When It Works, No One Notices: Using a Scorecard to Demonstrate Application Administrator Impact

Application administrators play a crucial role in sustaining academic technology ecosystems, ensuring that learning platforms remain stable, secure, and accessible, yet continuously improving. As institutions face increasing budget scrutiny, hiring freezes, and role consolidation, application administrator positions are frequently at risk precisely because their work is often invisible and the impact is difficult to quantify. This session shows attendees how to create a practical, replicable application administrator scorecard designed to document and communicate the full scope of application administrator work. Attendees will learn how the scorecard was developed, how it aligns operational work with institutional priorities, and how it has been used to justify and sustain application administrator positions during budget and staffing discussions. Participants will leave with concrete examples of scorecard dimensions, metrics, and reporting strategies that make invisible labor visible—and position application administrators as essential contributors to teaching, learning, compliance, and institutional resilience.