The study presents an attempt at investigating the role perceptions of academic chairpersons of departments at the University level, the fulfillment of these roles, and the desirability to fulfill them.A group of 90 chairpersons in six universities responded to a questionnaire that was especially developed for the present study. Factor analysis yielded five main factors: l) Curriculum and Instruction, 2) Initiation, 3) Staff Development, 4) Democratic Leadership Style and 5) Departmental Status. Significant differences were found between the actual fulfillment and the extent of the desire to fulfill all the roles. Several background variables and role factors were found to explain the variance in chairpersons' satisfaction with role fulfillment. Findings shed some light on a relatively neglected subject -the role perceptions and satisfaction of department chairpersons. The information gained on this subject is expected to initiate attempts at making the role more satisfying in the direction desired by chairpersons. Role of academic department chairpersons at the university level: Perceptions and satisfactionThe problem Higher education is characterized by an increase in size and complexity and by a multiciplicity of functions and roles. Consequently, it has become a matter of great concern both with people who are directly involved and with the community at large (Cerych and Furth, 1972; Unesco, 1976). This concern is also understandable in view of the growing demands for academic excellence, for the creation and dissemination of knowledge on the one hand, and of budgetal constraints, on the other. These problems among others, have been the incentive for the vast amount of research that has been carried out in the area of higher education. The majority of studies deals with issues of student learning, of instruction and of management. Students and instructors constitute the higher education population that is most extensively studied.Interestingly enough, chairpersons of academic departments, a population highly involved in problems of higher education, has not been given the proper attention in educational research, as it might be expected, considering the important roles they play in staff recruitment and tenure, in curriculum planning

The present study is designed to evaluate teaching effectiveness based on effective teacher behaviors. Operationally, it is measured by assessing levels of agreement between perceptions of instructors and students on reported employment rates and rated ability for specific instructional behavior attributes. Individually-based and organizationally-based factors are incorporated in the study for a possible contribution to teaching effectiveness variance. Findings indicate a lack of agreement between perceptions on abstract instructional attributes but that agreement exists for attributes of a concrete nature. Analysis suggests that individually-based and organizationallybased factors do not contribute to agreement variance.

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