At our time here at Hamline, when someone mentions something about the administration, we often wonder what exactly they mean by “the administration.”

When we look at the problems of this University do we only blame it on “the administration”? Whom exactly do we students think are administrators? Anyone who works in Old Main? Anyone that has Director in their title? Or is it only the President?

Let’s start with who isn’t an administrator. We can pretty much count out all faculty as administrators because let’s face it they just don’t have as much pull as some of the other departments on campus. Yes, they have some say on things but when it comes down to making tough decisions it seems as if the faculty is always left out. If anything they are the most influential when it comes to affecting students in the classroom. Who else isn’t an administrator has got to be anyone who doesn’t work in Old Main. That would include Facilities, Information Technology, the Alumni House and even the Dean of Students. Somehow, though, we do believe they are administrators when we look closer. They have a significant amount of influence over us students. Most student groups have to work through Facilities to host an event. The Dean of Students’ office works closely with HUSC and Residential Life. IT impacts everyone’s life on campus. When the WiFi isn’t working, who do we blame? IT.

When it comes to who we believe are the true administrators, there is a very big list. First and foremost, the President’s office has to be considered part of “the administration.” The leader of our institution is the outermost face of what we as an institution believe in. Other people part of “the administration” would be the deans of each school. They hold significant sway over the culture of the university. Another part of “the administration” would be the Board of Trustees. They are the overseers of our entire institution and have most of the say on final decisions. We would also include Facilities, Finances and Information Technology to the list of administration because they all have influence on what, when and how projects are taken on at our university.

Now the list of administrators has seemed to get very big, and there could probably be more in the list but the line has to be drawn somewhere.

When it comes to who should be in administration, we can only look at one place: the students. We students should have the most influential voice to the entire administration. Currently, there is one place where our student voice cannot always be heard, and that is at the Board of Trustees.

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