Today I do think there's an argument that about administrative growth that is legitimate, but it still takes getting real about what exactly we think is the growth we don't support. I think for me that's two things: excessive centralization of authority that has led to taller hierarchies in several key areas (and when you make the hierarchy longer, it isn't long before each tier of the hierarchy demands horizontal growth) and the overgrowth of residential life staffing that is a result of stepping back into in loco parentis and needing to monitor student life in ever-increasing detail. But paring back from both takes more than just losing positions--it takes a big conceptual shift that runs hard against wider trends.
Yeah, this is exactly right--I was thinking along these lines in 2014 when I responded these kinds of critiques. https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2014/01/31/whos-the-boss/
Today I do think there's an argument that about administrative growth that is legitimate, but it still takes getting real about what exactly we think is the growth we don't support. I think for me that's two things: excessive centralization of authority that has led to taller hierarchies in several key areas (and when you make the hierarchy longer, it isn't long before each tier of the hierarchy demands horizontal growth) and the overgrowth of residential life staffing that is a result of stepping back into in loco parentis and needing to monitor student life in ever-increasing detail. But paring back from both takes more than just losing positions--it takes a big conceptual shift that runs hard against wider trends.