The player can't personally govern a colony or colonies, colony skills give bonuses to all colonies of player's faction.
Depersonalize admins, no more portraits, names or even skills. They are now a cargo item like crew.
Unassigned admins draw less pay than assigned admins.
Admins can be hired from bar events, given as rewards from contacts, purchased from markets or found while exploring.
Up to 10 admins can be assigned to a single colony. A colony gets bonuses depends on the number of admins assigned.
Player can also use a Beta or an Alpha core in place of admins.
A Beta provides the bonus of 5 admins, an Alpha provides the bonus of 10 admins but it's also... y'know....
Another approach is instead of giving bonuses straight up, assigned admins or Beta/Alpha cores generate Administration Points per month which can be spent to activate temporary effects/bonuses..
