why they should not.
How is life as an administrator?
How do you become one? What conditions should you look for?
Room discussion