graduate assistant

assistant professor

professor

instructor

director of student services

Marshall University

I am given a lot of freedom at work seeing as we have so many facilities to oversee.  I have 5 graduate assistants that work under me and on a daily basis we assess what facility projects need to be attacked based upon priority (usually which sports are in season or have events upcoming).  There is a lot of planning months in advance depending on which facility has its main season coming up and this also influences the daily work habits.  Routine facility inspections are completed as well by both myself and our graduate assistants.  We routinely also receive requests/projects from our Associate Athletic Director when he finds things out from the University physical plant.  Constant communication with our coaching staffs is necessary as well to help make their daily lives better in their respective facilities. There are a lot of hours to put in because it is not only a 9-5 job.  We perform event/game set up and breakdown for all events as well as all aspects of game operations.  This requires many late nights and even more weekends.  This is the most rewarding part of the job for me though because all the work you put in during the day/week leading up to an event in any facility is rewarded when actual game competition/an event is held.

Marshall University Research Center is the most unprofessional work environment I’ve ever experienced. The orienting to the department is chaotic and is misleading by lead study coordinator. You will have trouble with the IT department. You have no recourse reporting your concerns to upper management and HR, because they aren’t involved in the day to day operations of the medical research staff. They rely solely on what the Lead Study Coordinator tells them. And if she wants you out, then upper management devises a plan to terminate you, at no fault of your own. You have no job security and benefits and pay are not worth the complex work you are doing. Everyone under the Director in the department has different funding and benefits, which is a problem all on its own. There are favorites in the department despite performance and professionalism. My experience is that it was simply a playground from leadership on down. Don’t waste your time working for Marshall University Research Center if you have experience and other options because your in for a long hard road ahead.

MU is a decent place to start a career but, unless you lack any and all ambition, you'll eventually be ready to move on to something bigger and better. Advancement opportunities around here are pretty limited, and seem to be filled more by brown-nosers than qualified professionals. Nepotism is huge as well, and people who are clueless on higher education but have ties to key administrators get positions over qualified applicants. 
Not that MU is all bad. Overall environment is laid back, and I never feel overly stressed at work. There are some bad apples, but most people are supportive of each others' projects and eager to help. The students are also awesome here! These things have offset my gripes in the first paragraph and have made five-plus years here an overall good experience, but if you're looking at MU as a younger professional just be aware that you will eventually hit a dead end and have to leave to advance your career. 

I enjoyed supporting and working with students during my time at Marshall University. That part of the job was genuinely fulfilling and meaningful.

However, I found the overall workplace culture to be difficult. In my experience, concerns about the work environment—including issues related to conduct and fairness—were not always taken seriously, which made it challenging to feel supported. There seemed to be a pattern of favoritism, where professional opportunities or fair treatment often depended on personal relationships with supervisors. This dynamic affected morale and made it harder to maintain clear professional boundaries.

Communication across departments often lacked transparency, and responses to employee concerns didn’t always feel balanced or thoughtful.

In my opinion, there is room for improvement in how leadership addresses staff feedback and works to create a more respectful and equitable environment. I encourage the university to prioritize accountability and employee well-being moving forward.


Marshall University allows faculty a great deal of academic freedom in teaching and designing courses.  Our contracts require 5 hours of week of office-time.  Most people typically work 2-4 days a week, but there are some that abuse the contract policy.  
I'm always learning something new, whether it's content related to the courses I teach, dealing with students, etc...  The more experienced faculty have a "pay it forward" attitude toward newer faculty, which is very enjoyable.
Unfortunately, Marshall is experiencing budget cuts from the state legislature which has created nervous faculty and staff, wondering if layoffs are upcoming.  Marshall pays well-below average salaries for faculty positions.  Annual raises have been frozen for about 5 years now, due to the budget crisis.
Overall, I really enjoy working with my colleagues, despite the scepter of the budget crisis hanging over our heads.

Being and adjunct professor at any institution is a shaky prospect due to funding for contracts and the current competitive market for such instructors.

Being an adjunct at Marshall University had many pros and few cons, although the cons were pretty big.

The pay rate for adjuncts is pretty low with no benefits offered. No health care, life insurance, vacation days, etc.

However, my department chair was extremely good to work for and the other professors, including those full time and tenured, were a delight to work with. The student atmosphere was a good mix of cultures with most decent to good students. Curriculum for my classes was open for me to decide with extremely little interference from my department or the university. If the pay and benefits weren't so bad, I would still be teaching there.

A typical day at work for me as a student football equipment manager was very busy. Juggling between being a full-time student and working was a challenge at first however I adapted and had a successful career while at Marshall University. My normal work day would consist of me setting up the field, maintaining equipment and making sure players and coaches had everything they needed for practice to run smoothly. I would say the hardest part of my job was making sure that all of my co workers were on the same page and being efficient at the workplace. My senior year I was promoted to Head Offensive manager where I delegated duties and took full responsibility of my team. During my senior year Marshall's Equipment room won Equipment room of the year for Conference USA which was huge for us. 

The way the job was conducted was that nobody gives you clue as to how to go about one's responsibilities. But there was so much to do in a very short amount of time. The best way to manage that was to look for ways and figuring out so many things and come up with something. The bad thing about this work management was that it was so stressful. The fact that there was no proper guideline leaves one to feel unsure of what to do. On the other hand, the great thing about it is that, the mind is always working and there is always a new stuff to learn. And it also improves team work for the employees in the office had to come up with something to report or show. That makes them to communicate and brainstorm one another.

Been with this job for almost four years without a review or salary increase. I work a terrible schedule and am the only one that does. Pretty much everyone in the building works 8 to 4:30 M-F and I am stuck with working till 9pm at least 6 months out of the year. Was promised help for my position when I started and told I wouldn't have to work this shift the entire time but somehow 4 years later things are still the same. No room to move up or grow within the company. Love the people I work with, love the culture, love the goal of the Foundation, but have grown very burnt out.

Leadership and mentoring is non-existent. If you don't "play ball" with the right people, you won't feel included. Work was only challenging due to poor leadership structures. Jobs will be created with titles of Assistant or Associate Dean, with little to no care for who will be their support staff. If you work hard, but don't play cuddle up with the right crowd, it will be held against you. You will be passed over for promotion for a friend of a friend of the upper University leadership, but still do the work for in new incumbent. Support staff will do all the grunt work and get ZERO credit. 

I would not recommend working here until the current leadership is long gone.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Graduate assistant 4 salaries reported	$13.00 per hour
Assistant professor 2 salaries reported	$60,750 per year
Professor 3 salaries reported	$70,667 per year
Instructor 3 salaries reported	$47,000 per year
Director of student services 3 salaries reported	$46,689 per year

Working at Marshall University: Company Overview and Reviews

Marshall University

Marshall University Ratings

Popular jobs at Marshall University

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected