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Activity at universities falls into 3 broad categories \u2013 teaching, research & administration. They are not equivalent. Teaching & research are core activities. Everything else serves to support these primary goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some administrative work is obviously necessary. This includes student support, counselling services, IT services, the disability centre, librarians, research office support and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some administrators (or professional service staff<\/em>) are amongst most mistreated in universities. They are sometimes victims of serious bullying by both academics and senior administrators. Some are also paid poorly, have limited job satisfaction and restricted career prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, professional services staff is an extremely broad category, both in terms of wages & power. The category includes some people who are paid extremely well, far better than almost all the academics. It includes some of the most powerful people in a university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plot is the headcount of jobs at Cambridge University, as supplied following a Freedom of Information request by the 21 Group. It shows academic versus administrative posts over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To be specific, it shows in red the number of (established and unestablished) academic posts and in blue the number of (established and unestablished) non-academic posts. The data have some limitations. Not included are (i) almost all research staff who have fixed-term contracts, (ii) any administrators, IT personnel, cleaners, caterers and staff employed by the Temporary Employment Service (TES), (iii) any adjunct staff employed on hourly rates of pay to do teaching, laboratory demonstration, lecturing or examining and (iv) any staff employed solely by the Colleges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, we are mainly interested in trends over time. There were once more academics than administrators. In 2013, academics and administrators reached parity. By 2024, administrative positions outnumbered academic by about 3 to 2. If trends continue, the ratio will be 2 to 1 by 2028. The numbers of administrators are not just increasing, they are accelerating (the gradient is increasing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cambridge University is very typical. Any trawl through jobs being advertised by UK Universities shows how very few academic positions there are, and how many administrators are still being sought. Some of the administrative jobs use language like \u201c… run complex cross-functional projects … engage with stakeholders … foster a culture of continuous improvement … reimagining professional services<\/em>\u201d. It is not even clear what such individuals are being employed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I was lucky to be appointed a lecturer in 1995 at a Russell Group university. My smallish department then had 14 faculty & 9 administrative staff. I am retiring in weeks. My department now has 15 faculty & 33 administrative staff, now called professional services staf<\/em>f”. (Email Received by 21 Group)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s often said that the increasing regulatory framework in which universities now operate has necessitated a big expansion in professional services staff. There is some truth in this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Less often acknowledged is that the same regulatory framework has increased the load on academics as well. Strategic committees on research, TEF and REF planning, SRDs, curriculum reviews, grant application assessments and risk assessments all require input, time or data from academics. Yet numbers of academics have been at best static (and will now likely decrease).<\/p>\n\n\n\n More administrators inevitably make more work for academics. In fact, an academic’s main jobs in universities now often seem to be to complete mandatory training courses, to answer emails & attend Teams meetings and to generate grant income that supports the cadre of administrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I have my own theory about why decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft. The company does a great job, innovates, and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field. And then the quality of the product becomes less important. The company starts valuing the great salesman, because they\u2019re the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the sales people end up running the company.” (Steve Jobs)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The next few years for UK higher education are looking like the failure years for Apple, IBM or Microsoft. The core functions are being neglected. Most academics remain passionate about their research & enjoy their teaching, but the focus of activity has moved elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Institutes with the smallest administration are often the most vital, reactive and productive. At the other extreme, administration can grow to the point where it considers itself better able to direct and manage the work than those doing it. The culture becomes one of meetings, position papers, strategy analyses, and consultancy reports. Everyone is very busy and important. This is the stage universities have now reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bottom line is, the more money spent on administrative support, the less money there is for the core activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Activity at universities falls into 3 broad categories \u2013 teaching, research & administration. They are not equivalent. Teaching & research are core activities. Everything else serves to support these primary goals. Some administrative work is obviously necessary. 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