Counting Vice Presidents Misses the Point (opinion)

"I've spent much of my career working as a college administrator. I've held senior roles, carried expansive portfolios, and had titles that critics of higher education increasingly cite as evidence of "administrative bloat." I understand why those titles and the organizational charts behind them can feel alienating to faculty. They can reinforce an unhealthy sense of "us versus them" on campus."

"But after years inside those roles, I've come to believe that title inflation is not the core problem it's often made out to be. It's visible. It's frustrating. And it's easy to blame. However, focusing solely on titles risks mistaking a symptom for the disease, and in the process, leaving the real cause of administrative overload unexamined. That's why Austin Sarat's recent Inside Higher Ed essay asking, "How Many Vice Presidents Does a College Need? " resonated with me, even as I think it ultimately misdiagnoses the challenge. Sarat is right to be uneasy about what he calls the "vice presidentialization" of higher education. Titles matter. Hierarchies matter."

"But the growth of administrative titles is not what is hollowing out institutional capacity or widening the divide between faculty and administrators. It is what happens when leadership repeatedly avoids the more challenging work of setting priorities and enforcing limits."

Senior administrative experience shows titles and organizational charts can alienate faculty and create an "us versus them" dynamic. Title inflation is visible and frustrating, but it is not the fundamental problem. Overemphasis on titles risks treating a symptom as the disease and lets deeper causes of administrative overload go unexamined. The proliferation of vice presidents and expanding hierarchies merit scrutiny because titles and hierarchies shape institutional functioning. Many administrative roles—retention, financial aid, student support, compliance, and data—are essential and improve student success. The core problem emerges from how roles proliferate and responsibilities expand after creation.

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