Piling on tasks we never used to have to do

[Ruralguy]

Definitely electronic methods are better than any paper methods for just about anything even if the electronic method is only barely more efficient. In the long run, our bad electronic registration and grade reporting system is definitely better than having everyone running down the street for...just about everything.

[clean]

administrative assistants are wonderful and overwhelmed. Those who leave are not replaced quickly if at all. We are increasingly asked to take on work that a well trained assistant could do much better.

Unfortunately, this is also true of Faculty!! (who are asked to do ever more tasks that were once supported BY well trained assistants, or even student workers!!

(All of which were cut from my college!... We used to have an Administrative Assistant for EACH Department, now none!  We used to be able to hire student workers.  No money for that anymore either!)

(Begin Vent!.
When our building was designed and built there were cubicles outside each faculty members' office for the student workers.  New dean has been on campus just short of a year, and says, "It looks like there was a mass layoff here!  We should let students use these as study carols!" 
One faculty member quickly quipped, "There WAS a mass layoff, you took away our student workers who were supposed to be IN those spots!"  (new dean then corrects, that " I didnt cut Anything""  Which then started, that the last dean cut it, but new dean has failed to restore it, so he has continued with the cut!

Only Idiots or Assholes should ever be dean.  Fortunately, we have been able to hire the most qualified idiot assholes  and they tend to keep the job a while!)

[Ruralguy]

I  think some well meaning intelligent and competent people get into these positions, but then they are faced with Presidents with a Vision, and there's constant interference that has to be run between the President and the faculty. In addition to that, challenges like COVID and generally decreasing enrollments really make it difficult to do much of anything but survive. I'm not saying that we've never had an idiot or asshole Dean, we have, but some haven't been either, yet even then its still hard to navigate shifting terrain.

On a sort of related note: I'm seeing more senior faculty at my school, and two different folks at R1's either just retire or quit and get a totally different kind of job for a few years. I think they just don't want to work in an "iffy" environment in a location they don't really like.