Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some type of separate administrative structure exists at almost all academic institutions. Fewer institutions are governed by employees who are also involved in academic or scholarly work. Many senior administrators are academics who have advanced degrees and no longer teach or conduct research.
Key responsibilities
Key broad administrative responsibilities in academic institutions include:
Admissions
Supervision of academic affairs such as hiring, promotion, tenure, and evaluation ;
Maintenance of official records ;
Maintenance and audit of financial flows and records;
Maintenance and construction of campus buildings ;
Maintenance of the campus grounds;
Safety and security of people and property on the campus ;
Supervision and support of campus computers and network.
Fundraising from private individuals and foundations
Student services such as disability services, career counselling and library staff.
Administrative titles
The chief executive, the administrative and educational head of a university, depending on tradition and location, may be termed the university president, the provost, the chancellor, the vice-chancellor, principal, or rector. An administrative executive in charge of a university department or of some schools, may be termed a dean or some variation. The chief executive of academic establishments other than universities, may be termed headmaster or head teacher, director, or principal, as used in primary education.
By country
Academic administrations are structured in various ways at different institutions and in different countries.
Australia
Full-time tertiary education administrators emerged as a distinct role in Australia from the mid-1970s, as institutions sought to deal with their increasing size and complexity, along with a broadening of their aspirations. As the professionalism of tertiary administrators has developed, there has been a corresponding push to recognise the uniqueness and validity of their role in the academic environment. , general staff comprised over half the employees at Australian universities. Around 65% of these are female. There has recently been a shift in the preferred nomenclature for non-academic staff at Australian universities, from "general staff" to "professional staff". It has been argued that the changing in role of the professional staff has been due to the changing work that they are performing, as professional staff assist students with technology. The overarching body for all staff working in administration and management in Australia is the Association for Tertiary Education Management.
The structures for administration and management in higher education in the United Kingdom vary significantly between institutions. Any description of a general structure will therefore not apply to some or even many institutions, and therefore any general statement of structures may be misleading. Not all UK universities have the post of Registrar. The Director of Finance may report to the Registrar or directly to the Vice-Chancellor, whilst other senior posts may or may not report to the Registrar. This next tier of senior positions might include Directors of Human Resources, Estates, and Corporate Affairs. The Academic Registrar is often included in this next tier. Their role is mostly to accomplish student-facing administrative processes such as admissions, student records, complaints, and graduation.
The ten highest-paid administrators at private colleges earn an average of about $2.5 million per year, while at public colleges the figure is $1.4 million. These figures includes both base pay and other income.
Deans
may supervise various and more specific aspects of the institution, or may be CEOs of entire campuses. They may report directly to the president or chancellor. The division of responsibility among deans varies widely among institutions; some are chiefly responsible for clusters of academic fields or whole academic units, while others are responsible for non-academic but campus-wide concerns such as minority affairs. In some cases a provost supervises the institution's entire academic staff, occupying a position generally superior to any dean. In other instances the Dean of a College may be the equivalent to a Provost or Vice Chancellor or Vice President for Academic Affairs. Below deans in the administrative hierarchy are heads of individual academic departments and of individual administrative departments. These heads then supervise the faculty and staff of their individual departments.
Departmental Chairs
The Chair of a department is typically a tenured or at least tenure-track faculty member, supported by administrative staff.
Administrative staff
All levels of the university have administrative staff, reporting to Chancellors, Presidents, Provosts, Deans, and Departmental Chairs.
