Matt Barter

Mattbarter.ca has obtained Memorial University Director of Student Life Jennifer Browne’s application for appointment as a non-ASM Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education, including her cover letter, CV, and reference letters. 

The publication of this application is squarely in the public interest. It sheds light on the interconnected world of student affairs administrators, the influence these officials wield over students’ lives, and the continued expansion of an administrative class that has grown increasingly detached from the university’s core academic mission. 

If Memorial takes issue with this publication, it will be defended vigorously. 

As the Director of Student Life, Browne also serves as Memorial’s Student Conduct Officer, issuing sanctions against students accused of non-academic misconduct. Students dissatisfied with her decisions could appeal to the Head of Campus, a position formerly held by Donna Hardy-Cox, also the former Associate Vice-President (Academic) and Dean of Students. 

Hardy-Cox’s strong endorsement of Browne raises serious questions about the independence of that appeal process. When the individual responsible for reviewing appeals praises the decision-maker whose rulings are being challenged, confidence in impartiality is undermined. The close-knit culture of student affairs administrators often appears less concerned with accountability and more concerned with protecting its own members.

The reference letters reveal a professional network deeply invested in promoting and expanding the student affairs industry. Hardy-Cox praised Browne as a “scholar-practitioner” and highlighted her connections to national and international student affairs networks, arguing that those relationships would help market and launch Memorial’s diploma in post-secondary education.

Current Associate Vice-President (Academic) and Dean of Students, and Associate Professor of Education, Christine Arnold similarly described Browne as a “scholar-practitioner” and a fellow “student affairs and services colleague.” 

Education Professor Sonja Knutson applauded Browne’s involvement in student affairs associations and celebrated her commitment to growing the profession. 

The commitment to growing the profession should concern students and taxpayers of the province. 

At Memorial, the push to expand administrative roles has been relentless. Browne’s own doctoral research reflects this mindset. In her doctoral dissertation, she concluded that the solution to what she refers to as a “skills awareness gap” was to create more administrative positions. 

Browne’s conception of higher education is also revealing. She argued that universities should focus on equipping students with skills for workforce transition, which diverts from the fundamental essence of higher education. Browne’s view suggests that the primary purpose of a university is to prepare students for the labour market. 

This philosophy helps explain why administrative growth has become so entrenched. Universities increasingly function as credentialing and workforce development enterprises while building layers of administrators whose jobs revolve around managing, assessing, coordinating, and supervising programs and processes created by other administrators. 

Author Srinivas Rao has criticized this trend, arguing that universities have become factories for “bullshit jobs” occupied not by students or professors but by administrators. As Rao observed, universities create administrative positions, expand bureaucracies, and then pass the costs on to students through rising tuition and additional fees.

Rao stated, “Universities manufacture bullshit jobs like assistant dean, vice provost, and staff their offices with other unnecessary positions. Then, they pass the cost on to students, who are left with an insurmountable mountain of debt.” Usually, when the price of a product increases, it is because an organization has made substantial improvements to that product. Instead, quality has declined while the number of administrative positions has increased. The administrator-to-student ratio is out of whack.

The student affairs industry has evolved into a self-perpetuating ecosystem of associations, conferences, networking opportunities, credentials, and career advancement pathways that reinforce and expand the profession itself.

According to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2024 compensation disclosure, Browne’s salary was $171,700. Associate Director of Student Life Denise Hooper’s salary was $105,100. 

Students paying higher tuition have every right to ask whether Memorial’s administrative apparatus is serving their interests or the interests of a select group of highly paid administrators. 

View the documents below:

Matt Barter is a graduate of the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty at Memorial University of Newfoundland, holding a degree in Political Science with a minor in Sociology. He enjoys reading thought-provoking articles, taking walks in nature, and volunteering in the community.