Administration addresses growing bureaucracy

Author: Patrick Jobson

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and other administrators sought to emphasize their accessibility to students at a MiDDialogue panel about bureaucracy and administrative decision-making processes on March 11.

After a 40-minute discussion panel and question-and-answer session, all administration members told the audience that they believed they were being accessible to students and thought of Middlebury as not very bureaucratic. The common perspective was that every member of the administration or even faculty is ultimately there for the students and hence there is an intention not to create bureaucratic barriers between them. Nevertheless the administration recommended students to follow some particular approaches in order to be heard effectively.

"There are two ways for students to be heard at Middlebury," said Karen Guttentag, associate dean of the College, when asked what was the best way for students to be heard, "one is internally and the other externally."

The internal method is directly approaching the administration through the Community Council, Student Government Association or simply by communicating with an administration member. The external method relies on personal entrepreneurship and presumably not approaching the administration in order to be heard.

"It's always complicated because understandably the administration is always busy," said Adam Morgan '08.5, president of MiDDialogue, regarding getting in contact with the administration, "but they are very accessible and into the idea of communicating with students."

Members of the panel and students also felt that many times the role of the administration is misunderstood. After some discussion, all panelists agreed that hearing a student's proposal did not necessarily mean accepting it. Likewise, not all decisions are made by the entire administration.

"This is not a democracy," said Guttentag, about the most common misapprehended role of administration. "Some processes are not run in a democratic process." Liebowitz added that he was unable to be aware of every minor commons-related change.

"It's difficult for the administration to please everyone," said Richard Ellis '10.5, "and they realize that sometimes they make mistakes."

All panelists agreed that sometimes, due to time, role or pressure, there are some decisions that are not run in a democratic way and may even not be the best option. Nevertheless, they concurred that the administration seeks to make Middlebury a better place for every member of the community.

When asked about how he made decisions at Middlebury, Liebowitz answered that every decision he made reflected the "educational institution we are aspiring to be."

The administration was not only praised for being accessible but also for its openness to share information. "We are all more open than we might be perceived," said Liebowitz.

Patrick Norton, vice president for Administration and chief financial officer, openly explained many of the measures regarding financial aid, tuition and College spending. For instance, Norton talked about the $11 million investment on the construction of a biomass plant that would be a crucial contribution to Middlebury if it is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2016.

Even though most students agreed that the administration is accessible and open, some argued that there is still some space for improvement.

"The commons system and more dialogues between students still need improving," said Morgan. Some students also argued that a better understanding of how approaching faculty and greater cooperation between administration and students are still complicated issues.

"More dialogues like this should be made," said Morgan.