Several departments at Branson are welcoming new leadership as faculty members step into chair positions, including Alanna Hickey for English and Tony Pound for Math and Computer Science.
“We have a new policy which came in, I think, a year or two back, where the department heads change every five years,” Tony Pound, the chair of the Math and CS department, said. “I think it’s to get some new ideas to freshen it up, but also to give people the opportunity to lead.”
Pound has been at Branson for 10 years, and as he steps into his new role he aims to make the math placement process more transparent and consistent for new students and honors class placements. He also plans to evaluate whether to keep problem-based learning.
“At the moment, most of our honors classes have a problem-based learning approach, and then most of our regular classes have a traditional approach,” said Pound. “So it’s kind of figuring out if that’s still the right approach, or maybe we need a hybrid approach.”
Alanna Hickey, the new chair of the English department, is focusing on the teachers and how she can be a resource for them.
“I really trust all my colleagues for their instincts in the classroom and the way they care for and challenge their students,” Hickey said. “I was willing to be the next chair to support that group of people, because I think they’re so exceptional. What I really want to bring to my position is advocacy for the teachers and support where they need it.”
The process to become a department chair was very extensive, and Hickey had to go through many layers of approval, including submitting a letter of interest, teaching philosophy, interviews with the previous chair, a student panel, and the administration team.
“After the committees have solicited feedback, they review the feedback, and the recommendations of the students, the chairs, the department members and the administration, and then they make a decision,” Hickey said.
Pound said it was like applying for a new position as an outside person.
“In my case, I was the only candidate, which made it a little bit easier, but for some of the new chairs, they had to go through a process where there was more than one candidate,” Pound said.
Beyond their administrative duties, Pound and Hickey are also considering how new technologies will shape their departments.
“I see part of my job as responding to the particular moment and the development of artificial intelligence that we’re living in, and how best to serve our students, given the predominance of AI right now,” Hickey said.
