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It highlights the rapid growth of academic administrators relative to tenure-track faculty and the erosion of faculty influence in governance. Evidence is used to show detrimental effects on teachers and students, including controversies over staffing decisions, adjunct treatment, and the rise of profit-oriented management. The analysis argues for policy interventions to restore balance.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-parlous-state-of-academia-when-politics-prestige-and-proxies-overtake-higher-educations-teaching-mission/594562/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-parlous-state-of-academia-when-politics-prestige-and-proxies-overtake-higher-educations-teaching-mission/594562.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Aldword","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-25","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What imbalance does the paper identify between research and teaching in higher education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The paper argues that emphasis on the research mission of major institutions dwarfs the teaching mission, harming both teachers and students.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the paper explain the changing composition of university leadership?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It reports that the number of academic administrators has risen dramatically over decades, while growth in tenure-track faculty has been modest, changing how universities operate.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What consequences does the paper discuss for academic staff and students?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It describes governance erosion, disputes over curriculum authority, and situations where tenured academics were fired after criticizing cuts; it also points to factors like adjunct labor use and increasing student debt.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},594562,1792919754,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":52},2336478940917,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W  \nThe parlous state of academia  \nWhen politics, prestige and proxies overtake higher education’s teaching mission  \nViviane Callier  \nThe Ronin Institute, New Jersey  \nRichard H Singiser  \nClayton State University, Georgia  \nNathan LVanderford University of Kentucky  \nOriginal and significant research benefits the careers of those running universities and brings prestige to their institution. World class teaching, by and large, does not, and this has important consequences for higher education’s tripartite mission. Most notably, emphasis on the research mission of major higher education institutions dwarfs that of the teaching mission and this is to the detriment of teachers and students. Policy interventions are needed to address this discrepancy.  \nKeywords: higher education, administration, research mission, teaching mission, policy intervention  \nIt is no secret that in the last several decades, the numbers of those running universities (referred to here as‘academic administrators’) have increased dramatically whereas the growth in the number of tenure track academics (‘faculty’in US parlance) has been only modest, and the trend is projected to continue (Occupational Outlook Handbook, Postsecondary Administrators, 2014-2015) . For the purposes of this paper,‘academic administrators’ include occupants of positions with titles such as president, vice-chancellor, provost, deputy vice-chancellor and pro-vice-chancellor, dean and perhaps a few other titles. Indeed, between 1993 and 2007, the number of full-time academic administrators per 100 students at American research universities grew by 39 per cent, whereas the number of employees engaged in teaching, research  \nor service per 100 students only grew by 18 per cent (Goldwater Institute, 2010).To take an extreme example, during this period, at Arizona State University, the number of academic administrators per 100 students increased by 94 per cent whereas the number of employees engaged in teaching, research and service per student actually decreased by two per cent (Goldwater Institute, 2010) . This trend transforms how universities operate in a way that has a negative impact on the teaching mission of higher education.  \nDetriment to tenure track academic staff  \nAlthough universities were, historically, self-governing bodies where tenured academics played a principal role  \nvol. 57, no. 1, 2015 The parlous state of academia Viviane Callier et al. 13  \nA U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W  \nin the university governance, academics’ governance has been eroded (Ginsberg, 2011; Rojstaczer, 1999; Executive Committee of the UM Chapter of AAUP, 2014). University governance has become a specialised niche of academic administrators. To counter this trend, protests have occurred recently on several campuses, most prominently at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Inside Higher Ed. , 2014), to fight for better pay and reclaim authority on issues such as curriculum development.  \nThe excessive power of high-level administration was apparent when, recently on several campuses, deans and tenured academics were fired for speaking out and criticising budget cuts that would jeopardise  \nsimilarly precarious contracts) . Despite the fact that such personnel are frequently overworked, underpaid, and do not have access to institutional resources (including office space) (Allen, 2013; Hall, 2014; Schuman, 2014b), a recent study found that students’ learning is actually enhanced when the course instructor is an adjunct versus a tenure track teaching staff member (Figlio, Schapiro, & Soter, 2013). Why not, then, grant exemplary contingent academics the benefit of being able to obtain tenure too? As argued previously, universities could create specific career tracks for research and teaching (Grant, 2014), and recognise the contributions of good teachers as much as those of innovative researchers.The current syste","cbCairU4F88PRgie","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairU4F88PRgie","pdf",99584,"English","# The parlous state of academia\n## Politics, prestige and the teaching mission\n## Growth of administrators vs faculty\n## Erosion of faculty governance and protests\n## Consequences for tenure-track and adjunct staff\n## Profit orientation and student impacts","[{\"question\":\"What imbalance does the paper identify between research and teaching in higher education?\",\"answer\":\"The paper argues that emphasis on the research mission of major institutions dwarfs the teaching mission, harming both teachers and students.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper explain the changing composition of university leadership?\",\"answer\":\"It reports that the number of academic administrators has risen dramatically over decades, while growth in tenure-track faculty has been modest, changing how universities operate.\"},{\"question\":\"What consequences does the paper discuss for academic staff and students?\",\"answer\":\"It describes governance erosion, disputes over curriculum authority, and situations where tenured academics were fired after criticizing cuts; it also points to factors like adjunct labor use and increasing student debt.\"}]","The parlous state of academia - When politics, prestige and proxies overtake higher education’s teaching mission | PDF",1792079391]