Page 268 - Crisis in Higher Education

Reforming Administration and Management • 239

allegiance to administration. The FRC should not be an arm of the faculty
senate, which is often viewed negatively by administration and may not be
representative of the faculty. Faculty senate and elements of the adminis-
tration are often combatants with extreme and divergent views that would
be difficult to overcome. The FRC would be an independent entity that
provides an important perspective that is currently missing.

11.5.3 Increasing Administrative Productivity
Administrator is a broad term that can include a wide variety of jobs
from executives such as president and provost to low-level managers and
support staff. There are big differences among administrators in respon-
sibilities and wages as well as how to improve productivity. To con-
sider productivity enhancements, administrators are divided into three
groups, which is consistent with the topology used by the College and
University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). 13

1. Executive-level administrators: This includes the president, provost, VP,
and others shown in Figure 11.1. Also included are the academic deans
and their associate and assistant deans; institutional administrators
such as deputy, associate, and assistant provosts; and heads of adminis-
trative divisions, departments, and centers. At research universities, the
median salary for presidents in 2015 was $450,000 per year with some
making more than $1 million. Provosts topped $330,000. Of the nearly
200 different job categories reported, only 23 had median salaries less
than $100,000 and only one was below $80,000. 14
2. Professional managers and specialists: This level includes academic
affairs, student affairs, institutional affairs, fiscal affairs, external
affairs, facilities, information technology, research professionals,
athletics, extension programs, technology transfer, environmental
sustainability, health sciences, and exempt personnel including office
15
and maintenance workers. Exempt staff members are not entitled
to overtime pay, whereas nonexempt staff must be compensated for
16
working more than 40 hours per week. At research universities in
2015, the compensation tended to be in the high five figures with
a few salaries reaching the low six figures. The primary exception
was athletics, where head coaches and some assistant coaches earned
much more. Only 33 of the 300 job categories had a median salary of
less than $50,000. 15