Metaphorical guidance: Administration as building and renovation

This essay, undergirded by the insights of Christopher Lasch, outlines the practicality of applying the metaphors of building and renovation to administration. This essay acknowledges the difficulty of applying such metaphors in an era where the importance of discovering meaning through institutional life is often dismissed. However, institutions are well‐served by administrators who function as “builders” and “renovators,” trying to leave something behind of value in their place of work. Institutions are constantly being created and re‐created, and it is the responsibility of the administrator to help “build” and “renovate” an institution capable of passing on ethical values, ideas and beliefs to the next generation of students, faculty and alumni.