/tech

Digital Tools in Universities Balloon Admin Costs Instead of Cutting Them

Professor's account of paper records versus modern EdTech draws shares from academics and writers.

/tech

Digital Tools in Universities Balloon Admin Costs Instead of Cutting Them · Digg

Digital Tools in Universities Balloon Admin Costs Instead of Cutting Them

Professor's account of paper records versus modern EdTech draws shares from academics and writers.

Philosophy professor Barry Lam described handling transcripts in minutes with paper processes 25 years ago. Recent posts by @Tyler_A_Harper and @pebonilla shared his Substack article, which argues that reliance on expensive, inefficient EdTech now stretches simple tasks to an hour and requires extra staff. @Tyler_A_Harper called the software the digital arm of a Kafka-esque bureaucracy that makes work worse. @EvanHaefeli replied that he had just spent an afternoon dealing with the same systems. The shared piece calls for liberating campuses from administrators and their costly rules.

Original post

TA Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 12:07 PM · Sep 9, 2026
This article about admin bloat by @ProfBarryLam is very important. It points out that one of the major drivers of the bureaucratic build out in academia is an over-reliance on bullshit EdTech software that makes everything worse while requiring a legion of flunkies to manage it.

Combined views

77K

6 posts, first seen 20h ago

1.1K likes39 comments143 saves147 reposts

Digital Tools in Universities Balloon Admin Costs Instead of Cutting Them

Professor's account of paper records versus modern EdTech draws shares from academics and writers.

Original post

TA Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 12:07 PM · Sep 9, 2026
This article about admin bloat by @ProfBarryLam is very important. It points out that one of the major drivers of the bureaucratic build out in academia is an over-reliance on bullshit EdTech software that makes everything worse while requiring a legion of flunkies to manage it.

Posts from X

5 posts

TA
Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 20 hrs ago
@ProfBarryLam As anyone who has spent time at a college in the 21st century can tell you, the problem with academic software isn't merely that it's the digital arm of an inhumane, Kafka-esque bureaucracy; it's also inefficient and makes everything worse. But hey, at least it's…
- likes: 121
- replies: 2
- bookmarks: 8
- reposts: 12
1. TA
  Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 20 hrs ago
  @ProfBarryLam As somebody on team "Mass Layoffs of Administrators," it's important to reckon with the fact that so much of the bloat both the right and the left complain about is driven by academia's bizarre and expensive fetish for janky EdTech slop. Here's the piece:
  substack.com
  College campuses need to be liberated from their administrators
  Higher ed is being strangled by absurd and costly rules. What message is that sending to students?
  - likes: 122
  - replies: 6
  - bookmarks: 18
  - reposts: 10
EH
Evan Haefeli@EvanHaefeli 19 hrs ago
@Tyler_A_Harper @CitizenWald @ProfBarryLam I’ve just spent my afternoon dealing with exactly this
- likes: 4
- replies: 2
- bookmarks: 0
- reposts: 0
PB
Peter Bonilla@pebonilla 19 hrs ago
This paragraph from a good article on administrative bloat in higher ed might be the head-hurtingest thing I've read today
- likes: 355
- replies: 12
- bookmarks: 40
- reposts: 60
CN
Cassandra Nelson@cmnelson71 18 hrs ago
Up until now the $85M LSU-shaped lazy river (google it) had been the high-water mark of insane higher ed spending in my mind. Sad kudos to @ProfBarryLam for pointing out the less glamorous, even more expensive culprit hiding in plain sight: edtech
- likes: 13
- replies: 1
- bookmarks: 0
- reposts: 2

Posts from X

5 posts

TA
Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 20 hrs ago
@ProfBarryLam As anyone who has spent time at a college in the 21st century can tell you, the problem with academic software isn't merely that it's the digital arm of an inhumane, Kafka-esque bureaucracy; it's also inefficient and makes everything worse. But hey, at least it's…
- likes: 121
- replies: 2
- bookmarks: 8
- reposts: 12
1. TA
  Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 20 hrs ago
  @ProfBarryLam As somebody on team "Mass Layoffs of Administrators," it's important to reckon with the fact that so much of the bloat both the right and the left complain about is driven by academia's bizarre and expensive fetish for janky EdTech slop. Here's the piece:
  substack.com
  College campuses need to be liberated from their administrators
  Higher ed is being strangled by absurd and costly rules. What message is that sending to students?
  - likes: 122
  - replies: 6
  - bookmarks: 18
  - reposts: 10
EH
Evan Haefeli@EvanHaefeli 19 hrs ago
@Tyler_A_Harper @CitizenWald @ProfBarryLam I’ve just spent my afternoon dealing with exactly this
- likes: 4
- replies: 2
- bookmarks: 0
- reposts: 0
PB
Peter Bonilla@pebonilla 19 hrs ago
This paragraph from a good article on administrative bloat in higher ed might be the head-hurtingest thing I've read today
- likes: 355
- replies: 12
- bookmarks: 40
- reposts: 60
CN
Cassandra Nelson@cmnelson71 18 hrs ago
Up until now the $85M LSU-shaped lazy river (google it) had been the high-water mark of insane higher ed spending in my mind. Sad kudos to @ProfBarryLam for pointing out the less glamorous, even more expensive culprit hiding in plain sight: edtech
- likes: 13
- replies: 1
- bookmarks: 0
- reposts: 2

Combined views

77K

6 posts, first seen 20h ago

1.1K likes39 comments143 saves147 reposts

Posts from X

5 posts

TA
Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 20 hrs ago
@ProfBarryLam As anyone who has spent time at a college in the 21st century can tell you, the problem with academic software isn't merely that it's the digital arm of an inhumane, Kafka-esque bureaucracy; it's also inefficient and makes everything worse. But hey, at least it's…
- likes: 121
- replies: 2
- bookmarks: 8
- reposts: 12
1. TA
  Tyler Austin Harper@Tyler_A_Harper 20 hrs ago
  @ProfBarryLam As somebody on team "Mass Layoffs of Administrators," it's important to reckon with the fact that so much of the bloat both the right and the left complain about is driven by academia's bizarre and expensive fetish for janky EdTech slop. Here's the piece:
  substack.com
  College campuses need to be liberated from their administrators
  Higher ed is being strangled by absurd and costly rules. What message is that sending to students?
  - likes: 122
  - replies: 6
  - bookmarks: 18
  - reposts: 10
EH
Evan Haefeli@EvanHaefeli 19 hrs ago
@Tyler_A_Harper @CitizenWald @ProfBarryLam I’ve just spent my afternoon dealing with exactly this
- likes: 4
- replies: 2
- bookmarks: 0
- reposts: 0
PB
Peter Bonilla@pebonilla 19 hrs ago
This paragraph from a good article on administrative bloat in higher ed might be the head-hurtingest thing I've read today
- likes: 355
- replies: 12
- bookmarks: 40
- reposts: 60
CN
Cassandra Nelson@cmnelson71 18 hrs ago
Up until now the $85M LSU-shaped lazy river (google it) had been the high-water mark of insane higher ed spending in my mind. Sad kudos to @ProfBarryLam for pointing out the less glamorous, even more expensive culprit hiding in plain sight: edtech
- likes: 13
- replies: 1
- bookmarks: 0
- reposts: 2