大學的發展與運作繫於一群具有學術成就的專業菁英，系所主管正是領導每一專業領域發展之靈魂人物。顯然，系所主管職能的個人信念、培育過程及效能表現對於大學之學術品質與主管個人之職涯成就均具決定性的影響。本研究之目的乃在於探討大學系所主管職能表現及其潛藏之意涵。經過一年半現場觀察40所大學校院，訪談各校系所主管（85位）與相關業務人員，並且對比相關文件資料之後，而獲致一些重要的發現，包括：一、大學系所主管普遍認真負責；二、系所主管普遍未嘗接受過系統性的主管培育歷程；三、系所主管的遴選與聘任並未深刻考量大學之發展方針與其個人之學術願景。針對大學系所主管專業職能之綜合結論，本研究最終提出一些具體的改善建議。

Academic development and professional performance of universities rely on their faculty members. These academically high achieving elites in various professional fields are piloted by department heads to explore academic knowledge and further build personal professional careers. The academic performance and administrative philosophy of the department heads are, consequently, crucial to university reputation and academic development. This study was conducted to inquire the professional performance and in-service training processes for department heads (n=85) in universities. Over a year and half, researchers observed and interviewed department heads in 40 universities to collect related qualitative data. The data analyses yielded the following findings: 1. Department heads generally served good duties on department administration; 2. The majority of department heads seldom received systematic personnel development service to build administrative competency; 3. Professional vision and personal career goals were seldom considered as crucial evaluation criteria while electing professors to be a department head. Based on these findings, several suggestions were provided for the long-termed university development and faculty career pursuit.