administrative assistant

program specialist

assistant professor

student coordinator

accountant

New Mexico State University

NMSU-Grants is a two-year (mostly) teaching institution.  I taught a variety of science courses--lectures and labs--including introductory biology, cellular and organismal biology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, introductory chemistry, physical and historical geology, algebra based physics, developmental and college algebra, up to but not including calculus.Except for my last two years at the college, I also prepared chemicals and supplies for labs. For several years i was also program manager for science. That position required that I help other science faculty as needed, order supplies and texts, and  the maintain the organized lab. I also was a part of search committees, IT and leadership committees.
The work load was high and I generally put in 65-70 hours per week, seven days per week.  During the time that I was at the college, we started utilizing more technology including learning systems for online classes. Most classes included some vital components online; the last few times of teaching physical geology were totally online and included access to and returned work in assigned films, discussion, grading, Scientific American articles to review, labs, and a required individual field trip.,  
Colleagues were very compatible and we got together a few times per semester. For the most part, instructors were too busy to visit in the halls much.
The students were diverse ethnically, with about 1/3 each of Native Americans of different local nations, Hispanics, and Anglos with a few individuals from other parts of the world. Many of the students were older, having been working and raising families and were now mature and knew what they wanted. I enjoyed especially working with them even though many did not have confidence at first.  Chemistry and the upper level science courses were preparation for the BS in Nursing Program that was begun through NMSU-Las Cruces but held locally. Several of my students each year were accepted into the nursing program or went elsewhere for other programs including radiology, dental hygiene, pharmacy, and other nursing programs.
I enjoyed working with the students and getting together with other faculty members whenever possible.  The work load definitely was too much but I did what I needed to do for the students.

These positions are funded by grants from the state. There is no headroom to eventually earn a pay raise. You must work the allotted time, depending on department they will let you work on school work if you are a student. Other departments will have you try to organize 7 years of hard files that aren't even sorted by year, it's ok though, there's only like 9 filing cabinets (the lateral ones) and like 12 filing boxes full of them. They will also then prioritize their needs (like talking to you to obviously kill time in their day) when you're trying to study for finals and run their office for them. This position is highly subjective depending on the department you end up in. Sometimes they are great and you wish the position lasted longer, sometimes its a veritable nightmare. Regardless, the pay rate/available hours isn't enough to cover life expenses without student loans or grants. This job should only be considered by people with other sources of income and/or students. Students should be very clear with the department prior to employment if they need the time time work on studies. I would suggest getting something in writing prior to accepting the position. This way they cannot say your are shirking responsibilities when the management would rather small talk about unrelated things that don't even  apply to the job or the University as a whole, when you really are better off studying for a final. It is hard for me to give such a low aggregate score for the University when I had great experiences in a couple of departments. I just had such a night and day experience with another department I felt that it warranted this review. I will give this review for each department I worked for up there so its not obvious which one I had the terrible experience with. It should also be noted that the people in supervisory roles are replaced pretty frequently, two were replaced in my time there. So my experience there could be totally outdated and it could be completely different now. I just felt it pertinent to leave an honest review so others (if anyone even reads this) could go in a bit more prepared.

I have very much enjoyed working as a teaching assistant. The lab class I assist with is composed of upper-class engineering students, so they're all serious about what they're doing in class and I don't need to work to hard on keeping them motivated and on task. The work/life balance is ideal, the required time for my lab section is about ten hours per week, which leaves plenty of time for my studies. It is also rewarding personally to see students learn and benefit from the topics and activities in class and in lab.

My supervisor is also very experienced and knows how to work with his assistants. He doesn't micromanage while still providing oversight to the laboratory part of the class and assisting TAs with any issues they have. He is always courteous and helpful and will not turn away any of his assistants if they have questions.

The drawback of the work is the attitude that administration and graduate students seem to have towards teaching assistantships. Frequently, graduate students prefer to obtain funding from research roles, not teaching roles, but there are only so many research opportunities available in the department. It seems to me that often TAs will take a teaching position only because they have no other choice and therefore have a poor attitude towards their work. The department administration also is usually lukewarm in its support of the teaching assistants, so job training is usually done on the job or unofficially outside of class by more experienced TAs and information and support resources have to be provided by the supervising professor if at all.

Work varies depending on the season but the job involves watering plants in the greenhouse and shade house, collecting data from various graduate research projects that are going on simultaneously, taking inventory of supplies, making hybridizations between chile pepper plants, pruning, weeding greenhouse and fields, harvesting fruits during the fall, washing and sanitizing greenhouse benches, pots, etc., sterilizing soil, sowing seeds, organizing and cleaning seeds, and so much more! Every day has something different in store!
Supervisors and co-workers have always been friendly and supportive of each other. There are monthly team meetings for updates going on in the program but also with each other's lives. The program also will have seasonal potlucks which is super fun because of how diverse the team is! You get to try food from various parts of the country but also foods from across the globe!

A typical day involved arrival at work, reading any and all emails, training materials and memos. Staff meeting and daily orders were given. Start of calibration of dosimetry equipment for daily radiobioassay of civilians and government workers. Conducted quality control and calibration of lung and whole body counting systems.Safe handling of radioactive materials and samples.Scheduling of appointments review of bioassay results.
Daily filling of the detectors and daily radiation sampling and surveying of the lab environment.

I learned about the biological aspects of radiation counting and assaying of the human body.

The bioassay lab was being run by a manager from a different department with little knowledge of the radiation side of the department. His entire interest was in the older programming language used by the older computers.

Workplace culture was dominated by liberal college culture in contrast to a normal working environment.

The hardest part was maintaining the system in a filled and ready state due to the cryo stats.

Environment was a quite and pleasant lab environment most times.

This was an accounting position with the Director of Foundational Advancement. This is a great work study job for aspiring student accountants; lots of accounting and legal applications to learn and practice under the direct supervision of the director. The director with whom I worked is GREAT lady, very instructive and inclusive for all involved in the scholarship origination and procurement process; (she's still there, as the director, so, if you have a chance to learn from her as her accounting assistant then jump on it). I learned so much at this position which I've carried with me into the professional world.

It's a "indentured" student work-study scholarship awarded position, so there are no job benefits (except what students get through the University), the position is usually temporary and temporal (per semester and per available funding), the pay is low, and there are no opportunities for DIRECT advancement as the position terminates currently, with graduation--that is how work study positions operate.

As an Instructor one was able to define and set the parameters and desired outcomes for each class. Personally, I for one shied away from exam-oriented classes. In fact, in a disavowal of the "banking" form of pedagogy where the teacher is the "repository" of knowledge and the student the "receptacle", I dallied in more open ended scenarios of projects, workshops and seminars, while including plenty of orality for the students to seek other "texts", as well as to create their own narratology, like in siding on a pro or con of a debate (once it was globalization; where I offered arguments on both sides  (albeit minimally) to fuel and encourage discussion)
Classes included Rhetoric and Composition, Scientific and Technical Communication, Immigrant Experience, and Revolutionary Thought. T last was my favorite with about 12 students. We studied Marx, Guy Debord, Badiou and some other texts. The class was buttressed by contemporary films and documentaries.
The best part of the job was turning the students' "I can't write" mantra on its' head and getting some reassuring work from these college freshmen and sophomores

Working at NMSU is okay. 
I would not recommend it for young people starting out, especially if they are looking to advance and increasingly make more money. 
NMSU feels like where careers go to stagnate. It's a lot of people just waiting for retirement. 

Benefits are decent; they have good health insurance and okay amount of time off available. Landing a job here offers stability- there are helpful processes and rules in place for work assessment and essentially job protections. (But that goes for everyone-i.e. if you get a bad manager / work environment, don't expect any real help or change from the higher ups). 

Pay is 10-20k below many parts of the rest of the country for the same positions. 
NMSU can be very traditional and by-the-book, i.e. many departments won't allow remote work , do things as they have always done them. 

Could be a decent place for people are fine with the above described environment and want just stability overall. 
If you are: younger, thrive on change, want to be a paid a fair and good living wage (at least,)and  like new opportunities from the day to day to the long run, you could work there for a bit but don't stay stuck there. 





I recently completed a role as a Research Assistant at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, and it was a fantastic experience. The workplace had a vibrant and enjoyable atmosphere, making it a pleasure to work there. The team consisted of knowledgeable and supportive individuals, which led to excellent communication and collaboration.

Our research focused on cutting-edge projects in electrical engineering, and the resources available at NMSU were top-notch. The lab was well-equipped with state-of-the-art technology, which was essential for our experiments and data analysis.

One of the best aspects of the job was the strong sense of community and camaraderie among the staff and fellow researchers. We frequently engaged in insightful discussions, brainstorming sessions, and casual gatherings, fostering a positive rapport and teamwork.

Overall, my time at NMSU was incredibly positive, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work in such a stimulating and supportive environment.

By having the opportunity to work the the NMSU Theraputic Riding Program I have been able to be apart of children's lives through the way of a horse. Horses have been such a big part of my life growing up and through college, that when I was given this opportunity to work with students and horses at the same time there was no question to be asked. During this experience I have been able to work with Children with Disabilities, Children with Autism, and Children who are Hard of Hearing/Deaf and watch them grow through the interactions with a horse. I was able to experience and watch the growth of students who had limited or no moment on certain sides/parts of their body, strengthen those muscles and be able to perform functions independently. I was also able to connect with children that would not interact with people outside of their home and help those students become excited to come and participate during their next lesson.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative assistant 24 salaries reported	$17.83 per hour
Program specialist 14 salaries reported	$46,904 per year
Assistant professor 25 salaries reported	$66,919 per year
Student coordinator 10 salaries reported	$17.75 per hour
Accountant 22 salaries reported	$55,586 per year

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