Running an institution like Columbia can’t be easy. Administrators are constantly working to provide a superb education for 11,992 students. They effectively manage a massive budget, allocating funds the best they can to serve the wide-ranging interests of a diverse population. Through such efforts, Columbia’s image as one of the top media arts schools in the country improved dramatically in recent years.

But when annual salary reports are released, the numbers are beyond students’ grasp. It is difficult to understand why Columbia’s highest-paid employees earn more money than most students dream of making after graduation. Unfortunately, most colleges have to put business first, and Columbia’s budget reflects that. The salary distribution at Columbia is typical compared to similar colleges. It is hard to say administrators are overpaid when they can point to higher salaries at other colleges.

Students are interested in how and why salary money is allocated the way it is, not to condemn the process but to clarify it. And they should be; it’s their tuition dollars at work. From what students can see, teachers are grossly underpaid.  Meanwhile, college figureheads—who many students have never seen in person, let alone spoken with—are tipping the financial scales. Without much transparency or more detailed information being shared by officials, it is hard to see otherwise.

In order for students to appreciate the administrative work required to manage an institution like Columbia, it would be helpful to put faces to the names of its top officials. Of the 10 highest salary earners, most students only recognize two or three names, and have only met one person. If more students were to pass President Warrick L. Carter on campus or have a quick chat with him in a building, for example, it would tremendously improve the view many students have of Columbia’s administration. More visibility and effort to connect with students is needed.

For now, students will remember teachers they interacted with regularly long after they have forgotten administrators who are merely photographs in the newspaper. Because of that, future salary increases should start from the ground up. Columbia touts its impressive adjunct faculty members, and it is time they reap the benefits of their own hard work. If salaries were based on direct impact on students’ lives, the fine teachers of Columbia would all be millionaires.