Department seeking chair

"Do you feel a rising sense of nausea, or are you at all intrigued?" asked my Dean. And so began a tenure as Department Chair - actually Co-Chair, since a colleague and I are going down in the annals of academe as one of the rare experiments in shared governance. The official takeover isn't until July 1st, a date by which we will have both managed to be conveniently out of the country. The current Chair seems to manage largely in absentia so we thought we'd give it a go... Until then, there is an endless round of meetings to "get up to speed." This is useful since as everyone knows, academics largely self-select for absence of administrative skills. Indeed I believe an interest in things beyond Slavic linguistics probably marks me as a lost cause researchwise. Upon general announcement of our appointment at least one of my senior colleagues mitigated congratulations with the comment that "I knew you wanted to Department Chair" -- read: I saw something unseemly about you and lo and behold it has come to pass. Nonetheless, I am -- to mimic my undergrads -- psyched! Which reminds me that one of my junior colleagues, viewing such enthusiasm, asked if I was planning to have an MRI. I don't know why embracing departmental leadership is viewed as such a bizarre act, but it seems a prevalent reaction so stay tuned. There may be mental breakdown in my future.
For now, I am excited to be learning how things really work and thrilled to have the chance to work with my colleagues to fashion a 21st century department we can be proud of and excited to work in.