The skills and effective factors on improvement of university educational departments performance in the network community

The purpose of this study was to understand and explain the competencies affecting the performance of university departments in the age of networking, which was done from the perspective of department chairs and with an interdisciplinary approach in the field of educational management and communication sciences. The research method was qualitative and a case study type. The department chairs of Allameh Tabataba'i University of Tehran are the research field of this study to collect information. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used in sample selection.  Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 10 department chairs was used to collected the required data.  Data were analyzed through open and  axial coding, which identified a total of 5 themes to improve the performance of the departments: "Leadership skills, information literacy, media literacy, digital intelligence and factors related to university strategy of universities and existing socio-cultural platforms in higher education" regarding the qualifications and factors needed to improve the quality of management and performance of the educational departments in the information society were identified. Presence and effective performance of academic elites in media educational environments has created the need for attention and acquisition of competencies related to the age of communication by the leaders of educational institutions. Therefore, higher education and university support programs and futurology studies will be effective to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of educational departments. The findings of this study can be the basis for the development of higher education future programs.