This paper offers the perspective of one chair of a large English department in a medium-sized regional comprehensive institution on the practicalities of implementing departmental assessment and program change. The discussion focuses on the complex ways in which institutional engagement, state politics, and demographic change interact, and it especially examines the role of a regional agency, the New England Regional Conference on Higher Education (NERCHE), in supporting chairs to move their departments on with assessment even as they themselves are helped to grow into leadership roles. NERCHE brings together chairs from various departments, disciplines, and institutions; focuses on year-long themes; and combines the discussion of hands-on practicalities with introduction to various kinds of research. The paper looks at how a department chair can promote and foster assessment and discusses the kinds of internal and external support that are available, and critical, to a chair's success in this endeavor. It concludes that NERCHE offers a special and invaluable combination of professional development for both the department and its leadership. (SM)