"Chair" vs. "Chairperson"

Someone wrote a good question last week:
Article 2.I of the TAUP Contract uses this definition:
"Department Chairperson: A faculty member who is the
designated head of an academic department or degree-granting
program."

However, the style guide indicates that we should use “chair” as the administrative title. Why the inconsistency?

The answer is simply that the TU Editorial Style will fit many, but not all, needs. It's designed to standardize and apply to as many written communications as possible, but some types of writing -- such as legal, scholarly -- will sometimes diverge from it. Here is the response:

"Chair" is the preferred usage because it is most commonly and easily used across most Temple documents, such as Temple publications and promotional materials, newsletters, the Temple Times, Temple Review, etc. "Chairperson" would be awkward in many cases outside the legal context. While we hope that preferred treatments in the guide will work in most cases, we recognize they may not be appropriate in all instances, such as legal documents. Some discrepancies may result, but the aim is for most Temple publications to be able to be consistent.