TITLE: A New Set of Responsibilities AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: May 18, 2005 2:36 PM DESC: I took my chances, and now I take on some new responsibilities. The blog will take on a new flavor, too. ----- BODY: As mentioned last week, I recently applied for the position of department head in my home department. After interviews scattered over the final three days of last week and a weekend of wa-a-a-iting (cue Tom Petty), the Dean called me yesterday to offer me the job. I start on August 1. I will continue to teach one class each term, for a total of three a year. So I expect to keep blogging about teaching and learning and software development on a regular basis. But because I blog mostly to examine what I am doing and learning, I expect that I'll be posting a new thread of messages over the next three years to examine the administrative and leadership side of my job. To this end, I am creating a new category, Managing and Leading, for this thread. (Those of you who come here to read about running, fear not! That thread will continue as usual. I've run 74 miles in the last 11 days, so I have plenty of raw material!) Some of my first entries in this new category will likely deal with what I've been reading about working with people, leadership, and technical administration. I think I've been subconsciously preparing for this role for a few years. But I still have a lot to learn. My official start date is August 1, but I'll be putting significant energy into the job before then. As I said, I have a lot to learn. Busy, busy, busy. -----