Who's Who in College: Important Roles in Administration

There are a lot of people working behind the scenes at colleges, from provosts to deans and more. Learn about the key roles you can find on every campus here!

College campuses are huge networks with a lot of people working behind the scenes. Even though you'll probably never meet most of these people, it's important to know about them since they make big decisions that affect your college community. This guide can help you keep track of the big men and women on campus who keep institutions across the country running smoothly. The following are the typical key players you may hear about at your school or in the news, starting at the top. 

College president

This is the most obvious position, but the president is, in the simplest terms, the leader of the entire institution. The president of a college is the equivalent to the CEO of a company, so their role is to lead the overall strategic planning for and sustained performance of an institution. In other countries, this position is called the chancellor, but sometimes when there are several campuses within a university system, the leader of each campus is called the chancellor, who reports to a president of the overall university.

Related: Strong Women Leading the Higher Education Industry 

Provost

A provost is, in essence, the vice president of a university. Most often, this position is considered to be the senior academic administrator in charge of curricular and research tasks. The provost may sometimes act as president during a vacancy, such as the time between a president leaving and a new one being hired. Almost always, provosts are selected from tenured faculty (see “Faculty” below). Provost is similar to chancellor in that it may refer to the title of the leader at a particular branch campus within a university system. Some other titles used for this same position include chief academic officer or vice president for academic affairs. Titles such as assistant provost, associate provost, vice provost, or deputy provost will report to and work directly with this position.

Dean

The dean is an administrator who leads a particular academic unit, such as a department or college within a university (for example, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Maine.) Deans of individual colleges often report to either the president or the provost of a school. The role of the dean often includes leading the faculty of the particular department/school, fundraising, setting academic policies, etc. It isn’t rare for a dean to also be a professor in the department. In addition, there is often a dean of students or dean of faculty who serve as the “voice” representing those parties in day-to-day administration.

Related: Spotlight on 4 AAPI Professionals Making an Impact on Higher Education 

Board of trustees

Okay, so these people are a little confusing. A board of trustees is a corporate body that has complete responsibility for the government and welfare of a university. The board is made up of advisors who, in almost all cases, don’t hold any positions at the school itself (this, of course, doesn’t include key constituents such as the university president, and occasionally deans and faculty). The board will often include well-known alumni and state politicians, especially for state schools. This group—which ranges in size depending on school population, public or private affiliation, etc.—does such duties as selecting the president, determining major goals of the university, approving policies and procedures, reviewing the budget, and other related tasks.

Faculty

As you may know, faculty refers to the body of professors that teaches courses to students. However, there are several different levels of faculty members:

  • Adjunct professors work part-time and will often be hired on a contractual basis. These professors don’t generally have research responsibilities and are hired based on the demand of a particular course. (Sometimes if there aren’t enough students enrolled in a class, it will be canceled.)
  • Tenured faculty members are full-time professors who have a contractual right not to have their positions terminated unless there’s just cause. Tenured faculty members often conduct research in addition to teaching courses, and most (if not all) tenured professors have had books published. There’s often criticism of tenured faculty, since these professors can be lackluster, overly focused on research, and sometimes “troublemakers” (remember, they can’t be fired unless there’s just cause—so who wouldn’t go hog-wild?).
  • Teaching assistants (aka TAs) are graduate or PhD students that many universities have leading undergraduate courses. TAs often teach those courses as part of a compensation package to help pay for their advanced degree program.

Related: Spotlight on Black Faculty at Colleges and Universities

So there are the president, provosts, deans, board of trustees, faculty members…and then there’s you, the students—arguably the most important people on campus! Everyone in an administrative position is there to make sure you have the best experience at your school, so don’t be afraid to chat with them if you ever get the chance. They wouldn’t be there without the students who make up their university communities, so be sure to ask questions about class or campus policies that you care about.

Find and connect with your future campus community by checking out all our featured colleges and universities.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

About Catherine Seraphin

Catherine Seraphin

Catherine Seraphin is a Multimedia Project Manager at Harvard University and a former Assistant Editor/Online Specialist for CollegeXpress. Catherine graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism, a minor in English, and course concentrations in Business. She was previously an in-depth arts reporter for Penn State’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Collegian, and interned as a features reporter at a paper based in Southern Massachusetts. Catherine previously had a full-year internship with a well-known higher education PR firm. Her favorite experiences during college include her two years as a resident assistant and her involvement in THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. There, she was on the PR committee that helped THON become the third-most tweeted topic worldwide. When she isn’t working, you can find Catherine shopping, reading, or running.

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

University of Akron

Akron, OH


Kelly Nogueiro

Kelly Nogueiro

Counselor

For me, CollegeXpress has given me a valuable tool to use with my students to explore colleges easily beyond objective data. It helps me find colleges for students that fit their needs and wants that aren’t quite so black and white. It's a wealth of knowledge, and the Type-A side of me loves all the lists and the fact that I know they're coming from folks who know what they're talking about. I share it with colleagues and students alike, and it's always well received.

Maliha

Maliha

High School Class of 2019

My college search began at CollegeXpress. Due to this helpful tool, I was able to gather a lot of information to guide my college planning decisions. Through CollegeXpress, I was also able to apply to several scholarships to help pay for my tuition. I would definitely recommend this website to anyone who wants to explore colleges and get more information from admission experts, counselors, and real students.

Emilie Delgado

Emilie Delgado

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2013

CollegeXpress has tremendously helped me in my search for financial aid opportunities as I enter my college career. It is easy to navigate and quickly narrowed down scholarships that I could apply for. Being awarded the scholarship will greatly help me in my finances regarding books and tuition. Thank you for this opportunity. Without CollegeXpress, it would have been more difficult to apply. I would recommend this site to everyone!

Brooke Maggio

Brooke Maggio

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me tremendously in my college search in narrowing down the schools I’m interested in. Using the college search tool, I was able to narrow down my choices to schools that matched what I was looking for. I also used CollegeXpress for their scholarship search, which helped me find scholarships that I meet the requirements of.

Joycelyn

Joycelyn

High School Class of 2023

I’m currently a college freshman attending Towson University. My major is Information Technology, and I plan to minor in Electronic Media & Film to achieve my goal of becoming a production engineer. Upon graduating high school earlier this year, I was awarded a $5,000 scholarship from CollegeXpress, which greatly assisted in paying my tuition. Truthfully, this financial reward was the difference in affording my room and board and tuition, along with other expenses for school. My family and I haven’t stopped celebrating my award since it was bestowed on me. I will never forget this opportunity for allowing me to get my foot into my university financially.