administrative assistant

plant operator

assistant professor

patrol officer

senior laboratory technician

Murray State University

What is the best part of working at the company?
There are multiple types of HVAC equipment in service. I was a Residential HVAC technician when I started. I have learned a lot about chillers centrifugal chillers ,screw chillers multiple brandsCarrier, Trane, York. I’ve also learned a lot about boilers from fire tube, condensing boilers, steam, boilers. Bas control systems. Myself coming from a residential background. I have learned an extreme amount of knowledge from day-to-day operations of the equipment as a technicians helper, a lead technician and now I’m a journeyman Hvac supervisor the vast majority of equipment located on university property is the greatest place to be exposed to multiple types of HVAC equipment.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part is anyone else who has spent 25 years in HVAC industry the hotter it gets or the colder it gets the harder you work. Myself as a supervisor I have more day to day paperwork, invoices, multiple projects for new HVAC installation. This is the variance between a technician and being in the field daily I myself as a working supervisor I’m not only in the office, but I am also in the field assisting technicians with day-to-day problems and making sure that campus operations run as smoothly as possible. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There is not a better group of tradesmen within facilities management than the men on our dock. Which consist of the HVAC department, electrical department, plumbing department, and building trades department. The environment within the trades across facilities management from shop to shop is good we work well together supervisors, communicate and employees of other trades help each other.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical day for me could be paperwork, dealing with subcontractors, major repairs, meeting with engineers, meetings about replacement of equipment. Repairing HVAC systems from 1000 ton chillers to 2 ton residential units. There are 88 buildings on campus that’s a lot of HVAC equipment to keep running.

I could not speak more highly of my experience working for Murray State University.  I was able to accomplish my career goals with this employer and have an unforgetable experience.  The staff members were wonderful to work with.  They really get to know and care about every individual.  I am extremely thankful and greatful to have been apart of the working atmosphere at Murray State University.  I enjoyed the professionalism of my colleagues and highly reccommend this employer to anyone who is interested in a position with the university.  I think a sign of a good employer is one that allows you to grow in your professional career.  MSU certianly excelled at helping me grow professionally.  Periodically, I would be assigned various job tasks that were challenging to me.  This would allow and require me to develop new skills and techniques giving me a well balanced job experience.  I think the hardest part of my job task was the paperwork, database management, record keeping ect..  Sometimes it was repetitious.  However, it is necessary in virtually any enterprise today.  The best part about working for Murray State University was the people I worked with and the campus population I served.  I am proud to be a Racer and to have been fortunate to work with the amazing staff at MSU.     

A family atmosphere with many technical challenges.  A typical day at work was not quite typical many days you could be doing several different tasks.  I learned while I was there serial networking is complex and can be touchy.  Medical instrument manufacturers are in the dark ages of networking and someone needs to step up and bring these devices up to date in a networking sense.  I mean who still deals with serial connections anyway most companies that have made devices that interface with PCs and or Macs by this time have gone to a standard USB.  This could be considered the hardest part of the job was instrument interfacing with legacy technologies.  Another issue that made the job difficult was the fact that you are the only Information Technology person there and there were very few who were knowledgeable of the systems and much documentation was lacking from in-house systems solutions.  The most enjoyable part of the job was the challenge and the people. There were regular potluck lunches to celebrate staff birthdays and occasionally there would be break snacks.

I was so lucky to have landed a tenure track job teaching philosophy, and I really enjoyed my work, which included teaching 4 classes a semester (20-40 students in each class), research and publishing, conference attendance and paper presentations, student affairs activities (I was residential college head for several years), committee work, program development, course creation -- I like all aspects of this work, and I was able to achieve the rank of full Professor, and so was at the top of my salary rank, as well. I just wanted more time to study yoga and I wanted more time to develop important relationships. The best part of my job: Teaching, of course; I truly enjoyed presenting challenging ideas/ topics and mediating debate and creating a vital learning environment. I also love research and writing, although the time to do this was very limited due to the heavy teaching load.

Murray State housing office is not the kindest when it comes to their RA's. It is extremely stressful, they work you way more hours than they pay you, which the pay is barely enough. You can get raises with staying in the position longer, but that is at the cost of your mental health. There were many RA's I knew that had mental health crisis and they were brushed to the side, as well as many issues (including safety, rule following, ect) that also got brushed off. This job, however, is great for resumes, it builds strong connections, and I had made a great group of friends through this job. Although, some of the people in this job field are not suitable for it, and Murray refused to do anything about them, other than maybe a stern talking to. Not to mention the potential dangerous situations you will be put into, all the way from PD getting involved or mold. If you're crazy enough, you will do fine, but do not put yourself through more than 3 semesters in the job.

I enjoyed the work but there were no benefits nor opportunities for advancement.I checked in and out summer students. I learned how to file documents such as maintenance and work orders and residential student information. Answered phone calls and took messages for each residential college. Not a difficult job. Monitored residential college boundaries as a security guard. I would arrive for my shift and take phone calls and notes and would occasionally work as a security guard for the residential colleges.If 1 hour breaks were given I would take a break and return to the desk at the residential college that I was stationed at and would remain at the desk until my shift was over. There were times when I could finish homework and other things at the desk when the lobby was not busy.

Working as a computer lab supervisor was a great job even for someone with a tough workload. I overall enjoyed going to work on my scheduled days. I had the ability to write papers and do assignments while working and I could quickly run to grab a to go box or snack if my schedule ran through a typical meal time. My supervisor was understanding and always made sure to work around my schedule. There was no training so I had to teach myself how to scan/copy/print documents, understand lockdown browser, and which computer labs have certain programs. But as long as you have general knowledge about computers its easy to learn and help the students who come in. 

Responsibilities include maintenance of computer-based files, data entry and report preparation, creating and maintaining confidential forms, answering multi-phone lines, answering emails for department and chair when needed,  scheduling appointments for chair of department, preparing travel requests and travel vouchers for faculty, scheduling pick up of university vehicles, and scheduling rooms for guest speakers and tentative professors, setting up appointments for prospective students to meet with a professor from recruitment office, general office duties and initial contact with all visitors to the office. Order textbooks and supplies for professors and adjunct lecturers. Interview and hire new student workers when needed for office assistance.

As a student assistant I am working with other students and their parents providing accurate information concerning their financial aid and scholarship awards. I have learned how to profesionally speak with individuals concerning important information regarding their awards and problems the may have with their account.

I enjoy all of my co-workers and managers. We work well together and have open communication at all times. The hardest part of this position is that I have to work around my class schedule and don't always get enough hours. Although, being able to be flexible with school and work has been the most enjoyable.

Murray State faces the same operational constraints as other state universities: low funding from the state, outside meddling by the state Post-Secondary body, student recruitment and retention, and making ends meet in tough times. While they cannot quite keep up with respect to salary, it is a university where its faculty and staff have a sense of belonging and are treated as people, not as salary lines doing a job. Students are likewise treated as individuals.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative assistant 15 salaries reported	$14.66 per hour
Plant operator 9 salaries reported	$14.18 per hour
Assistant professor 17 salaries reported	$59,087 per year
Patrol officer 16 salaries reported	$22.21 per hour
Senior laboratory technician 5 salaries reported	$21.32 per hour

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