Priorities, academics and administration

27. February 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

I have some random thoughts I want to capture here that I’ve been thinking about over the last few days. I haven’t exactly figured out how this all ties together or exactly what I think, but I’m putting it out there anyway. I’ve written before about the ways in which administrative work is intellectual work and that administrators are often thoughtful about their work in part because they still have ties to the academic side of the house. I’ve been tying this idea in my mind to the mantra of many liberal arts colleges and other teaching-oriented schools that a faculty member’s research informs their teaching (and sometimes vice versa) rather than research being the be-all end-all of a faculty member’s work as it might be at an R1. So imagine the same is true for an administrator–that any research-related activities inform their work as administrators and in fact makes them better administrators. That’s the theory with research for teaching-oriented schools.

Unfortunately, as many of you know, a lot of administrators don’t do research. Some never did. This is especially true of the middle area of administrators who serve in roles similar to mine in support of the academic mission of the college. In theory, I think, those in these roles would be better at their administrative jobs if they had a related research agenda. For me, as I said in the post referred to above, that means writing and presenting in areas related to technology and education. I can imagine other positions that might benefit from delving into research–deans of various kinds, program coordinators, writing center directors (many in this role do research already), student life directors, librarians. There are probably more. It’s not a lack of desire or intellectual ability that keeps people from doing research, but has more to do with what work get priority. And often that prioritizing is imposed on people rather than people deciding what to prioritize.

Let me use myself as an example. Today serves as a good example of the variety of work I do and the difficulty someone in a support role might have in determining what to do next. I started my morning with a meeting with a research group. We talked about network systems, social networking, social contagion theory, etc. I’m presenting to this group next week. After this meeting, I came in and started reading a couple of articles for said presentation. Then I met with a student to talk about having her help with some web support. I then spent a little over an hour dealing with what we call “tickets.” These are help requests that are tracked in a centralized system. These issues included requests for Blackboard courses to be set up, investigating enrollment issues in Blackboard, restoring course materials in Blackboard, DMCA violations, and more. Then there were conversations about the college web site, our WordPress MU installation, negotiating who is supporting what and more. Open in my browser are the following tabs: Google reader (to read IT blogs), Gmail (both mail and my RTM to-do list), a wiki on Moodle integration with ePortfolios, Blackboard*, the new Research Blogging icon, an article about risks by IT managers (found via my del.icio.us network), a Google spreadsheet that is collecting data via a form for a workshop I’m planning, Amazon, NITLE, the two aforementioned articles, the Anarchist Librarian web site, blogs.brynmawr.edu, a registration page for a project management workshop, a podcast featuring yours truly (as yet unlistened to) Google calendar, this window, and Geeky Mom. If your head is spinning, imagine what mine’s doing. And this is a low tab day.

The thing is, stuff has to get done. The “tickets” need to get processed, the calls have to get taken, emails answered. And most of that is what counts as “work” for people like me. But that other stuff, much of what’s open in my browser–reading material, keeping up with trends, investigating what other schools are doing–is also important, and I would argue more important than the other “work.” Because the other stuff–research, reading, etc.–might actually inform the way the other work gets managed. It might help find more efficient ways of doing things. It might help implement new software, hire new people with different skills. It might improve the institution. My thought is that as long as people remain mired in the grunt work, they’re never going to see the big picture.

I think I have more thoughts, but my email icon is bouncing . . .

*I was interrupted by a phone call asking if Blackboard was down or “messed up” because “someone can’t do what they need to do” with no explanation of what that thing they were doing was. Sigh. FYI, troubleshooting is difficult without specific information.

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Administrative work is intellectual work

12. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,
I’ve had this post brewing for a while, but New Kid’s recent post where she contemplates leaving academe prompted me to actually write it. The dilemma faced by many faculty thinking of leaving is wondering whether work outside of academe will offer intellectual challenges and rewards or if it will turn them into mindless corporate or administrative drones. While I’m sure there are jobs that would not be intellectually fulfilling, a lot of jobs become what you make them. Academic administration, to me, offers the best possibility of having intellectual fulfillment. Anyone who reads Dean Dad regularly should see that there’s a lot of intellectual work going into making decisions related to running an institution. I’ve been thinking about what makes these jobs hard brain work as opposed to simply pencil pushing.*

  • First, some administrators, perhaps not at the highest levels, are able to maintain a research agenda in their area of research. I still do research and write papers and give presentations. And I’m able to pursue whatever interests I have since I’m not bound to covering certain areas. I feel that I can pursue research related to my work while I’m at work. If I veered too far from that, I’d probably pursue that outside of work.
  • There are always problems to solve. They may not be the same kind of problems a researcher works on, but they still require a lot of thought–and often some research. These often require critical thinking skills from a very different perspective than when doing academic research, but it’s still quite challenging.
  • Textual analysis. In its simplest form, this can be reading between the lines of memos and emails. But it can also be about analyzing legal documents and contracts or proposals for grants or projects.
  • Writing. My god, the writing. I write more now than I ever did, and the writing needs to be carefully crafted and thought out. I have to attend to audience in a way I never did before–multiple audiences at once! I’ve written all kinds of documents since I’ve been on the administrative side: daily email, proposals, evaluations (both of me and others), documentation, web content, pr material. I like the variety. Because academe is a very text-driven environment, good writing skills are not only appreciated, they’re crucial to getting real work done.
  • Teaching. In my line of work, there’s a lot of teaching. I work with both faculty and students. I’ve done individual tutorials and workshops. I’ve created materials for workshops and I’ve created materials for the “self-taught.” I’ve also had the opportunity to teach courses in the college curriculum. Many places will offer this as an opportunity if you have the experience and the desire (and time!) to teach. So teaching can be a part of an administrative job. But also, there’s a lot of teaching that goes on in trying to articulate institutional goals, in showing how decisions were made and how they affect individuals, really in almost every conversation you have.

Honestly, a lot of these jobs are what you make them. If you want to treat it like a mindless job, then it will be. But if you bring all your intellectual skills to bear, that approach will be appreciated and will make the job more fulfilling. There are a lot of differences between these jobs that are worth noting.

  • Institutional perspective. I’m still surprised by how many faculty, despite the fact that they run the place don’t have an institutional perspective. They still think only of their little corner of the world, their own pet peeves. As an administrator, you have to think more broadly, even at the lowest levels sometimes, you have to do this. You have to think about what’s best for the institution and not about what’s best for a particular department or particular faculty member. Balancing individual and institutional needs is a real challenge, one that requires a lot of thought.
  • Working in groups. Unless you’re in the sciences where collaboration is common, most faculty moving out of academe will struggle with the idea of relying on others to do parts of their work for them. Also, you have to think about forming appropriate teams to get work done and to participate in teams in an effective way. This requires a great deal of cooperation and diplomacy. It can get frustrating when you’re used to just doing everything yourself, but in the end, it’s important to include a lot of people.
  • Lack of prestige and respect. The upper administration is almost universally reviled by faculty and there’s very little love for the support staff either. That’s something to get used to. I still struggle with it a little, but I’ve also learned that your actions can earn you a lot of respect. It just takes a very long time.

I’m sure I’ve left things out on both lists. Maybe other administrators out there will chime in.

*I’ve always thought it was funny to call administrators in academe pencil pushers, when the real pencil pushers are the faculty. Outside the classroom, there’s all that grading and writing, not a lot of action.




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