It was very typical to see just a skeleton of administrators at the Departmental levels at a university in the USA in the seventies. It meant that a university level faculty member had to do everything himself or herself as there was no supporting personnel around – things such as printing out exams, setting up for demonstrations, etc. Certainly, you had to grade all your exams and correct any homework you assigned to your students. Once in a while a faculty member might be assigned a student worker for a few hours a week if there was a need for special support. Let me describe for you all the Departmental administrators in the Chemistry Department during the academic year 1973~1974, as an example of a typical Departmental operation:
Department Chair: Dr. D.G. Nicholson He was in charge of running the whole department - both the academics and the administrative details, from ordering supplies and chemicals to buying new equipment and instruments, and, most importantly, the departmental budget. Certainly, he needed to make everyone happy to live together, faculty and staff all included. At the same time, he had to teach his own classes. Nicholson had a University of Illinois PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and was well liked as a teacher in the classroom. Two things stand out when people described him: he was a very loud, and he was a devoted Presbyterian church member.
Secretary of the Department: Mrs. June Shipley She supported the Chair and the rest of the Department in everything, from typing the manuscripts to buying office supplies. 
Stockroom clerk: Mrs. Lilly She was in charge of the stockroom, assigning lockers to all students taking chemistry labs as well as stocking them and checking students in and out, preparing and supplying all chemicals and solutions for students use, and ordering all chemicals for students use. She had a helper at that time: Mr. Hughes 
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