THE ROLE OF THE ACADEMIC PHYSICAL THERAPY DEPARTMENT CHAIR AS PERCEIVED BY PHYSICAL THERAPY TEACHING FACULTY AND CHAIRS

PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the importance of selected roles and responsibilities a physical therapy department chair might perform as perceived by physical therapy unit administrators and teaching faculty in accredited, entry-level physical therapy programs. SUBJECTS: The population consisted of physical therapy unit administrators and teaching faculty who work at least half time in CAPTE-accredited physical therapy education programs offering entry-level education for physical therapists in the United States. There were 96 physical therapy unit administrators and 538 teaching faculty who met the specific inclusion criteria, creating a total sample size of 634. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A quantitative survey instrument was utilized to measure the perceptions and priorities of the roles of the physical therapy department chair. Within the survey the respondents rated the importance of 45 roles/responsibilities of the department chair from not important to essential. They further selected the five most and least important of these roles. ANALYSES: Predominant characteristics of the physical therapy unit administrators and teaching faculty were analyzed with descriptive statistics. A list of the most and least important roles and responsibilities of the physical therapy department chair was identified. Significant differences between the perceptions of physical therapy unit administrators and teaching faculty on the various roles and responsibilities of the department chair were analyzed by three- and two-way analysis of variance, with appropriate post hoc tests. RESULTS: Unit administrators and teaching faculty agree on the most and least important roles and responsibilities of a department chair. The most important roles were to act as faculty advocate to higher administration, prepare the physical therapy department budget, evaluate faculty performance to determine tenure and promotions, monitor accreditation standards, motivate faculty, evaluate faculty performance to determine raises, encourage faculty research and publications, and exhibit informal faculty, leadership. The least important roles were to help students register, schedule classes, maintain accurate student records, select new physical therapy students, assign graduate assistants, evaluate student research, manage clerical staff, and practice clinical physical therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Both physical therapy unit administrators and teaching faculty agree on which rol