Page 258 - Crisis in Higher Education

Reforming Administration and Management • 229

Central administration
Board of trustees
President
Executive VP and provost College administration
VPs and other direct reports to president Dean
Deputy, associate, and assistant Associate deans
(ese helpers are used by the levels above) Assistant deans
Directors/administrative department chairs Academic department chairs
Managers Directors
Specialists Managers
Staff supervisors Specialists
Staff (include assistants to, secretaries, and clerks) Staff supervisors
Staff

FIGURE 11.2
The scope of central and college administration in public universities.

In the current circumstances, when the institution proposes to hire
administrators to fix a problem or perform a task, there may be no effort
to determine (1) how the problem or task could be done differently and
better, (2) if there is an information technology solution that would allow
existing staff to do the work, or (3) if these tasks should be done at all.
This type of hiring is often a reaction to a specific problem such as the
university’s accounting firm finds that accounts payable is vulnerable
to fraud or a survey shows that students are unhappy with this or that
service. New assistant VPs or directors are hired to fix the problems, and
they, in turn, hire staff to help them.
Eliminating administrators is rarely contemplated because their sta-
tus and power are derived from the size of their domain. More subor-
dinates mean more people to whom work can be delegated and more
opportunities to distribute blame when things go wrong. When admin-
istrative cuts are proposed and taken, these are most often tokens that
are limited to low-level managers, clerical workers, student advisors,
and the like. It is rare to eliminate a VP, assistant VP, or associate pro-
vost position.
It is important to state that administrators are not careless, bungling,
selfish people. The vast majority work hard, attempt to make positive con-
tributions, want the university to flourish, and are concerned about stu-
dent success. It is the system in which they operate that must change. Goals
are not clearly articulated and effectively disseminated to guide decisions
and influence behaviors. There are no clear and consistent directives that