A Pattern for Effectiveness Improvement of Educational Departments in Universities and Higher Education Centers: A Case Study of The Islamic Azad University

Heads of departments, aserving as connections with university chancellors, faculty members and university students, play a crucial role in realization of academic goals. The present paper aims to present a pattern for effectiveness improvement of heads of departments in universities and higher education centers. This study was a descriptive-analytical survey. Using the stratified sampling method, the sample population (n=359) was selected randomlyfrom the branches of the Islamic Azad Universities indistrict 8. The data were collected using research-made questionnaires formulated based on components of cybernetic management theory in higher education.The results of factor analysis showed that there are thirteen factors effective on effectiveness improvement of heads of departments. The results of the path analysis also indicated that the variables entered into the analysis at the level of 0.99 could explain variations in the dependent variable, i.e. the effectiveness of heads of departments, and that the factor of continuous reconstruction had the highest effect on the effectiveness of heads of departments. Appropriateness of the proposed model was confirmed by the results of the coefficient of multiple determination R2 and the equation of proportion. Other findings of the research showed that demographic variablesdid not have significant impact on the results of the study.