What questions to ask a chair of department candidate?

[moebius_strip]

Hello,

I am a new TT assistant professor in an R2 with R1 aspirations. Our department is hiring a new director. They have scheduled for me to talk to all candidates. The issue I have is the following:

Pretty much no one of the old professors in our department does research. However, the University made it clear that this needs to change. I have done good progress - brought in 600k (after overhead), got funding to support 5 Ph.D. students, published a ton in tier 1 venues, established a lab, etc. The issue I have is that the shortlisted candidates that are similar to them - 0 research, very little funding, etc. All are from teaching-oriented R2 Universities. I am very worried that they will be unable to understand the processes that involve research etc. I am only TT assistant professor so I am not that fussed but the last thing I want is for folks that don't understand research to come in and lead a department that supposedly has to pivot towards full research.

The only question that comes to mind is to ask them "how they plan on supporting TT assistant professors with their research" but I am sure that there are other questions that could potentially ask but.. I am not sure. Can you please help me with potential questions that I could ask to gauge their support, suitability, etc.

What questions in your experience are good questions to ask the candidates?

Thank you!

[Ruralguy]

Ask that question or have a trusted senior colleague ask it. Also, maybe a more general question would be "What do you think is the ideal research/teaching/service balance in a dept. like ours at a university like ours?" Maybe also ask the candidate about how they'd handle certain managerial complexities, such as handling disagreements, etc.

Have you had a departmental meeting on this subject yet? It seems that you should.

[fizzycist]

If your dept is like any of the ones I am familiar with, a new assistant professor will have very little influence over the outcome of this search. It's not uncommon to be invited to attend events but at the end of the day the Dean has their people they trust for advice and their own agenda and a new prof is very unlikely to make a dent in the decision making process.

So don't stress it. Perhaps the only thing you might do is look at for sociopathic tendencies or some other bizarre behaviors and alert senior ppl of them if you catch them (seems like one person in every search at this level has been really f'n scary/weird).

[moebius_strip]

So don't stress it. Perhaps the only thing you might do is look at for sociopathic tendencies or some other bizarre behaviors and alert senior ppl of them if you catch them (seems like one person in every search at this level has been really f'n scary/weird).

Funny that you mentioned the last part @fizzycist. I was looking into one of the candidates and I realized that he was trying to pass huge military grants as his own (total of over 200m dollars!!!). There is 0 chance that a particular candidate has such grants.. as there were huge military contractors named as primaries when I checked online. He may have done some work within the context of an award but he 100% isn't the PI in these grants. I cant believe that he was trying to do this. I alerted the search committee etc and they are looking into it.

I really think that with COVID pausing the search etc they didn't properly vet the candidates.

[Hibush]

So don't stress it. Perhaps the only thing you might do is look at for sociopathic tendencies or some other bizarre behaviors and alert senior ppl of them if you catch them (seems like one person in every search at this level has been really f'n scary/weird).

Funny that you mentioned the last part @fizzycist. I was looking into one of the candidates and I realized that he was trying to pass huge military grants as his own (total of over 200m dollars!!!). There is 0 chance that a particular candidate has such grants.. as there were huge military contractors named as primaries when I checked online. He may have done some work within the context of an award but he 100% isn't the PI in these grants. I cant believe that he was trying to do this. I alerted the search committee etc and they are looking into it.

I really think that with COVID pausing the search etc they didn't properly vet the candidates.

+1 The right combination of sociopathic tendencies and charisma can lead to a rapid rise through administration, so the pool of chairs and deans can easily be enriched in these types relative to the general faculty.

If you get stuck with one, you really need to see that their rise continues ASAP (elsewhere).

[Ruralguy]

Yeah, once my school didn't screen out the Dean candidate who was charged with embezzlement at his previous school. Fortunately, someone pointed it out, and besides, two other candidates were better, though the one we go stuck with was only minimally useful for a few years anyway.

[Vkw10]

As fizzycist said, a new assistant professor isn't likely to have a major impact on decision. You might use your half hour for a conversation about balancing teaching and research in an R2 that has R1 aspirations, their experience with research support office on their current campus, their thoughts about learning the research support mechanisms on your campus. When you write up your feedback, you want to be able to say whether the candidate is someone you feel will support the institution's and your own research goals.

Remember that you are helping recruit your future director. You want someone who'll be supportive, even if they don't have a strong research emphasis themselves. You also want the new director to have a positive opinion of you as a young faculty member who'll help raise the department's research profile and who can chat pleasantly with potential students, donors, and administrators.

[Ruralguy]

Its much much more important that they support *your* goals and the school's goals and be a nice enough person than be a hotshot researcher that decided it was about time to get into administration.
Sure, they have to be good enough at research to have plausibly attained the rank they want by the standards of your school, and certain understandings of granting agencies helps, but attitude and personality probably matter even more. You don't want some one who thinks being Dr. No (saying "no" to everything including tenure and promotions) is the best way to improve your place.