03 Higher Education Reading Group
Hutchins, R. M. (1946). The administrator. The Journal of Higher Education, 17(8), 395-407.
Biographical Note
Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977) was a notable American educational philosopher and administrator, renowned for his tenure as the president and later chancellor of the University of Chicago from 1929 to 1951. Remarkably, Hutchins assumed the presidency at the young age of 30, making him one of the youngest presidents of a major American university in history. His tenure was marked by significant educational reforms and a profound influence on higher education philosophy, emphasizing liberal arts education and the Great Books program.
Observations from the reading group disscusion
The paper, albeit written in 1946, seems as though it could have been written today in terms of its relevancy to contemporary issues. It provides insight that issues relating to the administrative burden and bureaucratization of universities. Henceforth, these activites appear to be a chronic illness of the knowledge production craft.
He also makes the point that any administrator can always rationalize their specific plight as some supposed self-sacrifice for the greater good.
He points out that a good administrator needs to be in a constant state of resignation, by which he does not mean nihilism, but rather the willingness to say "f**k it" and hand in their resignation.
Another point that resonated was when he pointed out that nothing substantially new has been written on administrative affairs, or that someone had done some serious thinking on the subject since the time of Marcus Aurelius.
He mentions that the man who is needed in university administration is a man of principle. However, because the apparatus is the way that it is, it is always easier to find what he calls "officeholder" rather than people who are doing their job well.
He poignantly points out that dissipating responsibility is a specific pastime of most administrators, and while some are very prolific at it, it is not helping the institution or the university with its mission.
He points out that the task of an university administrators are impossible, in the sense that the contradicting demands, will always anger someone. henceforth, the art is to find out who can be angered, without any substantial adverse consquences.
He also maintains that the question of “time”, and its absence, cannot be solved, as in principle one could always invest just a little bit more time in perfecting one particular activity (at the expense of others).
He points out that an administrator task is not particular difficult or hard, what is involved is identifying the correct means to facilitate the desired ends, and for that task a administrator “must become a philosopher”.
