College administration

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody can help me out when it comes to college administration, how it is built up and so on. Any help would be helpful!!

What exactly do you need to know?

First, don't you mean "college?" If you actually mean "collage," then you probably want to talk to an artist who works in that medium.

Anyway, colleges are typically organized like this:

Lowest rung (equivalent to "Serfs" in Czarist Russia): Adjunct or part-time faculty. They are completely out of the loop, and teach one to three classes. On payday, they go to the payroll office, and the payroll person opens their wallet, spits in it, and laughs heartily.

Next up: Regular faculty. They teach four to six classes and get paid a living wage and have benefits like insurance. They are responsible for telling the adjuncts what to teach, what books to use, etcetera.

Next: Division chairs. Division chairs are primarily administrators but may also be faculty members and teach classes -- the easy, prestigious, fun ones. They are responsible for making sure all the faculty are following division policies and getting their book orders in on time, and for deciding which faculty to hire. They also approve things like money for faculty members to attend conferences, and harass the faculty about excessive photocopying. When students have problems with a faculty member, the student complains to the dean, who nods sympathetically and then does nothing.

Next: Deans. Deans are generally full-time administrators. They have to work during summer vacation. They harass division chairs about making sure each division meets its goals, like making sure that enough students do well on standardized tests and whatnot; the deans in turn harass the faculty. When a faculty member has trouble with a division chair, the faculty member complains to the dean, who nods sympathetically and then does nothing.

At the top: The President or Provost. Presidents mostly attend meetings and worry about things like budgets. They also go to alumni meetings and hang out at the state legislature begging for more money. They are pals with all the local politicos, and go on the radio and talk up the college.

Finally, there is the Board of Regents, composed of local bigwigs. They meet frequently and decide whether or not to fire the President for spending too much money on a footbal coach who turned out to be a loser. Mostly they sign off on things the president tells them to do.

You can pretty much tell where a college employee is on the ladder by the way he or she dresses. Adjunct art teachers teaching night classes can show up barefoot; regular faculty members wear shirts with buttons; deans wear ties and iron their shirts; the President looks very Fortune 500.

What else do you need to know?

The President of the college is often called the Chancellor, by the way...

--Kenn

www.kennhoekstra.com

And typically a private college or university would have on the highest rung a board of trustees (as opposed to a board of regents), whose job it is to hire and fire the president and to ensure the institution is run in a fiscally responsible way (which includes theiir being asked to make sizeable donations from time to time). They don't--and I speak from experience as a former trustee of a number of private schools, where the rules are the same--get in any degree involved in faculty matters.

It's a labyrinthian hell and that's all you'll ever need to know. Whatever building you need next? well, it's on the other side of campus. and that paperwork you have? well, it doesn't go to this office anymore, no, it goes to the new office in the older building, guess where that's at? No, you can't do this on line anymore, you have to come into the office now. So you better sit quietly and wait your turn or it's back to the start for you pally.

Hi again!

I was wondering how student names and adresses are save. On a computer - in that case whos? On paper? Who keeps those papers. Say you study a course english for instans what would they call that course/class?

"It's a labyrinthian hell and that's all you'll ever need to know. Whatever building you need next? well, it's on the other side of campus."

^^^^^^^^^

I taught Adult Ed courses at a JC on Thursday and Friday evenings. Notices for required Staff Meetings were placed in my box on Monday mornings. Time and place varied, but I did not see the notice until Thursday afternoon, after the meeting.

Ergo: I was mailed several nastygrams about failing to attend staff meetings.

It was literally impossible for them to understand that I did not receive the notice until after the meeting.

Sigh: life on campus....

I was wondering how student names and adresses are save. On a computer - in that case whos?

the university/college will have it all on their network servers. Various offices can access your information, provided they have your student/social security #.

On paper? Who keeps those papers.

Probably not anymore. but, if your script needs a paper trail go for it. No one will care.

Say you study a course english for instans what would they call that course/class?

this varies from state to state and from school to school. Here in texas it's called Freshman and Sophmore Compostion or Comp I or II. After that, it's the various Literature classes. American/brit/russian Lit prior to 1800, post 1800. Pretty much, think of something related to era's or books, or specific Authors and a University somewhere will have it.


ofcourse, you could always find a University's website and look through the various college's degree plans and you'd have all of those questions answered. Or, you could call them and ask them to send you a catalog. They do that all the time.