senior program assistant

program coordinator

adjunct instructor

assistant professor

lecturer

Gonzaga University

I was a lab prep assistant for Gonzaga University. In a typical day I would wash dishes from the previous lab class, make agar, autoclave waste, and clean the lab and equipment. This was my first job in a lab so I learned a lot from working here. My boss was my genetics professor from the previous semester so I knew her well, and she made work fun. The hardest part of the job was that it got boring sometimes. On slower days I would refill pipette tip boxes and autoclave them, or try to organize the cabinet of raw materials. The best part of this job was the flexibility. I was a fulltime student and I worked on campus and had very flexible hours. I could come in between classes for an hour to wash dishes, then come in again later to pour agar. The ability to come in when I was free made it much easier to work and go to school fulltime. As for management my schedule and tasks were written on a whiteboard, but at times it got crowded with other notes and my tasks became harder to understand and decipher as the writing got more messy. To make up for that my boss and the other employee would have a meeting every Monday to discuss what needed to be done that week, and if there were any urgent things to address.

I've worked at the university for over a decade, and despite years of "Good", "Excellent", and "Exemplary" reviews, my department heads never saw it fit to offer bonuses, promotions, or wage increases... Staff are lucky if they're even offered a 1-2% standard of living increase each year, which is effectively a decrease in pay... There are no paths for growth as a staff member- you do all you can in a certain position, then you have to find a completely new job elsewhere. Many people work at GU strictly for the tuition benefit for them, their spouse, and/or child. Once the tuition break is no longer needed, people drop the university like a bad habit because earning a degree for yourself doesn't earn you ANYTHING within your own job. Take the degree and go earn 10-15k more somewhere else in town... It is SO DISAPPOINTING that just below the reliance on the reputation from the glitz and glamor of the basketball program, that there's a faculty ego-centric, slow to adopt, reactionary, dismissive to staff needs/concerns, scattered, stagnant university... 

This point of view is from a staff member, not faculty or administration.  Gonzaga is a stable place to be employed.  Gonzaga does not have a raise system in place for its staff members.  Gonzaga may or may not give you a 2-2.5% raise each year depending on how the university is feeling about the up coming school year.  Most staff positions start out just above minimum wage.  They value people in positions of faculty and administration.  As a staff member you will be told if you don’t like how your treated here your welcome to find employment elsewhere.  The staff culture is pretty toxic as morale at the university declines each year.  Could have something to do with Administration erecting new multimillion dollar structures while telling staff there is no funding available for raises this has occurred for over a decade now.  The University keeps putting the employee/family tuition waiver on the chopping block each year funds look thin.  All in all it is what it is could be better could be worse.

Security Officers work 4 10's with lots of opportunities for overtime through the year, $50k a year is possible with overtime. One of the few business in Spokane that take the time to get their officers Limited Commissions with Spokane PD, and there are constant opportunities for training as well as tuition waivers for classes with them. The workplace is split 50/50 Law enforcement or Military background, so lots of camaraderie. The hardest part of the job is dealing with the Students parents. That's right, the students are fairly easy to deal with, but their parents are the embodiment of self-entitlement and upper-class snobbery. Granted not all of the parents are this way, but being in security, the ones we deal with generally are. Overall though the job is great, the management is great, and the environment is great.

They feel as because they are gonzage they are better, elitist . Make you feel inferior and non essential . They give you $20 an hour but then tell you you’re not a very good cleaner you don’t know how to vacuum you don’t know how to do anything we are Gonzaga we have a basketball team they give us money we need to support them more than we need to support people whom work here. You are only allowed a 15 minute break don’t take a 16 minute break even if the boss is talking to someone another crew person and right next to you for the next hour you’re still expecting to get up and go to work, favoritism amongst the crew. They are not very kind to new people that come in just a simple as I always sit  here like we’re in grade school or something you feel like you are in their way the crew does they don’t make you feel welcomed

The Custodial Work Study was a summer job meant for Gonzaga students living in Spokane over the summer. It was a job that involved cleaning carpets and moving furniture around the campus. It was usually a fairly relaxed job with plenty of breaks, and my co-workers and I were allowed to divide the work up amongst ourselves. At times it was strenuous, because there were a few hot days when we weren't given many breaks and had to move heavy furniture or clean carpets inside buildings with no air conditioning. Overall, the job was fine for something to do my first summer of college, but it wasn't something I would want to do again.

I love teaching at Gonzaga. Love it. And yet finding myself stuck in a non tenure track position means doing the job but being looked down upon by my peers in the department and across the university. Tenured and tenure track professors seem to think the NTT faculty are here to push their teaching numbers skyward so they might take sabbatical and "do important things." They are even worse when newly tenured. There is no funding available for professional growth opportunities.  It is assumed NTT faculty aren't interested in research, which I'm sure some of us are very interested.

-Developed, along with fellow supervisors, descriptive lists explaining tasks to be accomplished from day to day.
-Prioritized what dorms and apartments needed to be prepared.
-Diagnosed and resolved issues within the department, weather it was systematic, equipment, or personnel related.
-Attained the necessary resources to successfully assist customers with whatever housing issues that came about.
-Demonstrated ability to work with a group in order to complete large projects
-Familiarized myself with the efforts one must go through to run a large housing operation
-Strengthened my communication skills with people of many different backgrounds

Students are generally of high caliber and rewarding to teach. Research is strongly encouraged but not supported sufficiently unless students are heavily involved (though opportunities to applying for external funding are centralized in an office with staff that do a good job). Student needs are prioritized above everything else, which is expected. President of the university is smart, thoughtful, and wise. One down side is that there are too many upper administrators whose job it is is to create more work for faculty, and they tend to suck up a little too much pay (bonuses, etc.) and the limited space we have that could be use as classrooms.

Working at the Gonzaga University Machine Shop was a fantastic opportunity for me to test my engineering. After designing 3D parts on SolidWorks with 2D drawings, performing calculations, and understanding the engineering theory, I would then make the part myself to better understand how to improve the design and the process necessary to manufacture the part. By learning how to design for manufacturability, I comprehended efficiency in design while accounting for both cost and material usage. While working in the shop, I worked on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) club Baja car, being 1 of 2 TIG welders for the entire vehicle assembly.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior program assistant 7 salaries reported	$21.88 per hour
Program coordinator 14 salaries reported	$22.95 per hour
Adjunct instructor 26 salaries reported	$1,699 per month
Assistant professor 17 salaries reported	$87,114 per year
Lecturer 10 salaries reported	$65,090 per year

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