"Eliminate faculty, then students."

https://wapo.st/4aOpFUA

Granted it's just an op-ed written tongue in cheek, but still, this stat caught my attention:

quote:

Pomona’s professor-administrator ratio has plummeted from 3.21 to 0.56.

Administrators at Paloma College now outnumber the teaching staff almost 2 to 1!

Ax, I have no idea how that (suspicially cherry-picked) number was supposedly arrived at.

But here is a broad description of employment changes in higher education:

Suppose a school of 1000 students in 1990 had

100 professors (the "instructional" employees)

They also have lots of people who are officially listed in "administrative" roles, including

18 real administrators (deans, provost, COO etc)
4 IT staff
15 student support staff (career planning / writing, etc)
10 professional librarians
6 psych and medical staff
8 "development" staff (they raise $$$)

along with

100 clerical support people
50 Buildings and grounds staff

This school has a ratio of ...

students to "administrators" of 1000/61 = 16.4

Faculty/admin = 100/61 = 1.64

Admin share of employees = 61/311 = .2


Suppose in 2024 the same school of 1000 now has


105 professors (the "instructional" employees)

They officially listed "administrative" ...

22 real administrators (deans, provost, COO etc)
20 IT staff
30 student support staff (career planning / writing, etc)
12 professional librarians
10 psych and medical staff
15 "development" staff (they raise $$$)

along with

40 clerical support people
0 Buildings and grounds staff (process outsourced to another firm)


We now have,

students to "administrators" of 9.2 (way down -- "too many administrators")

Faculty/admin = .96 (way down! "too many administrators!"

Admin share of employees = 109/254 = .43 (wow, WAY too many admins! It has DOUBLED)


You can see what has happened. The school's employment has shifted toward "support" and away from low-skilled clerical (computers have replaced them) and groundskeepers (outsourced). Is this "bad" or "bloat?" Wouldn't anyone want to know what is driving this before blathering about inefficiency? Would you want to know what is going on in other sectors of the economy? Hint: same thing is taking place.

And ... hahahaha, yes, I've now read the article!

Slightly OT, but why are so many IT staff required? Is software custom for every college?