Leadership in higher education refers to the work of administrators, deans and academic leaders who design the systems, policies and supports that allow faculty to teach and students to learn. It spans college administration, learner support, accreditation, faculty development and stewardship of the academic mission.
By: Barbara Sunderman, EdD, Assistant Dean, Education, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Reading Time: 9 minutes
When people think about universities, they often picture classrooms filled with discussion, faculty guiding students through new ideas and libraries or digital platforms that make scholarship accessible.
What is less visible is the network of educational leaders working behind the scenes to ensure that these learning environments function effectively.
College administrators ensure that the human relationships at the heart of education remain strong. Their work connects academic priorities with operational structures so that faculty can focus on teaching and scholarship and students can focus on learning.
In many ways, higher education administration is an act of stewardship. Educational leaders work to ensure that institutions remain responsive to students, supportive of faculty and aligned with their academic mission.
Over the course of my career, I have worked in institutions that were small and deeply relational, as well as large systems serving learners across the country through online and hybrid models. While these environments may look different, the purpose of administration remains remarkably consistent: creating the conditions where teaching and learning can flourish.
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Education is relational work rooted in meaningful human connection.
My perspective on higher education leadership is grounded in nearly four decades spent studying, practicing and leading in the work of learning itself. My career began in public education and eventually expanded into higher education leadership and accreditation work across the P–20 continuum.
Across these experiences, I have remained deeply curious about how people learn and how educational environments can cultivate curiosity, creativity and inquiry. Whether learning takes place in a physical classroom or in a digital environment, the essence of education remains the same. At its core, education is relational work rooted in meaningful human connection.
Strong learning environments meet students where they are and guide them toward new levels of understanding and capability. In online universities such as Capella University, this relational work occurs through intentional faculty presence, thoughtful feedback, collaborative learning spaces and structures that support learners who are balancing education with careers and family responsibilities. The platform may be digital, but the work remains profoundly human.
Much of my professional life has focused on designing environments that foster both intellectual rigor and a genuine sense of belonging.
When learners feel seen, supported and challenged, they are far more willing to engage deeply with new ideas. Online institutions must therefore build systems that intentionally foster engagement so that students are not learning alone but as part of a community of inquiry.
My thinking about education is strongly influenced by philosopher and educator John Dewey, who argued that education is essential to the vitality of a democratic society. Dewey believed that democracy depends on citizens who can think critically, communicate clearly and collaborate effectively. Access to education, therefore, is not simply a personal opportunity but a societal responsibility.
Contemporary online universities extend this democratic vision by expanding access to learners who may otherwise be constrained by geography, professional obligations or family responsibilities.
Throughout my career, I have tried to keep that philosophy at the center of decision-making. Leadership in education is not about visibility or recognition. It is about supporting people, strengthening institutions and protecting the academic mission.
My leadership philosophy has also been shaped by thinkers such as Mahatma Gandhi and Brené Brown. Gandhi emphasized moral leadership and service, reminding us that leadership ultimately carries responsibility to others. Brown highlights the importance of courage, authenticity and empathy when leading people through complexity and change.
Together, these perspectives reinforce a leadership approach grounded in service, ethical responsibility and relational trust.
For me, this translates into a commitment to servant leadership. In education, leadership is not about authority or position. It is about stewardship of a learning community.
The responsibility of leaders is to remove barriers, strengthen systems and create environments where faculty, staff and learners can thrive. When leaders center the mission rather than themselves, they help institutions build cultures of collaboration, innovation and trust.
In education, the work must always come back to teaching and learning. If our systems and decisions are not supporting that mission, it is worth pausing and asking what needs to change.
Because my career began in P–12 education, I have had the opportunity to see educational systems from multiple vantage points. I have worked with colleagues and organizations at the state, regional and national levels and participated in accreditation processes that span the entire P–20 continuum.
Across this spectrum, educational leaders share a common purpose: supporting learning.
In P–12 schools, leaders help create environments where students develop foundational knowledge and skills. In higher education, leaders design programs and systems that prepare students for professional practice, advanced scholarship and civic engagement.
Surrounding these roles are professionals in areas such as student services, instructional design, institutional research, technology, policy development and organizational leadership. Together, these fields form the ecosystem that allows education to function effectively.
Education systems involve many stakeholders with different perspectives and responsibilities. Navigating those perspectives requires thoughtful collaboration, clear communication and a commitment to shared goals.
While leadership philosophy matters, the day-to-day work of administration is also practical.
College administrators coordinate the systems that allow institutions to function effectively. Their work may include supporting admissions and enrollment processes, coordinating academic programs, overseeing student services, managing academic records, supporting faculty processes or ensuring that institutions meet regulatory and accreditation standards.
Administrators also help design and maintain the policies and systems that guide students throughout their educational journey. Advising structures, program pathways, academic policies and student support services all help ensure that learners can navigate their educational experience successfully.
When these systems function well, faculty can focus on teaching and scholarship and students can focus on learning.
One of the strengths of higher education administration is the variety of professional backgrounds that contribute to the work.
While my own career began in P–12 education, many administrators come from fields such as business, counseling, psychology, technology, public policy, finance and organizational leadership.
Each of these backgrounds contributes valuable skills. Professionals with operational experience often bring expertise in project management and systems design. Those with counseling or psychology backgrounds often bring a deep understanding of student development and communication. Technology and data professionals strengthen institutional decision-making through analytics and information systems.
What matters most is not where someone begins but whether they are committed to supporting teaching and learning.
Over the years, colleagues have sometimes asked about my approach to leadership challenges. My answer is usually the same: address what is in front of you, then ask why it happened.
First, address the problem directly in front of you so that students, faculty or staff are not left without support at the moment. Educational institutions move quickly and many challenges require immediate attention.
Second, step back and ask a broader question: What allowed this issue to occur in the first place? Often the problem we see is not isolated. It may reflect a gap in communication, a policy that is unclear, a process that has become outdated or systems that no longer align well across departments. When that happens, the work of leadership shifts from solving a single problem to strengthening the system itself.
In practice, this can involve bringing together colleagues from multiple areas of the institution to examine how a process actually works from beginning to end. It may mean reviewing data to identify patterns in student questions or delays in administrative processes. At other times, it requires clarifying policies, simplifying procedures or redesigning workflows so that responsibilities are more transparent and consistent across offices.
For example, what might initially appear as a single advising concern could reveal a larger issue with how program requirements are communicated. A registration delay might highlight the need for clearer coordination between academic departments and registrar processes. Addressing those underlying structures helps prevent the same challenges from resurfacing semester after semester.
This systems perspective allows institutions to move beyond short-term fixes toward long-term improvement. It encourages leaders to look for patterns, strengthen communication across departments and create processes that support both efficiency and clarity.
Ultimately, systems thinking in education is about ensuring that the structures surrounding teaching and learning truly support the people doing the work. When institutions continuously refine their systems, they create environments where faculty can focus on scholarship, students can focus on learning and the entire community benefits from clearer, stronger processes.
Higher education administration is ultimately about stewardship. It is about protecting the academic mission of the institution while ensuring that systems evolve in ways that support learners and educators alike.
While faculty lead teaching and scholarship, administrators help build the structures that allow those activities to flourish. From supporting program development to strengthening student services and faculty growth, administrators play a central role in shaping the learning environment that surrounds academic work.
When institutions remain grounded in their mission and attentive to the people who carry the work forward, teaching and learning can flourish. That, ultimately, is the purpose of educational leadership.
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Dr. Barbara Sunderman is an educational leader with nearly four decades of experience across public education and higher education. Her work focuses on accreditation, academic leadership and strengthening institutional systems that support teaching and learning. Grounded in servant leadership, her approach emphasizes relational understanding, collaborative problem solving and the central role of students in educational decision-making. She is committed to helping institutions cultivate learning communities where faculty, staff and students engage in meaningful inquiry, shared responsibility and continuous improvement.
Online higher education administration relies heavily on digital systems, virtual support and intentional connection. Leaders must help create clear pathways for students who may be balancing coursework with work, family and other responsibilities while still protecting academic quality and meaningful engagement.
Servant leadership in higher education means leading with a focus on the learning community rather than personal authority. College administrators who use this approach work to remove barriers, strengthen systems and create conditions where students, faculty and staff can do their best work.
College administrators support faculty and students by building systems that make teaching and learning easier to navigate. This can include academic policies, advising structures, student services, faculty processes, technology support and communication across departments so people can focus on learning, teaching and scholarship.
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