Stronger Integration: Schools need to look externally

Student tuition dollars are being spent to support an overly large administrative bureaucracy.

That’s one of the reasons that CSB and SJU are moving from a “Coordinate Relationship” to a system of “Stronger Integration,” which will alter the way in which the institutions are legally intertwined. CSB/SJU will operate under a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) going forward, which means that the colleges will not be regarded as one institution, but two institutions with some shared business operations.

The chart pictured is the 2014 CSB Organizational Chart, more commonly known as the Org Chart. The Org Chart depicts levels of the administration and each person’s respective duties, and as you can see, it’s excessive and doesn’t even include the SJU-specific positions.

Let’s be clear about something: Stronger Integration is a step in the right direction. However, it doesn’t go nearly far enough, and in order for it to be effective, greater administrative transparency will be necessary.

Throughout this transition, we’ve been told that CSB/SJU is “charting our own path” and a pioneer among colleges and universities for this move. While I agree that the distinctive location factors and histories of CSB and SJU present a unique situation, there are also other colleges that have undergone similar actions. Another way of saying “charting our own path” is “flying blind,” and I believe that CSB/SJU would greatly benefit from consulting with one institution in particular: Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY.

Hobart and William Smith started out as two separate colleges: Hobart College, founded as a college for men in 1822, and William Smith College, founded as a college for women in 1906. From the founding of William Smith, the two shared the same faculty and facilities, but took classes separately. However, in 1922, the two colleges held their first joint commencement, eroding many of the strict separations that had existed previously. By 1943, William Smith was placed on equal footing as Hobart and the two institutions were fully merged.

Today, Hobart and William Smith Colleges is one entity, with an incredibly impressive operating system. The school has one academic curriculum, one faculty, one president and one board of trustees, but separate student governments, deans and athletic departments. They emphasize the separate traditions but promote a singular experience, echoing my opinion from last week.

Hopefully by now you can see the parallels.

Consulting heavily with another institution regarding significant campus decisions isn’t without precedent. When CSB/SJU made the switch to the block schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the faculty and administration had many conversations with people at Colorado College, which has been utilizing a block schedule since 1970.

Regardless, taking note of similar structures at other colleges and universities should not be seen as a weakness, but rather a strength that may provide clarity in the decision making process as the effects of Stronger Integration are still being realized.

This isn’t a call for CSB/SJU to become a carbon copy of Hobart and William Smith. I’m deeply appreciative of the elements of this community that make going to CSB/SJU different from any other school in the nation.

But it is a call for smart decision making. We need to recognize that we have more to gain from collaboration than we do from internalizing this entire process.

It’s also a call for greater transparency regarding the size and duties of the administration. Stronger Integration is intended to limit the excessively large administration, and its implementation should follow through with that intention. Students and faculty should be allowed to see the difference between the 2014 CSB Org Chart and the 2022 CSB/SJU Org Chart.

There are changes we can implement right now to improve the student experience and draw CSB/SJU closer together. Taking heed from Hobart and William Smith, joint graduation may be a good place to start.