faculty

assistant professor

professor

office coordinator

associate professor

Grand Valley State University

This was one of several jobs I've enjoyed having in the academic/university setting, and for this reason I enjoyed it greatly. My hours varied from week to week, as I worked alongside many work-study students with varying schedules. A typical day at work is hard to pin down with precision, as so much of what I did varied from day to day. I would oversee many of the incoming tickets and either work them or assign them to other employees. We worked on a walkie-talkie system, and much of the day I roamed the entire campus, from one job to the next. Some examples of my duties would be: troubleshooting network connectivity issues, audio/visual setups such as projectors and speakers for classrooms, printer and fax issues, maintenance of both Windows and Apple computer labs, etc. I learned very many things here, especially about the way a good university network is configured and supervised. I also learned many good techniques on balancing workflow across a large campus, as well as dealing with the occasional technically-challenged client. This, in fact, was perhaps the most challenging part of the job; remaining focused amongst so many different tasks in such a giant workplace. However, it also lent itself to a good amount of freedom and self-sufficiency--my favorite part of this job.

I worked as a peer educator for the Grand Valley State University Women's Center in the ReACT! Anti-Violence Theatre Troupe.  I created and designed skits that were performed by myself and other members of the group for Grand Valley Students.  A typical day working here included brainstorming and writing my ideas down to be used for performances.
I learned a great deal about the prevelence of violence on college campuses and how to take the necessary steps to prevent it.  Once I gained experience in the field, I was able to educate students about what they could do about violence on campus.
My directors were wonderful in preparing me to educate others and always worked to point me in the right direction.
The other members of the group were some of the most supportive people I have known in a work environment, and I am still friends with them today.
The most difficult thing about this job was writing material that was believeable to audience members, but the difficult of that task was what made the work so enjoyable.

This university claims to be a teaching university, which it was two decades ago when I was hired. But for the past 12 years, the focus has been on making a name for the school through emphasis on research and publication. There is no financial support for faculty to attend a conference or seminar at which they are not presenting a paper or poster. Faculty are not allowed to take sabbaticals in which they will be teaching, learning and/or developing educational skills unless they publish a research paper based on the sabbatical. Additionally the financial support for attending conferences at which one is presenting is rarely sufficient to cover the basic costs.

Any faculty without a doctorate cannot be promoted or serve as department chair, and the university will no longer hire regular faculty who do not possess a doctorate, regardless of their experience in teaching or in their field.

The students are enjoyable, the campus is lovely, the town is great and if you hold a Ph.D. but do not want to work at a major research university, you will find GVSU to be a nice place to work.

A typical day at work changed every week, though we usually had dishes to do and supplies to set up on carts to prepare for the next lab. Once a class would end, we would make sure no one's in there, wheeling our supply-laden cart and and empty cart to put the materials we broke down onto. Once the next lab was set up, we would take the dirty dishes and put them in the dishes area, and one or two of us would wash them while we went about putting the materials away in their respective areas.

I learned how to mix chemicals, how to dispose of them, and what is needed to prepare a biology class. 

I got along with my co-workers very well. it's what made the job more fun.

The Hardest part of the job was making sure everything was prepared correctly and efficiently once in the room.

The most enjoyable part of the job was working with the awesome bosses and co-workers, listening to music or telling stories as we worked. I usually brought in snacks to my co-workers.

In a typical tutoring session, I would sit down with my students and help them go over problems that were assigned to them from last class.  I helped them gain a deeper understanding of the material that they were supposed to have learned in class.  
I learned that I couldn't always help them with every problem (I'm still an undergraduate just like they are).  I also learned that everyone learns in different ways and it always helps to explain the same concept from different angles.
The hardest part of my job was always when I reached a point where I couldn't help my students find the correct answer to a problem.
The most enjoyable part was knowing that I was making a difference in my students' lives. I helped a lot of students learn a subject that, for a lot of people, is very difficult.

On campus adjunct professor for Law and Ethics and Social Work Practice. 

I was overextending an interest into a field of teaching. Failing to perform due diligence in curriculum development, relationships with full time professors meant lack of adequate material. 

Additionally a chosen text did not arrive before half the semester expired leaving weekly reading lacking in consistent integrated material. 

In other functions with this University the experience was excellent. For instance remaining in the role of a practicum field supervisor met my skill set and was consistent with the dual role of director for the practicum site. 

I was glad to contribute to curriculum development of the class for the teacher assuming this class when I returned to the role of field supervision.

University leadership is intent on over-working employees. The president and VPs continue to pile on new initiatives without additional resources or staff to support the initiatives. Everyone is doing 2-4 peoples' jobs. Morale is low. People are burnt out. Salaries are low compared to competitors. There is a clear difference in treatment of faculty vs. staff. Almost everyone I work with is looking for another job. Different departments have different internal sub-cultures. My current department lead is wonderful. I've had three other supervisors in the past, though, who were horrendous. Faculty get promoted into leadership roles with no leadership experience and don't know how to manage teams. I really want to love the job but am continuously disappointed. The most attractive part of the job is that the retirement and healthcare benefits are really good.

Graduate students on fellowships are drowning under the weight of expectations and strained mentor relationships. Graduate students have the workload of a seasoned professional, but they are treated like children. When grad students stumble (because they're budding professionals in need of mentorship), advisors place blame rather than, well, advising. And goodness knows it's a sin to ask for help at this point in one's education... Help is for failures!

This might be true throughout all of academia, but I left when I realized that everyone in my cohort was drinking to cope—and, worse, that many of our advisors accepted it as normal. It certainly didn't help that I had a poor relationship with my advisor, nor that the department's leadership became a toxic boys' club shortly after my program began. All of that on a $14K/year stipend... For a master's program that ran itself like a PhD. It's too much!

GVSU is a great place to work with substantial opportunities for advancement if you apply yourself, work hard, and pursue professional development opportunities. Management can be hit or miss, like any job. Most leaders are supportive, understanding, and appreciative, but some demand too much from frequently understaffed teams. The work life balance may be a challenge, depending on your department. 60 hour weeks are not uncommon for EAP staff, but unionized APSS staff don't need to worry about that. That said, the culture and overall environment at GVSU is excellent and I enjoyed being a part of it!

I've been at GV for a year now and the job is fantastic in so far as the satisfaction with the work and the supervisors. Additionally, working with RAs and students has been a better experience than I would have guessed for me. Downsides for this position is there is very little upward mobility available so any promotion or salary increase is going to require you to either switch departments or universities all-together. Couple that with the on-campus living situation, that can make it difficult to do seeing that your apartment is tied to the job. Work can get busy during move in and move out but aside from that it is slow which gives you time to really develop the culture of your RA staff and make it your own. That's probably the biggest thing about this job is that there are many roads that lead to Rome so you're able to pick which one works for you.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Faculty 8 salaries reported	$63,125 per year
Assistant professor 11 salaries reported	$122,502 per year
Professor 4 salaries reported	$42,676 per year
Office coordinator 1 salary reported	$18.40 per hour
Associate professor 6 salaries reported	$152,000 per year

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