Is This Career Right for You?

Regardless of your current stage of career development, you should have the following attributes if you hope to one day become a university or college administrator:

 

• A keen interest in helping an academic institution run smoothly 

• Willing to work to build good relationships with colleagues, students, and subordinates

• Able to make important decisions and take a stand when necessary, instead of trying to make everyone happy

• A belief that providing quality education should come before seeking personal gains

• A collaborative rather than confrontation approach to problem solving

• Well organized and able to handle a large workload

• Punctual, well organized and able to coordinate work activities with others

 

 

Career Advancement

If you approach your work with dedication and you display competence, diverse career advancement opportunities will open up to you, such as:

 

• Raises in pay and compensation

• Moving into positions of greater responsibility (with higher pay)

• Becoming the head of your department 

• Becoming university or college general manager or president

• Moving into a more specialized role, or a more general role

• Moving into other sectors outside of education 

 

 

 

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Details of this Profession: Areas of Specialty

As a university or college administrator, you could potentially specialize in any of the following fields, all of which can be either centrally based or within faculties, departments or other smaller units:

 

 

Academic or Vocational Faculties: Nursing; law; arts; business; engineering; science; trades, etc.

 

Student Services/Affairs: Admissions, registrar; financial aid, counseling; career services; athletics administration, health services, etc.

 

Operations Administration: Quality assurance; data management; examinations; finance & accounting; marketing; human resources, etc.

 

 

General Job Description

Your responsibilities as a university or college administrator would vary based on your area of specialization and level of responsibility, as outlined below:

 

Operations Administration: If working in an operational area (such as accounting, HR or marketing), you would be responsible  for overseeing the work of staff, managing the budget and developing and implementing policy and quality standards.

 

Student Services: Specializing in student services would involve overseeing the creation, scheduling and assessment of nonacademic programs and services for students, such as financial aid, housing, and recreational activities. It would also involve overseeing the admissions and registration processes, including developing and implementing admissions and registration requirements.

 

Academics: As a senior academic administrator, you would oversee the development of curricula and academic policies. You would also participate in making faculty appointments and tenure decisions, and oversee the management of your department’s budget.

 

Please Note: These descriptions are meant to outline the role of senior administration staff. In entry-level positions, and other positions of lower responsibility, you would be responsible for the ‘hands-on’, direct implementation of programs, policies and procedures that senior staff develop.

 

 

Typical Job Duties

Your specific duties could vary based on your area of specialty. However, you could expect to be responsible for most the following functions in any administrator role:

 

• Working on committees including academic boards, governing bodies and task groups

• Assisting with recruitment, hiring and retention

• Administering the 'student lifecycle' from registration or admission to graduation or leaving

• Providing administrative support to an academic team of lecturers, tutors or teachers

• Drafting and interpreting regulations and dealing with queries and complaints

• Coordinating the examination and assessment processes

• Maintaining high levels of quality assurance (which may include course evaluation and course approval procedures)

• Using information systems and preparing reports and statistics for internal and external use

• Contributing to policy and planning

• Managing budgets and ensuring financial systems are followed

• Supervising other administrative staff (and possibly faculty)

• Liaising with other administrative staff, academic colleagues, teachers and students

 

 

Salary for University or College Administrator

The salary level you could earn as a university or college administrator can vary, typically depending on the following factors:

 

• Your professional qualifications (your level of relevant education, experience, etc.)

• The size and budget of your employer

• The region in which you work

• The scope of your job duties and functions

• The type of remuneration package you are offered (such as if you are entitled to bonuses, financial benefits, etc.) 

 

Salary in Canada: According to Service Canada, the average salary level of Canadians working in the Administrators - Post-Secondary Education and Vocational Training occupational group is $86,000 per year.

 

Salary in the United States: According to the United States Government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean salary level of Americans in the Postsecondary Education Administrators occupational group is $88,580 per year.