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If you’re thinking about becoming an administrator in higher education, you should start by knowing why. This might seem obvious, but you could have several reasons or feel pressured that administration is your next logical step.
You could be a faculty member who is next in line to chair a department or your career outside of the professoriate is trending toward a leadership position in college administration.
But if you have too many good reasons and not one great reason, you’re likely to fade as a candidate who doesn’t have a compelling story to tell, or, if hired, your motivation to do the job effectively will wane.
Administrative work in higher education is not easy. Some people accept leadership positions grudgingly or against better judgment.
“College and universities are among the most complicated organizations around — and they present unique challenges for leaders,” wrote C.K. Gunsalus on page one of “The College Administrator’s Survival Guide.” “(Knowledge workers’) attitude towards administration is often one of disdain: a commonly heard quip asserts that an academic who takes an administrative role loses 25 IQ points. A university is about as far as it is possible to get from a ‘do it because the boss says so’ workplace.”
People with specialized expert knowledge don’t want to be managed, and, as Gunsalus notes, the “cherished precept of academic freedom and tenure complicate the task of leadership.” Also, the administrative bloat in higher education (executives grew by 164 percent and other staff by 452 percent since the 1970s) has paradoxically compounded the hierarchy while simultaneously flattening management — no one’s in charge because everyone’s in charge.
If few people are actually able to take charge, or at least be motivated to do so, then only those who crave power will become effective administrators. This could be dangerous, according to Daniel Grassian, author of “An Insider’s Guide to University Administration,” who compared the future of higher education administration to domestic politics.
“(Administrators) could be narrowed to mostly those who have the narcissism or arrogance to believe they are either immune or clever enough to navigate the sometimes treacherous administrative landscape with the force of their personality or belief in themselves,” Grassian wrote.
There are better reasons to become a higher education administrator than obtaining power.
Below are 10 reasons taken directly from or inspired by Grassian’s and Gunsalus’ books. These aren’t necessarily ranked in order. Depending on your values and situation, one reason might appeal to you more than others. But the important thing is to have a No. 1 reason and then have other secondary factors that support your decision.
Higher Salary
Administrators are generally paid more than faculty and instructional staff and receive higher annual pay increases. Becoming a department chair provides modest compensation increases for faculty (on average an 8-10% bump for associate professors). Money should never be your only reason to pursue work in mission-based organizations like higher education (if it is, you’re better off becoming an investment banker).
But that’s not to say a higher salary is an invalid reason to desire a new job, especially for support staff becoming directors or those making the jump to dean, provost, or other executive-level administration. As a rule of thumb, salary should be your top reason only if it will change your lifestyle. For example, will it allow your partner to quit their job or allow you to move into a better environment to raise your children? Just don’t tell hiring committees that salary is your No. 1 reason.
You’re Burned Out
If you’ve had enough of the rat race of teaching and scholarship, then administrative work might be a refreshing change. You might be too focused on solving problems in the lab or advising individual students that you need to address larger issues from a wider perspective. Administrative work can offer that. Also keep this reason private. Lamenting your fatigue is no way to sell your candidacy as an administrator.
Block Someone Else
You might need to step into an administrative role to save your department from a worse option. This is a reason why many well-intentioned citizens reluctantly enter into politics and run for public office. At best, you might be more effective than the alternatives, or, at worst, you’re preventing the destruction of your unit by the hiring of a horrible boss. Sacrificing your frontline role to become an administrator can be noble, especially in the short term.
You’re a Repairer
Along the same lines of being your department’s savior, previous administrators might have really screwed things up at your institution and only you can fix what’s broken. Sometimes only people in administrative roles can right the wrongs. However, wearing the hero’s cape by blocking or correcting for poor leadership is not a long-term solution if your heart’s not in the work.
You’re a Builder
A more sustainable career path as an administrator is to build. Everyone does their part building programs or departments, just as a bricklayer contributes to the building of a cathedral. Administrators build by becoming the foreman or the architect. It’s very satisfying to not just bring order to a department but to create something that will last long after you’re gone.
Grow in a New Dimension
You just might be stuck and need a new way to stretch yourself creatively or intellectually. Break the monotony of teaching the same classes or processing the same reports. For faculty, there aren’t many opportunities for promotion after earning tenure. Administration could be your chance to advance and avoid tenure slump. You might also be bored. There’s variance to administrative work that is unpredictable and exciting.
It’s Time to Give Back
You’ve gotten the most that you can get out of your career. You collected journal publications. You received awards or fellowships. You gained the experience. Now, it’s your turn to give back by applying your crystalized intelligence and sharing your experience for the benefit of your department. No one else has your institutional knowledge, your wisdom to react quickly on policy matters, or your ability to resolve matters with students and coworkers. Let your light shine.
Future Employment Opportunities
Maybe you’ve decided that being a professor is not a long-term, viable option. Maybe there’s no opportunities for growth in your current specialized role. Becoming an administrator might be just what you need to diversify your skills and make you more employable in other functional areas on campus or in other industries.
Different Work Environment
Workplaces are often about the “who?” or “where?” and not the “what?” You’re a product of your environment and if you don’t like the professional you’ve become, even though you like the work you produce, administrative work can offer a better physical and social space for you. This could mean taking an administrative job that allows for remote work, or getting away from a specialized unit that might have become toxic because of self-interest and into an administrative area that thrives on collaboration.
Make a Greater Difference
All higher education professionals make a difference in their work, even if it’s changing the trajectory for one individual student or improving one operational area of the institution. Professors, student affairs professionals, admissions counselors, and other frontline staff might interact with more students on a daily basis compared to administrators, but the decisions and work that administrators do often impacts more people.
Think of all the lives you can impact if you can make changes further upstream as an administrator, whether that’s leading professionals whose work affects more students than you could ever do alone, or shaping the policies and procedures of the institution that lead to better outcomes for all students.
“Universities are wonderful places,” Gunsalus wrote. “They are filled with smart, dedicated people. It’s your job, as a leader, to provide an environment that brings out the best in those people. If you don’t, all these quirky and interesting people may find their energies diverted in ways that do not serve the mission of advancing the frontiers of knowledge and fostering the intellectual growth of generations of young men and women.”
Every great administrator has a strong “why?” for what they do. What’s yours?
