Who is the face of your department as far as students are concerned? The chances are it isn’t the Head of Department (even if they can say who s/he is) or their tutor (with whom meetings may be infrequent or irregular or both), but the Administrator. Administrators, involved as they are with students ‘from the cradle to the grave’ (open days, admissions, assessment, final examinations, graduation and references), are key figures in the student experience. In acknowledgement of this role, the English Subject Centre organised a ‘Networking Day’ for Administrators in London in early September. Sixteen administrators from a variety of institutions took a break from their start-ofyear rush to meet colleagues in similar roles and discuss common issues.
Several themes emerged from the day. From the round of introductions it was apparent that few administrators cover just English, but have a role in relation to several disciplines. Moreover, this discipline mix is in constant flux as a result of institutional reorganisation: most participants spoke of being about to experience, or having recently undergone, some sort of restructuring.
It was also clear that administrators are the conduit for information flowing in and out of the department, and therefore act both as ‘translators’ and managers of the tension communication may create. They make messages from the central administration palatable and comprehensible to academic colleagues and make central administration aware of circumstances and requirements in the department. They develop a complex network of contacts across estates, registry, personnel and finance departments in order to ‘get things done’ and smooth the passage of departmental initiatives. It often falls to the administrator to explain the complexities of the assessment regime to a disappointed student, and to have a box of tissues to hand when necessary.
Administrators are just as much at the ‘sharp end’ of dealing with the real-life outcomes of government, institutional and departmental policies as lecturers. This is especially the case in relation to increased student numbers, where administrators must try to find a lecture theatre that will accommodate the extra recruits without contravening safety regulations as well as coping with the individual requirements of those with a range of disabilities. Several participants voiced uncertainties about the level of discretion they exercised in theory compared to practice.
Administrators are often heavily involved in, if not responsible for, the content of departmental websites and virtual learning environments. The Networking Day included a presentation on websites highlighting good and bad design features and encouraging participants to consider the needs of different audiences: potential and current students, press, academics and others in Higher Education.
Feedback from the event suggested that participants enjoyed the opportunity to stand back and reflect on their role and discover that problems were not unique to them. One commented:
‘One of the biggest challenges for English administrators….is the challenge of potential isolation. Meeting….colleagues reinforced the sense that many fellow professionals are aware of the same issues and face very similar challenges.’ It is likely that the English Subject Centre will repeat the event next year.
