administrative assistant

college advisor

executive assistant

coordinator

assistant director

Middle Tennessee State University

MTSU offers students the chance to work as dispatchers and line service technicians at the airport campus located in Murfreesboro, TN (KMBT) and Shelbyville, TN (KSYI). Both locations have decent accommodations and management rotates between locations to supervise. 

The atmosphere is what you would expect from a collegiate work space, but there is still an intrinsic sense of professionalism that all of the employees try to embody. Ground Operations Employees work in three shifts; Morning (5:30-12 or 7:30-2:30), Midday (12-6), and Night (6-12 or 2:30-10). These shifts have different responsibilities like opening and closing duties in addition to their other responsibilities. Those include opening and closing the fuel truck, ensuring that the daily schedule is maintained, coordinate refueling operations, and provide excellent customer service to all students, flight instructors, management, and guests.

As a pilot, I've experienced the flying side of the daily operations at MTSU, but this position trains students to understand and handle the ground/line side of daily operations. Students who are pilots, management, maintenance, or dispatch majors would thrive in this position as it teaches them to understand an important aspect of aviation that is normally glossed over or taken for granted.

Management is exactly what you would expect. Collegiate aviation programs, especially one as large and historic as MTSU's, will always be difficult to manage. The sheer number of students vying for flight labs puts an unreasonable amount of stress on management and that usually translates to their daily attitudes. They are good at what they do, but only at what they do. They tend to sit in their offices with their doors open, expecting you to come to them with your problems rather than be proactive and approach students, staff, and flight instructors to ask them for their opinions or if there are any problems. Most students and student workers choose to avoid management.

This job isn't just study hall like most student-worker positions. Consider this the longest job interview for pilot student workers who want to be Certified Flight Instructors at MTSU. This job allows you to build repour with other CFIs, management, and other aviation professionals

I have worked at Middle Tennessee State University for over 10 years in a variety of roles, which has given me a broad perspective on the institution, its culture, and its operations. MTSU is deeply committed to student success and public service, and that mission is reflected in the dedication of many faculty and staff across campus.

One of the greatest strengths of MTSU is the people. I have worked alongside colleagues who are knowledgeable, hardworking, and genuinely invested in supporting students and one another. The university offers solid benefits, job stability, and opportunities to gain experience across different functional areas, especially for employees who are proactive and willing to take on new challenges.

MTSU is also a large and complex organization, which can come with challenges. Processes and decision-making can sometimes feel slow, and communication across departments is not always consistent. Like many public institutions, change often requires patience and persistence. Leadership quality and work culture can vary significantly depending on the department or supervisor.

Overall, MTSU can be a rewarding place to build a career, particularly for individuals who value higher education, collaboration, and service. Employees who are adaptable, self-motivated, and comfortable navigating a large institutional environment will find meaningful opportunities to grow and make an impact.

Pros:

Strong mission focused on student success

Dedicated and knowledgeable colleagues

Good benefits and job stability

Opportunities to gain broad institutional experience

Cons:

Low pay in some roles

Bureaucratic processes can be slow

Communication and leadership quality vary by department

Change can take time in a large public institution

My typical shift would involve me clocking in, sit at the front desk, and help out residents as needed. When there is no one to interact with, I am allowed to work on my homework from previous classes. Depending on the time of my shift, I may or may not call the other resident halls to inform who is on duty for the night. I monitor the entrance of the dorm and make sure that it is safe. I check resident's guests in for visitation purposes. Sometimes an RA would come by and we will check in on anything new developing. I also would write in the duty log any pertinent information to let the AC know what has happened during my shift. 

I learned how to manage my time, how to deal with difficult people, how to properly communicate to others, and how a dormitory really functions.

My co-workers were great! We would have a great time keeping each other company when residents are out for break or the dorm is not as lively. Sometimes food runs were made to help assistants be able to have lunch in the middle of the shift. 

The hardest part of the job I would have to say is working the middle of the night hours. No one is around, you're not allowed to be on a computer, lap top, etc so it can be quite easy to fall asleep because no one is in the mood to do homework at 3AM. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is the ability to witness and be a part of memories in the making. And also to be around your residents so much you develop friendships. 

As for the good: my job is not super time-intensive, though you will have to make time outside of scheduled teaching time to prepare for classes and grade work. And, my fellow employees within my department are excellent.

Outside of the department, however, higher up administrators create a bloated mess of hoops you need to jump through, and they are slow to change anything within the university.

The pay is very poor for nearly all positions. Faculty are getting paid less than ones at other universities at a comparable level. I cannot afford to work here without an extra source of income, especially since I do not receive any benefits and my tuition is not fully waived (usually around $300-600 in "fees"). 

Also, even though we don't have to work over the summer, this is used as justification to pay us less. The bad part of this is that as a graduate student, the summer is used for working on your thesis/dissertation, and so you will have little time for another job. Not to mention how difficult it is to find a job that will hire you for only 3 months out of the year. And, to top it all off, if you do are a full time student and GTA, you are not expected to be working a second job, and this could affect your GTA position, so working a second job year round may not be a great idea. 

MTSU may be a great school to attend but it is totally different to work there. It is very status oriented which means if you don't have a college degree you are talked down to by the administration. There is a great deal of talking behind people's backs and backstabbing that goes on in the offices. Most times they will assign you a task but then not tell you how to do it. There is not a great deal of sharing of information that goes on in offices or between offices. Whenever there are large jobs requiring data entry the office staff will usually pawn that off on 'student workers' who really don't care about accuracy (because it's just a temporary place for them) and this causes a lot of mixups over time because information is entered incorrectly. The people who ultimately suffer from this are the students themselves because when paperwork is misplaced or entered into their system incorrectly the university places the burden of proof on the students who then have to run around like chickens with their heads cut off to retrace their steps and resubmit paperwork they've already submitted. The people that work at MTSU are just not very nice people. I worked there for many years. Believe me I know.

I thoroughly enjoyed my work-life at MTSU. My colleagues and I enjoyed many work-life experiences, and I would highly recommend the University to anyone who wants to attend as a student, or who wants to apply for a job there. The campus is very well kept and beautiful. The faculty to student ratio is very good. The classroom ambiance is very good, and it fosters a very conducive learning and teaching environment. Visitors, who were either very interested in attending the University, or who wanted to be employed there, or a combination of both, were always welcomed by teachers, administrators and students, alike. I never would have left the University if I was not compelled to relocate to Delaware to live near family. However, I am still in touch with many of my MTSU colleagues on a regular basis. So, I am generally well in touch with the happenings on the campus, and the general Murfreesboro community. Again, MTSU is a productive, fun workplace. and

Working at Middle Tennessee State University has been a rewarding experience. A typical day involves assisting with laboratory instruction, supporting students, and contributing to academic activities. I gained valuable teaching, communication, leadership, and technical skills. Management and faculty members are supportive and encourage professional growth. The workplace culture is collaborative, diverse, and student focused. The most challenging part of the job is balancing academic responsibilities with work commitments, but it helps develop strong time-management skills. The most enjoyable part is interacting with students, sharing knowledge, and contributing to their academic success.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The coworkers are easy to work with and are willing to share and collaborate. The administration is supportive and accessible when one needs assistance. There were many opportunities provided for training and support.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I was rarely stressed other than end of semester and getting my grades uploaded. I was offered support with ways to assure students submitted work on a timely basis.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment was friendly and I experienced a team oriented environment where everyone I worked with was willing to share.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Fast paced. I taught classes back to back and this also required me to change classrooms. I like the environment of college teaching so I found it to be exhilarating!

I have worked as a math tutor at MTSU for over 2 years; while the benefits and compensations may be relatively low due to it being student work, it is seldom to come across such a balanced work environment where the management seems to have your well-being and own individual needs at the forefront of their relationship with you. The hours are in brief spurts, but while you are assisting the students who come in for help, you must be prepared to give onto them your undivided attention and presence in order to cultivate a relationship to where they can seriously engage with the material. The workplace is fairly laid back as your main responsibility is just to be dependable so the students who are seeking help may feel confident in their learning, and rarely does the job infringe upon your own personal boundaries to the point of being detrimental for the worker.

Being a resident assistant was not an easy job because of the demands it puts on college students. As a student, I feel school should be my number one job. However, as an RA, one has many responsibilities. A typical day involved talking with residents and also being a liaison between residents and the area coordinator; maintenance; emotional support for residents and co-workers; planning activities; doing health and safety inspections; and doing perimeter checks every three hours from 5pm-6am. Also, being on call one night weekly and one weekend monthly. All of these tasks and also going to class and doing homework are pretty exhausting for a typical student. It was very hard work but I'm glad that I have that kind of experience. It helped me to get out of my comfort zone and gave me a lot of experience leading groups.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative assistant 6 salaries reported	$32,725 per year
College advisor 6 salaries reported	$56,646 per year
Executive assistant 4 salaries reported	$42,084 per year
Coordinator 8 salaries reported	$47,760 per year
Assistant director 6 salaries reported	$68,504 per year

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