Our Teaching’s Great, The Admin Sucks: Tales From Inside Higher Education

Our Teaching’s Great, The Admin Sucks: Tales From Inside Higher Education is an often wryly amusing, occasionally exasperated rant about the inner workings of the ivory towers of higher ed by Ben Richards. Released 17th Aug 2023 by Troubadour on their Matador imprint, it's 247 pages and is currently available in electronic format.  It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

Some of the stories here will be eye-opening for readers who aren't familiar with the behind-the-scenes machinations and irritations involved in running an institution of higher learning inside an increasingly legally constraining world. The difficulties compound when objectively intelligent (often brilliant - but often equally eccentric) teachers try to enlighten students and inspire them to assimilate their knowledge without running afoul of administrative rules and regulations.

For readers who are educators, especially in post-secondary education, the stories here will likely be all too familiar. In point of fact (and the author says as much), anyone anywhere who has worked in a bureaucratic institution will have experienced most of what goes on. This is his sometimes slightly self-indulgent recollections of working in universities over a long period of time. 

Four stars. Worth a look for readers who have experienced the same and are looking for commiseration. Mr. Richards gets it. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.