Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Johnson, Marc A.

English

Research Papers in Economics

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THE  ROLE  OF  THE  UNIT  ADMINISTRATOR: 
ROLES,  POWERS,  AND  RESPONSIBILITIES 
MARC  A.  JOHNSON· 
JUNE  1991 
No.  91-21 
Q.epartment  of Agricultural Economics} 
~ansas State University THE  ROLE  OF  THE  UNIT  ADMINISTRATOR: 
ROLES,  POYERS,  AND  RESPONSIBILITIES 
HARC  A.  JOHNSON· 
JUNE  1991 
No.  91-21 
*Professor and  Head,  Department  of Agricultural Economics,  Kansas  State 
University,  Manhattan,  KS  66506. 
Department  of Agricultural  Economics 
Kansas  State University,  Manhattan,  Kansas  66506 
Publications  and public meetings  by  the  Department  of Agricultural 
Economics  are available  and  open  to  the  public regardless  of race, 
sex,  national origin,  handicap,  religion,  age,  sexual  orientation, 
or other non-merit  reasons. THE  ROLE  OF  THE  UNIT  ADMINISTRATOR: 
ROLES,  POYERS,  AND  RESPONSIBILITIES* 
Marc  A.  Johnson** 
First,  I  want  to assure you that your role as  a  unit administrator is 
vital in your organization.  Periodically,  I  have  experienced an identity 
crisis in which  I  ask  "What  have 1  done  this year?  What  difference  do  I 
make?"  Ye  have  a  very productive faculty who,  for  the most part,  run their 
own  shows.  It took service  on several  CSRS  review  teams  for  me  to  see what 
difference  a  unit head makes.  Two  of the  reviews  were  in departments  that had 
selected unit heads  just recently,  following  long periods with acting heads 
who  lacked a  long-term mandate  for action.  During  the  few  years without unit 
heads,  these  departments  experienced rapid declines  in productivity and 
reputation.  Unit heads  provide  the  focus  and  the  expectation to make  a  unit 
work.  Yithout  a  conductor,  an orchestra of fine musicians  cannot make  music. 
Today,  I  will address  responsibilities of a  unit head,  the  roles  they 
play  to  accomplish  these  responsibilities,  and  the  powers  at hand  to  carry out 
these  roles. 
Responsibilities 
Responsibilities broadly define  the  job description and  the performance 
criteria for  the unit leader.  The  overall responsibility is to provide 
taxpayers  a  high level of products  for their tax dollar.  Corporate  employees 
work  for stockholders,  cooperative  employees  work  for  the members,  and public 
*  Presented at the North Central Administrative Development Yorkshop, 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  June  26,_ 1991. 
** Professor and  Head,  Department of Agricultural Economics,  Kansas  State 
University,  Manhattan,  Kansas. 
1 servants work  for  taxpayers.  Anything your unit does  that does  not contribute 
to  the  taxpayers'  interests is counterproductive  and has  to be  internally 
justified. 
One  dimension of responsibility is  to produce  a  high volume  and quality 
of output  from  each departmental enterprise,  such as  research,  extension, 
teaching,  etc.  It is  important  to distinguish inputs  from  outputs.  Taxpayers 
don't care how  hard faculty work,  how  many  grant dollars  they receive,  or how 
many  meetings  they attend.  Those  aren't products.  Taxpayers  are concerned 
with how  many  students are  taught well,  how  much  useful  information is 
produced,  and how  many  useful  extension meetings  are held and bulletins are 
published. 
The  second dimension of responsibility is to assure  future  output by 
promoting  the professional  and personal  growth of the  people  in your units. 
Often,  we  let management  of operating money  dominate  our work,  because it is 
under  our  control.  But  in most  departments,  personnel  represents  over  80 
percent of expenses.  It is  important  to pay attention to  the productive 
potential of  the  people  in your  unit,  which represents  the greatest asset of 
an  academic  institution. 
The  third dimension of responsibility is tactical:  to accept everything 
that  goes  wrong  as  your challenge.  According  to Brian Tracy,  in his  tape 
series  on  the  Psychology of  A~hievement,  accepting responsibility for one's 
own  actions  is one  of the basic prerequisites for  achievement.  For  a  smoothly 
running unit,  you will listen for  problems,  accept  them  as  your  own,  and fix 
them. 
A reasonable set of evaluation criteria for unit heads  includes: 
a)  Does  the unit produce  a  high volume  and quality of relevant output?  b)  Are 
2 the unit's faculty  growing professionally?  c)  Is the unit operating smoothly 
with  few  complaints?  All of these must be carried out in an environment  that 
values  democratic  faculty governance  and tenure;  your  degrees  of freedom  to 
reward are  few.  That is,  you don't have  many  carrots and you can't use  a 
stick.  You  have  to rely on persuasion and  the  sense of professionalism among 
your  colleagues. 
Roles 
A unit head must play many  roles  to  accomplish  these responsibilities. 
Each  of you will be better at some  than others.  Max  DePree writes of the 
importance  of developing  intimacy with  a  job: 
"Being an effective department  supervisor on a 
manufacturing floor  is  fundamentally different  from 
giving seminars  about it...  Intimacy with  a  job  leads 
one  to understand that when  training people  to  do  a 
job,  one  needs  to  teach not  only  the skill of the  job 
but  the art of it as well.  And  the art of it always 
has  to  do  with  the personality of both the  operator 
and  the machine."  (p.  46) 
The  artistic part of the job appears  as  each of you adjust your 
management  styles to  a  unique  set of people,  history,  administrators,  and 
university/client relationships.  Within your  environment you will play at 
least nine  roles. 
Resource  Manager.  Your  primary role  is to manage  the resources  of your 
unit.  To  manage  effectively,  you need to know  what effective means.  This 
requires  a  clear set of objectives  about  the nature of your unit's outputs  and 
3 the professional development of your  faculty.  These  objectives  should be 
broadly accepted by your  faculty. 
Because unit heads  control operating dollars,  they typically spend an 
inordinate  amount  of time  fiddling with  them.  People  represent at least 80 
percent of the expenditures  in your units.  So  you should spend most of your 
time protecting,  nourishing,  and stimulating your people  resources.  Whenever 
you ask a  person to come  to a  meeting,  that person cannot produce  on hisfher 
other tasks while  in the meeting.  Meetings  can be productive,  but every 
meeting should have  a  purpose  and its own  criteria for  success;  the 
productivity loss  from  the  disruption should be justified by  an even greater 
gain. 
People  resources  must  be protected and  set free  to work  on  the  central 
objectives  of the unit.  This  may  mean protection from  demands  from  elsewhere, 
either on or off campus.  Remember,  for  the  most part,  universities  do  not 
. 
charge  directly for  services.  When  services  are free,  the  quantity of 
services  demanded  exceeds  the  quantity of services available.  Just think of 
how  you  treat orange  juice and water at breakfast.  You  order orange juice in 
small  glasses  and drink it all  -- you are paying dearly for it.  You  would 
order water even if you didn't intend to drink it -- its free.  Because 
universities don't price  individual services,  faculty  time  must be protected 
by your administrative  support. 
Management  economists  describe efficient multi-product management with 
an equi-margina1 rule.  Each  of your units has multiple products:  various 
classes,  research projects,  and extension products.  The  equi-margina1 
principle states that an operation is running efficiently when  another dollar 
or unit of time  devoted to  one  activity. produces  more  output of equal value 
4 than if those  resources were  devoted to  any other activity.  For if more 
resources  devoted to activity A would yield great gain and more  resources 
devoted to activity B would yield little gain,  resources  should be  taken  from 
B and applied to A;  total value of products would rise. 
These  are  the  trade-offs you make  daily as  a  resource manager.  A clear 
set of unit goals will identify the  types  of products  that have value.  A 
clear understanding of your unit will reveal how  small  amounts  of additional 
resources will affect total output.  A  good knowledge  of each  individual's 
capabilities will reveal how  to allocate resources  for professional 
development.  Resource  management  requires  a  broad view of what  is  going  on  in 
your unit and  an ability to visualize  the benefit-cost trade-offs  that occur 
when  resources  are  moved. 
Facilitator.  A facilitator is  a  middleman,  a  broker,  who  has  knowledge 
of resources  available  and markets  for  your products.  The  unit leader is  the 
only person in a  unit who  is being evaluated on whole-unit output.  Unit heads 
are most  likely to  know  what  everyone  is doing  and  to have  the most  frequent 
interactions with other heads  and clients.  So,  the unit head is in a  position 
to  identify individuals with  common  interests  and  identify opportunities  for 
developing  interdisciplinary activity.  As  a  facilitator,  the  ~nit head  draws 
resources  together and creates  teams  to address high-interest issues. 
Decision-maker.  All jobs of a  unit head require decision making,  but 
the unit head has  a  special role of stopping the  buck  on hisjher desk. 
Decisions  should be  made  in a  timely fashion  and be very crisp.  When  faculty 
members  need more  resources  to  take  an unforeseen opportunity,  a  quick yes  or 
no  answer  and  a  determination of amount  are required.  If ~hey cannot  get a 
quick decision,  they will be  locked up  in not knowing which way  to proceed. 
5 Slow  decisions create uncertainty,  and uncertainty is  a  roadblock to  faculty 
productivity. 
Challenger.  The  unit head's most productive role  is that of challenger. 
After knowing  the capabilities and  interests of one's faculty,  the unit head 
is responsible for setting the expectations of performance  for  the unit and 
for  each  individual and of professional development  for  each  individual. 
Expectations  of volume  and quality can lift the sights of individuals who  are 
unsure  of the  appropriate mix  and  level of output.  Expectations  of openness 
and participation lead the professional culture within a  unit.  Expectations 
are  the  types  of challenges  that tend to be met. 
However,  expectations  need  to be within reason.  Expectations  can  go 
beyond  the  interests of faculty members  and become  debilitating.  I  can  draw 
from  my  own  mistakes  as  an  example.  At  K-State,  we  have  a  young star who 
researches  and  teaches  superbly.  He  had  shown  so  much  talent and 
productivity,  that  I  suggested he  could set his sights on national 
agricultural economics  or  economics  journals.  After a  year under  this set of 
expectations,  he  produced  two  articles in a  national journal,  as  I  knew  he 
could.  During  our annual evaluation session,  he  said he was  going  to  apply 
for  a  position elsewhere,  because,  although he  had proven to both himself and 
me  that he  could produce national journal articles,  what  really interested him 
was  the  more  applied work  pu~lished in station bulletins and regional 
journals.  All of his work met  objectives of the  land grant mission,  and  I  was 
not about  to  lose  this kind of talent,  so  I  changed my  expectations  for  this 
individual to  support his  interests  in serving the  Kansas  taxpayers  in his 
most effective way. 
Critic.  Another  important role of a  unit head is to be  an effective 
6 critic.  First,  the unit needs  a  system of professional criticism,  such as 
faculty  and  graduate  student  seminars  and  a  paper  review system.  These 
systems  generate  forums  for  faculty to  show  their theses  and  to  defend  them, 
which  is the way  universities have  operated back to  the 13th century. 
A  good faculty evaluation system also is important as  a  structural way 
for  the unit head to critically evaluate  individual performance.  I  use  a 
modified management-by-objective  approach,  in which  a  faculty member  makes 
plans  for  the year and is evaluated against these plans.  A unit head is a 
good critic when  he/she  can discuss  weaker portions of a  faculty member's 
performance  in a  straightforward,  analytical manner  to  determine what  the 
problems  are  and  how  to  remedy  them.  These  are  sometimes  uncomfortable 
sessions,  but if kept  on  a  plane of helping  someone  succeed rather than 
judging the  individual's worth,  they really go  pretty well. 
Conflict Resolver.  The  least fun  in your  job will be  conflict 
management.  I've experienced students  complaining about  faculty performance, 
faculty accusing students of cheating,  farmer  demonstrations  against an 
extension faculty member,  faculty disagreements,  faculty-secretary disputes, 
secretary-secretary disputes,  and cases of racial discrimination  (in which  we 
were  found  innocent).  These conflicts often need  to be  resolv~d quickly and 
crisply;  sometimes it is best to let people  live with  a  conflict until it 
resolves  itself.  Whatever  the  appropriate  approach,  the rules of due  process 
work well,  i.e.,  the  accused has  a  right to know  who  has  accused  them of what, 
all parties have  a  right to provide  evidence,  decisions  are made  on  the 
evidence,  and  the losing party often has  an appeal process  to use. 
Cheerleader.  The  unit head also acts  as  a  cheerlead~r for his/her 
unit's faculty  and programs.  The  unit head is assumed  to be  knowledgeable 
7 about what  is good  and poor  in hisjher discipline.  The  unit head can serve  as 
a  third party who  can brag about  the  accomplishments  of individuals  to  the 
administration and to clientele.  You  must  be  careful  to maintain your 
credibility by being honest about weaknesses,  as well.  You  cannot tell your 
Dean  that a  person is a  star and  the next week  recommend  a  below average  pay 
raise. 
Politician.  As  a  politician,  your role  i~  to represent your unit across 
campus,  across  the state,  and across professional societies,  building a  case 
that your unit is worthwhile  and productive.  A reputation is actively earned. 
When  administrators,  clientele,  and other faculty have  a  good  feeling about 
the  contributions of your unit,  things  are more  likely to  come  your  way;  you 
will have  more  friends  in high places. 
Visionary.  A unit head also must  be  central in seeing a  vision for 
changing  future  objectives  for  the unit.  The  visionary  information is most 
likely to  come  from  faculty  and clients;  the unit head's role is  to  keep  open 
ears  and  an  open mind  and  to direct the whole unit toward marginal  change 
through  time. 
Powers 
Some  years  ago  on  the  CBS-TV  show  "Dallas",  Jock  Ewing  was  instructing 
Bobby  about how  to  run their ~i1 company.  Bobby  had complained that his 
father hadn't assigned him  any power,  and Jock shot back that  "you aren't 
given power,  you  take  it."  I  would paraphrase  that statement to  say,  you 
aren't given power,  you make  it.  As  a  unit leader,  you have  certain 
authorities  for  spending  from various  funds,  recommending  ~alaries and 
promotions,  and authorizing travel,  all meticulously overseen by  layers of 
8 control system above  you.  Most  of these powers  are quite  logical  and are 
explained to you in your first week  in office  (if you're lucky). 
Essentially,  however,  real power  comes  from  real leadership.  In my 
experience,  the  roots of leadership are  two:  a)  having and expressing good 
ideas  and b)  being willing to  take responsibility.  These  two  personal 
dimensions  seem  to quickly separate a  small  group  of leaders  from  followers. 
Then  the measure  of your  power  is the  freedom you are given to enact your 
agenda.  And  the degree of freedom  is determined by your strength of 
persuasion,  your unit's performance  and  reputation,  and your attention to 
internal  and external politics. 
Conclusion 
The  responsibility,  roles,  and powers  of unit heads  are quite varied. 
If you  like  a  job with  a  lot of variety and continuous  surprises,  you've  found 
a  good  one.  If you hold firm  to  a  few  principles;  keep  your orientation to 
output  and professional  growth;  and be  open,  honest,  and  straightforward,  you 
will be  successful  in the  job. 
9 References 
Depree,  Max.  Leadership  as  an Art.  (New  York:  Doubleday,  1989). 
Tracy,  Brian.  The  Psychology of Achievement.  (Chicago:  Nightingale-Conant 
Corp.,  1987). 
10 THE  ROLE  OF  THE  UNIT  ADMINISTRATOR 
Questions 
1.  List the  outputs  of an  academic  or service unit in a  College  of 
Agriculture.  How  do  you measure  quality of the outputs? 
2.  What  role should a  professional development plan hold in the  program 
plan of a  f aculty member?  What  constitutes a  good professional 
development plan? 
3.  If you were  told that your  total unit budget would be  reduced 
permanently by  5  percent in each of the next  3  years,  how  would you 
determine  what  personnel  and  programs  to  remove? 
4.  What  are  the  corporate expectations  you have  delivered to your unit? 
How  did you deliver these  expectations? 
5.  How  do  you  determine  the nature  and level of expectations  for  each 
individual  in your unit?  How  are salary and other awards  distributed? 
6.  Describe  a  complete  system of professional criticism in an agricultural 
unit.  How  close is your unit to  the  ideal? 
7.  From  whom  or  from where  does  a  unit get its V1S10n  to set long-term 
goals?  Describe  a  mechanism  to maintain a  degree  of focus  on  a  dynamic 
long-term vision. 
8.  List individuals  and  groups  you should stay in contact with  concerning 
your unit's activities,  performance,  and needs.  What  is the most 
effective method of contact with each? 
11 

Describe a complete system of professional criticism in an agricultural unit. How close is your unit to the ideal?

From whom or from where does a unit get its V1S10n to set long-term goals? Describe a mechanism to maintain a degree of focus on a dynamic long-term vision.

How do you determine the nature and level of expectations for each individual in your unit? How are salary and other awards distributed?

If you were told that your total unit budget would be reduced permanently by 5 percent in each of the next 3 years, how would you determine what personnel and programs to remove?

Leadership as an Art.

List individuals and groups you should stay in contact with concerning your unit's activities, performance, and needs. What is the most effective method of contact with each?

List the outputs of an academic or service unit in a College of Agriculture. How do you measure quality of the outputs?

What are the corporate expectations you have delivered to your unit? How did you deliver these expectations?

What role should a professional development plan hold in the program plan of a f aculty member? What constitutes a good professional development plan?

The Role of the Unit Administrator: Roles, Powers, and Responsibilities

The Role of the Unit Administrator: Roles, Powers, and Responsibilities

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