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Navigating Power in Higher Education and the Dual Faces of Authority
by Dr. Benjamin M. Drury
People rise to positions of power within higher education, and something happens to them…each is faced with a decision with how they will use it.
Will they use their new power for public gain or personal gain. I have seen both kinds, and I am also beginning to witness an increase in the population of administrators entering the field for the latter.
A few months ago, I was at a new faculty orientation. Part of the programming involved, what else, an icebreaker — the perennial favorite of any educator seeking to warm a room of new contestants on the Price is Right of education.
We were asked why we teach. My answer…for the money. Why? Because it is funny. Why is it funny? Because any self-respecting educator is well-aware that the very last reason anyone enters the field of education is for the money.
In reality, top-level administrators are earning substantially more money than even tenured faculty members on campus.
Colleges and universities are a different story, compared to public schools and even many…
