graduate assistant

graduate researcher

academic advisor

assistant professor

director

Kent State University

I had worked in many positions during my 13 years at KSU. I absolutely loved my first position as an Account Clerk 2 in Research and Graduate Studies. It was a newly created position so I was allowed to help design the position. I proved my ability to come up with much more efficient and effective systems to handle the accounting responsibilities. They quickly realized the extrovert my knowledge and skill set and had me start to help other managers in the division create systems to streamline their accounting processes and come up with new ways to track patent distribution. The other managers quickly learned of my abilities and began to ask for me to sit in on meetings instead of my immediate supervisor who obviously was severely lacking in the skills needed to come up with innovative ideas that made the unit function better. She was really more just the assistant to the VP  who used to be everyone’s go to person when they needed something basic.  Since I was in charge of the finances for the division I created a comprehensive system that tracked every expense for every person in the unit and could provide a report of a complete overall view of the division all the way down to the office supplies or phone time charged to just one employee.  The Vzp my real boss was delighted with my work and my upbeat team personality. Unfortunately, he retired and when the new VP came in my immediate supervisor immediately went to work to get rid of me. She claimed my work as hers daily, she wouldn’t tell me of new  and then I was called in for non-performance. It just so happened that KSU was going through through reorganization and jobs eliminated so thassignmentsose with more seniority were allowed to take over another job with the same classification.   So, guess who was first to go?  I was downgraded to a data enters position in the Bursar’s Office. I managed to bid back up on jobs until I was the assistant the Chair of Chemistry. Another position I loved because I was in charge of the office procedures and oversaw the secretaries in other secretaries and had a fantastic boss who saw my potential and allowed me to help create new policies and procedures to make things more efficient. I left when offered the Executive Assistant to the VP of Academic Affairs and Aedan of the Colkege at Mount Union College.

As a student worker in the Kent State University Admissions Office, I was assigned a variety of tasks.  With the exception of the morning workers opening and processing the day's incoming mail, all of the duties were the same regardless of the shift.  If there were no special projects I was expected to be signed into CISCO to answer and direct phone calls.  Often times I would have data entry assignments to do while I was on the phones.  This usually involved inputting information about prospective students which had been gathered at college fairs.  Another major assignment I would frequently have would be to stuff envelopes for any outgoing mail from the admissions office.  I also had to stuff folders with information for any of the special events hosted by the admissions office.

The environment was fairly laid back.  Everyone was expected to dress and act professional, but all of the employees were very nice and easy to work with.  My supervisors were also very understanding with the fact that we (the student workers) were trying to balance our school work with our job.  They were flexible with our schedules and as long as the office wasn't super busy, they were usually understanding if we needed to call off for a school related reason.

Some of the categories in the rating weren't applicable.  There weren't any benefits or advancements since this was a student job, but we did occasionally get a raise.  Additionally, sometimes lunch was brought in for the office.  

I have no complaints about this job.  I will mention that some of the projects were time consuming and repetitive (ex: stuffing folders/envelopes) and other times things were slow when there wasn't much work.  Overall though, working in the admissions office was a really positive experience.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in an environment where you'll be surrounded by colleagues who pretend to be allies when all they care about is their next promotion?

Would you like to work with people who believe that their titles magically confer upon them actual levels of experience and skills that they don't have?

Have you been curious to see what it looks like to recreate the high-school style cliques in a supposedly professional work environment?

Have you ever had the desire to work with some of the least self-aware so-called adults you could ever meet?

Have you ever felt that you would benefit from working for an organization where, in a recent human resources confidential survey, 42% of respondents reported that they suffer from some form of diagnosed mental illness?

Would you like to work for an organization where leadership pays lip service to creativity, forward-thinking, loyalty and mission, while openly blacklisting any staff who provide objective critical feedback or attempt to affect positive change?

Would you enjoy being maligned by your peers behind your back? Passed over for opportunities for advancement due to nepotism? Marginalized for disagreeing with the prevailing "company line"? Refusing to embrace a demeanor of abject obsequiousness and total deference to management?

Congratulations -- Kent State is the place for you!

The company was focused on being a top notch facility, yet refused to hire more help for the work at hand. We ran on a skeleton crew of three staff members. If anyone was out sick or took vacation time, then two people had to tackle all the work. That means cleaning and changing 12 animal rooms, along with dumping the cages, running everything through cage wash, and properly filling everything so it could all be used again in the following week. 

The manager who oversaw the facility and staff did not have the ability to address work performance issues with anyone, no matter how much he complained about a person behind their back. Several staff members have offered ways to make our jobs, along with the jobs of the lab technicians easier, and each time, our ideas were outright denied by the manager. He never wanted to help with the work load, and when he did, he would complain about it to us. He never felt like it was his responsibility to step up and assist his staff. He wanted to sit in his office all day and any time a team member was sick, he would complain that it wasn't fair for him to step up and cover for said person. As a former manager in retail, I was always under the impression that when the going got tough, my managerial title meant that I was to cover and help assist my staff in any way that I could.

Ultimately I left because I only need to work part time hours to accommodate when my daughter is not in school. Kent State could not offer me a part time position, so I left.

As an adjunct instructor at the Kent State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design, I had an exceptionally rewarding experience—both professionally and personally. From the moment I joined the faculty, I felt welcomed and supported by an environment that fosters innovation, dialogue, and creative risk-taking. The leadership and full-time faculty were not only collegial but also genuinely invested in collaborative, forward-thinking pedagogy.

What struck me most about the college was its commitment to engaging real-world problems through architectural education. I was given the freedom to shape my course content in ways that aligned with my own expertise and research interests while still supporting the broader curricular goals. This level of trust allowed me to introduce interdisciplinary frameworks, integrate historic and cultural narratives, and explore nontraditional forms of design representation—all of which were met with enthusiasm from both students and peers.

The students themselves were a bright, motivated, and inquisitive group. Many showed a level of maturity and curiosity that made teaching deeply satisfying. Kent State’s new CAED building is also a remarkable space for design education—open, flexible, and truly conducive to collaboration.

I leave my time at Kent State feeling grateful and inspired. It's a place where meaningful, innovative work is not only possible—it’s encouraged.

If you "conform" to university conventions, many of them unrelated to thoughtful teaching, reading, writing, and scholarship, Kent State will be your cup of tea. Deans expects several "major " papers published over , roughly, as year and a half. Teaching has moved from normal class sizes (35 or so) and seminars (15) to megasections of some 150 students, making genuine assessment and encouragement of learning almost impossible. The Honors College has de-emphasized the teaching of the canon of Western literature.Courses are often presented in the jargon du jour. As a result, classes necessary to one's cultural development no longer are taught. Grants are contingent on friendships. The pay, vis-a-vis other public universities, is at the thin edge of modest. Politics are boringly petty. However, there are many bright people on the faculty; there are chairpeople who encourage work, and genuinely promoted academic values. The staff is invariably helpful.As with any university, the hardest part of the job is doing more with less. And, I must add, encouraging students to continue their education in the face of massive unemployment.The most enjoyable part of the job is, simply put, teaching. Teaching students eager to learn and to read.

Typical day- I would teach Personal Health Monday and Wednesday from 2:15p to 3:30p.  I also taught a course online called Drug Use and Misuse.  During lectures, I would typically have a powerpoint covering the topic of the week, and then activities to follow to assure student involvement and participation.  

Learned- how to lesson plan! I have never taught courses before, then was granted this opportunity, so I knew I have to take it and gain experience.  It was also pretty hard being a masters student, and balancing two course in which I have never taught before, and start from scratch with learning materials.

Management- All of the professors I worked closely with were BEYOND amazing, and helpful on every aspect.

Workplace culture- Was amazing. I loved working for Kent State, it is such an amazing non judgmental environment.

Hardest part- Was creating lesson plans, and teaching to Undergraduate students.  Some of these students were close to my age, so we had to overcome that difference.  All of the students, thankfully, accepted me as their instructor and we all were able to have a successful semester. 

Enjoyable part- Was gaining the experience of lesson planning and then teaching in person as well as online.  I also greatly enjoyed getting to know all of my students, because they were all so respectful, and smart.

Like in most IT jobs this one is the regular run of the mill, you do everything with computers from creating ISOs, installing environments, hooking up hardware, troubleshooting issues, and in general being the first line of defense when it comes to technology security. The difference with this job and most is you are dealing with multiple large buildings with many different departments and somehow the majority of people are great. I enjoy doing my work and everyone you help is welcoming and very outgoing.

From this job I feel that I was able to hone my abilities into a environment which requires the overseeing off hundred of computers. The managing of one computer is one thing but when you build, deploy, and setup 45 computers in anticipation of making a classroom go live there is a lot of planning and deadlines involved. 

The hardest part of the job is honestly on some days leaving it and others trying to solve the issue but being hard doesn't mean unpleasant. Special tasks will take focus to complete and require learning on the job. In one instance I had to reprogram MagTek swipers using base computer programming. Now while I got a lot of satisfaction from completing it I felt challenged.

I take enjoyment from learning and growing my knowledge in this field and I feel there is always more to learn and integrate into my bag of tricks.

This job was too good to be true.   There was no management structuture.  The Human Resources department was ineffective and the greviance process was a joke.  You were not able to do your job due to the lack of  backing from management.  Decisions took months and you were not able to make purchases.  Students did what they wanted and could treat you however they wanted because they pay a lot of money to go to that school.  Fraud and poor billing practices also spread rapidly and no one was willing to fix. The dean has no role. He just sits back and takes in the information but does nothing with it.  Theee are too many friends in the higher levels and they all stuck together.  Not a great place to work.   Office managers are considered business managers just so they can be paid salary but do nothing for you.  Always telling you I am not your boss or I want nothing to do with it on any issues.  This job is not for any of my friends in the radiology field unless you want to be miserable.  Remember I just left this position and instead of allowing me to finish out my notice of 2 weeks, I got sent home with pay and told I would have to work from home.  Once I was told to leave and pack up my things, my access was revoked.    This company is devious and threatens you for no reason.  Not a job I could recommend.

The workload for the secretarial positions is usually very high.  The title name "secretary" isn't true to the actual tasks at hand.  The secretarial positions are basically administrative assistant positions with less pay.  I learned a lot while working in various positions and departments within Kent State University. Two things that they're good for is culture and also diversity.  This is not a lie when they advertise being diverse and having a rich culture. I worked with many people from all over the world, from students, to visitors, to the staff, the culture was amazing and diverse.  The hardest part of the job for me was having to take on a position after someone had been in the position for more than 15 years.  Many methods were outdated and there was a lot of cleaning house that needed to be done.  But, I survived with the help of my co-workers.  The most enjoyable part of the job was becoming family with the students and with my co-workers.  Being able to build a relationship with those that you work with and for is a great thing!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Graduate assistant 3 salaries reported	$1,800 per month
Graduate researcher 4 salaries reported	$23,250 per year
Academic advisor 3 salaries reported	$48,500 per year
Assistant professor 4 salaries reported	$67,349 per year
Director 4 salaries reported	$66,125 per year

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