What is an Academic Administrator?
Academic Administrators oversee the daily operation of colleges and universities. They may be given more specific responsibilities, such as admissions, or they may handle a variety of different tasks.
For example, the dean of students handles admissions, financial aid, career services and other departments utilized by students enrolled at the college or university. The chief academic officer creates academic programs and policies, manages budgets and makes faculty decisions. The department head is responsible solely for the department of their discipline, hiring and managing faculty, composing course schedules and teaching assignments, and dealing with the budget.
Other duties undertaken by different academic administrators include overseeing research, fundraising, campus technology, campus maintenance, and campus safety and security. Each position, regardless of its scope of duties, requires excellent communication skills, as academic administrators work with a variety of individuals with different responsibilities. When change is needed, the faculty turns to academic administrators to facilitate it.
How to Become an Academic Administrator
Typically, academic administrators begin their careers in higher education as professors after attaining a master’s or doctoral degree in their desired field. During their time on the job, they gain the skills and experience needed to assume leadership positions. They may also take graduate-level courses such as educational leadership, higher education administration and school finance.
Those courses may be offered as part of a graduate degree in higher education administration, which features comprehensive instruction from current and former administrators. Some positions, particularly those in admissions, require a graduate degree in counseling. Academic administrators who plan to oversee financial matters should take courses in statistics and accounting before they handle such matters.
Once they enter their desired position, their education doesn’t stop. They usually seek additional courses and training during their career in order to stay abreast of new national guidelines and widely used strategies. Ultimately, they’ll be looked upon to maintain the viability of their departments or institutions through the changing times.
Academic Administrator Career Outlook & Salary
Employment for all education administrators, from preschools to universities, is expected to grow about as fast as the national average of all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There will be even more demand for academic administrators at postsecondary institutions, where growing enrollments have resulted in more complex systems of operation. It will be the duty of academic administrators to efficiently run the institutions and keep them performing to standard. Also, the retirement of older academic administrators will result in more openings.
Due to the depth of their responsibilities and the overall importance of their positions, academic administrators receive excellent compensation. Their mean annual income is $95,340, and the highest 25% averaging $115,980 per year. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources reported that in 2008-2009, chief academic officers and chief developmental officers received the highest salaries of selected administrators, earning $158,000 and $141,712 respectively.
