records specialist

adjunct instructor

enrollment specialist

associate director

assistant professor

National Louis University

It’s the same old story for pretty much everyone coming out of a Ph.D. program these days; tenure-track positions are few and far between, so adjuncts (part-timers) get the scraps from whatever work is leftover after full-timers get their schedules. And believe me, you’re never allowed to forget you’re a part-timer at this particular institution! For starters, you get no support for *anything.*  It’s incredibly difficult to even get your copying orders completed for your students!!!  Even the knucklehead in the copy room knows that, a) you’re part-time and have no power whatsoever, and b) you have no one to turn to if he doesn’t do your copy order!  Half the time (probably more than half the time) I just went to Fedex/Kinkos and paid for it myself.

The second shocker: all the students have become accustomed to getting all As for their grades, even if they haven’t done the work!!!  I had a faculty member confirm this, when I confessed to her that every single student seems to think (and likewise demand) that they should get an A, no matter what! For a student to get a B, they had to have only attended maybe half the classes and turned in half-finished papers. I had one student —and by the way, this was a graduate class—end a paper mid-sentence! I guess that was where she stopped typing when her cellphone rang.  When I told her she’d have to finish the paper with an appropriate conclusion, she said, “what do you mean—do it OVER?!”  HigherEd is a mess these days, folks, and yet every institution needs to keep drawing students into their programs, and, of course, PAY for those classes.  The students have more rights—and power, actually—than their part-time professors who virtually have no mentors or even supervisors to help them!  As I said, it’s a mess!

I have enjoyed my time at NLU after a year, but I am ready to transition to something that offers better pay and competitive benefits. Health benefits are very expensive. Tuition waivers are not guaranteed and are on a term-to-term basis, so be aware of that when accepting a position. There is a high turnover rate at the Chicago Campus, so you can advance quickly, but there are no great systems in place, so you will have to learn the job and make up the requirements as you go. The university is expanding quickly, so you are often taking on extra projects not in your description. There is not a strong commitment to diversity among upper leadership, so there are very few people of color in leadership positions. There is a strong push from people of color to expand DEIB efforts, but it is slow-moving, and there are a lot of barriers, including the need to educate people on why there needs to be a push for change. The students are amazing and why I show up each day. There is a lot of diversity among the student population with regard to race, economic status, etc. They are absolutely phenomenal. 

My typical day begins at 7:30am. I'm one of the first employees in the door at the University. I check the vacation calendar and schedule to be certain that everything is up to date. I sort through my emails and prioritize accordingly. After that's complete, I print out the daily schedule, double check all of my bosses appointments for the day, print out all materials needed for meetings, and proceed to juggle meeting requests, supply orders, timecard & expense submissions, and various other administrative tasks throughout the day. These tasks may sound overwhelming but it helps when you work for a fantastic management team. In all my years of experience, I have never had bosses as cool as these guys. They have pushed me to succeed and given me the freedom to make executive decisions on my own. My co-workers are just as great! National Louis is a really wonderful place to work and I can't say enough positive things about them.

A typical work day involved answering inbound calls and directing them to the requested department/personnel.
 In addition, the position allowed for me to aide other departments with projects:
- copy room projects: involved binding books for college programs or meetings, packaged books for shipping, collating pages for completing pamphlets and program guides and students planners

Greeted students and educational professionals attending classes or campus events or meetings. 

Worked closely with advisers enrollments specialists and prior learning team in preparing information boards, with pamphlets and available new programs, throughout the campus.

Student Life Supervisor was horrible and SUPER unqualified for her position in National Louis University's PACE program. She made a lot of questionable judgments and refused to accept and feedback from her staff. She did not advocate on behalf of her staff and their needs to continue being effective and was consistently rude and unapproachable. Also, she condoned the negative behaviors of other staff members regardless of the safety concerns of staff and students. 
Management made me feel low and like I was an irrelevant part of the team and for that reason, I would never encourage someone else to pursue a similar position with the PACE program at National Louis University.

While I love my job and feel supported by my immediate supervisor, as an adjunct professor I receive no added benefits.  If I have to miss a class, which I haven't this quarter, I don't get paid.  We are asked to evaluate our at-risk students, meet with them on a regular basis, and communicate with their academic coaches. None of this extra time is compensated. Adjuncts also receive no benefits so I have to go through Marketplace for health insurance.  As an adjunct I also do not get paid during the summer and cannot receive unemployment because I am an adjunct Professor. Leave the profession or stay becomes a battle every year.

One of the most rewarding and hardest jobs I've ever had. Typical adjunct teaching job. Lecturing, labs, homework, exams. Prepared students for professional test. Learned how to design programs for a better hands on learning experience. 

Management responds to quickly certain issues. This does not extend to other groups involved in creating the course. Big disconnect there. That was the hardest part of working  for NLU. 

Courses are created by programmers. Your input is not considered. Experienced this a student too. Luckily, making it right for the students was one of the most enjoyable parts of the job.

Got hired as a adjunct, not to be in a pool but hired to teach, paid for transcripts, notary, completed the training, never got a class, was not reimbursed for my time or money spent.  After several emails and calls asking for reimbursement, the reply was you are now in a pool and we may find a class for you.  I explained, that everyone is in a pool to start, once you hire that person to go through training, have official transcripts sent and have forms notarized, then you are hired...duh:(  I spent quite a bit of money not to mention a lot of time going through the process and simply asked to be reimbursed, that was almost 2 years ago.  Horrible to treat adjuncts this way:(

When I started at NLU, the president of the university preached about how they cater to underprivileged communities and our student population is very diverse. However, the way they treat their employees is horrible. Staff with different experience and education levels are all making the same base salary. I do not make a livable income while we preach to students that their education will open so many doors for them. They did not handle the pandemic well and have put students, staff, and faculty at risk. Managers let certain staff get away with special treatment, while ignoring complaints about the same person

If you have a love of teaching there are opportunities to teach bright, energetic students. As a workplace I thought that the adjunct faculty was treated as second-class faculty. Paydays were once a month, training was provided but uncompensated and typically during holiday breaks. What I learned most at NLU is that you will find yourself working full-time hours for part-time pay.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Records specialist 56 salaries reported	$18.82 per hour
Adjunct instructor 8 salaries reported	$43,000 per year
Enrollment specialist 1 salary reported	$56,838 per year
Associate director 2 salaries reported	$79,854 per year
Assistant professor 4 salaries reported	$59,375 per year

Working at National Louis University: Company Overview and Reviews

National Louis University

National Louis University Ratings

Popular jobs at National Louis University

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected