<p>Hey everyone</p>
<p>Im interested in becoming and academic administrator...</p>
<p>so.... anything from</p>
<p>admissions, to supervision of academic affairs, to evaluation</p>
<p>and hopefully able to move up to higher positions such as... dean or chancellor</p>
<p>But my question is.... what degree (s) should I pursue for this type of career?</p>
<p>comments?/suggestions?/thoughts?</p>
<p>If you want to be a dean, chancellor, provost, or president, the path to that career is strictly academic. You need to spend some time as a faculty member to hold those positions (well, to hold them and have any credibility). It doesn't necessarily matter what field, but along the way in your faculty career you would want to aquire some experience in academic service and leadership, through committee work (which you likely couldn't escape even if you wanted to, heh), chairmanships, associate deanships, and the like.</p>
<p>People who work in admissions, evaluation, records, research, budget, and other parts of academic administration may or may not have a faculty background, and they may or may not have an advanced or academic degree. It's helpful, in my experience, to know something about policy & statistics, but a degree in these things are not required. You can pursue graduate training in higher education administration and leadership, too. It's not essential for getting a job of this type, but it can be helpful. Your undergrad degree doesn't necessarily matter (people from all kinds of backgrounds go into admin programs). By your username I assume you're a Michigander--both MSU and U-M have good higher ed grad programs.</p>
<p>As an undergrad, you might be able to get a taste of higher ed work through a campus job (depending on where it is) or by getting involved in residence life leadership or admission/student hosting programs.</p>