graduate researcher

graduate assistant

instructor

biological technician

research assistant

Oregon State University

The university claims to value a whole lot of things that aren't actually reflected in how it is run, which is increasingly like a top-heavy business rather than an organization dedicated to education, research, and shared governance.

One of the most obvious places this shows up is in faculty hiring and promotion decisions, which are primarily financially motivated. The university increasingly hires only (underpaid) non-tenure-track faculty in areas with little grant funding potential, and massively over-hires in areas with high funding potential. This leads to a lopsided distribution of faculty that doesn't align with the educational needs of students, nor provide a well-rounded research environment. Additionally, it leaves many departments staffed largely by powerless contingent faculty managed by a shrinking class of aging senior faculty, which is not a healthy power dynamic.

Moreover, promotion and tenure decisions in well funded areas seem to be made almost entirely on the basis of funding. Poor teachers with track records of verbally and emotionally abusing grad students sail through the process with enough funding, while excellent teachers and advisors struggle with even slightly below average funding.

Another place this shows up is in class sizes and degree programs. The Master of Engineering program, for example, exists because it brings in huge amounts of international tuition dollars, despite the fact that most faculty agree that it negatively impacts the university's reputation (due to the lower standards of the degree) and the quality of its grad classes (due to significantly increased class sizes filled with many students who would not be accepted into other degree programs).

Other pros and cons of the job are typical for any academic position: the work is rewarding but there is too much of it; you'll work with many interesting colleagues but also deal with many big egos.

Pay in my field is under market but still good for tenure-track faculty, well below market for contingent faculty. Benefits are overall excellent.

My experience has probably been more negative than is typical.  I've worked as a post doc/research associate here for many years.  In the department I work in there is a culture of utilizing PhD researchers without allowing them to develop their own careers.  In particular, most post doc/researchers (in this particular department) are strictly forbidden from applying for grants with the intent being to not  develop future 'competitors'. If you're geographically tied to the area, this leaves you in a position of remaining in an underclass, doing the research for other scientists grants and being poorly compensated for it (compared to other similar institutions).   If you find yourself in one of these positions there is no path to career advancement whatsoever.  Funding has been offered to me on a 6-12 month basis, with 6 week notice of reappointment of extension, which leaves you constantly worrying about being unemployed in the near future.   
A number of the faculty members I have worked with have been arrogant, egotistical, and devoid of modern management skills.  In my case often PI's egos have dictated the research direction rather than a sound scientific method.  As the researcher you're left holding the bag at the end of the grant, having chased red herrings for a couple years with no viable publications to show for it.  
  If you come to work here as a post doc make sure that your career objectives are clearly understood and respected before you sign on.  Make sure the job truly fits your goals as a scientist.  If you're not one of the chosen few with special post doc status, that allows you to pursue your own funding, and you need the job, get in, use the place and the people to network and to learn the ropes, and get out.   Have an exit plan to leave within 1-2 years so that your career doesn't get stifled by the place.   
  This of course is based on my personal experience here which is a function of the particular faculty I worked with.  Others might have a much more positive opinion.

For a typical day at work I either film or edit video. Filming is different every week depending on the different events that need to be filmed. I mostly spend my time at work editing the videos that have already been filmed. I will work on multiple projects within one day of work. I use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit all my videos. When I am done editing the videos, I export them using Adobe Media Encoder. Once they have been exported I then upload them to the Oregon State Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) YouTube channel. My videos are watched and then approved by the marketing staff for the School of EECS. Once my videos are approved I can make the videos public on YouTube. 

I have learned how to use Adobe Audition more when editing audio in Premiere Pro. I have also learned how to manage my time when editing videos. Most of the videos that I edit do not have a specific time frame that they need to be completed in, but for the ones that do it has helped me organize my time. 

I would say the hardest part of my job is when I have to match the sound waves from an exterior microphone to the sound waves from the camera microphone when in Adobe Premiere. It can be difficult matching up those two audio tracks to make sure that the audio matches the video and isn't off in any way. 

The most enjoyable part of my job is being able to make my own creative decisions when it comes to structure of the videos I create. My superiors are open to my creative ideas and encourage me to use those ideas. I enjoy being able to create new graphics when editing and use different camera angles when filming. I also enjoy taking on new and challenging projects, because it keeps me on my feet and makes me excited about my job. Overall I love this job and the pros outweigh the cons (there are very few cons).

I have been at OSU for 22 years. There are departments that are excellent to work for and support their employees 100%. If you're lucky, you'll be in a great department with a competent manager and exciting work. If you have a difficult manager, it takes awhile for the organization to "discover" the manager's shortfalls (sometimes never) because OSU is so huge, and bad managers and supervisors can fake their way through for 2-4 years or longer. Another challenge for employees, managers and supervisors is that OSU leadership sometimes demands certain mandates be accomplished without being cognizant that the tools, systems or resources are not available to support it. Sort of like building a house without nails, wood and only one construction worker. I would guess that certain departments have this happen to them more than others.

All in all, I would say that getting your foot in the door is the biggest step, and if you don't like your position, be in it awhile to learn new skills and then apply to other jobs at OSU. Whatever the case, doing some research about the department when a job offer comes your way is a good way to avoid being unhappy.

I was and continue to be grateful to have been offered a GTA during my graduate studies in the Communication Department. The teaching experience was terrific. The benefits (insurance and tuition reimbursement) were stellar and stipend moderate.

The management was terrible. My supervisor was inept and prone to showing preference for the GTA's that were men and those who were LDS affiliated. Though GTA's are protected by the Graduate Teachers Union, the department did not follow any of the contract rules and often told GTA's that they did not have benefits (like sick time and vacation time) that they clearly had per the contract with OSU. She would tell GTA's that they had to find their own replacements if they were sick, and that you were only allowed to miss teaching if you were in the hospital. Because I was the union rep for our department, I was blacklisted by my supervisor when I called them out on these tactics.They also were back-a@#-wards with regards to following diversity and inclusion standards, with little to no motivation to implement the proper diversity and inclusion requirements. And little interest in changing their ways despite the union reprimanding them.

OSU makes a lot of lip service to encouraging diversity and creating a healthy environment for employees and students. Limited oversight of many positions and virtual immunity to long-tenured employees means that in practice your experience is solely in the hands of your direct supervisor. The union agreement means that any rights one has an employee don't come into effect until you've been on the job for 6 months. Some supervisors abuse this. I was verbally and emotionally abused on the job and had virtually no recourse because of my probationary status as an employee. I hope that my experience was not representative of the University as a whole but saw little to suggest otherwise. Many many people in supervisory roles have no business being there and simply fill the positions by outlasting other more qualified employees that move on to bigger and better things.

A typical day would be to enter in journal vouchers and scan them into the computer. Also to enter in invoices and scan them in so companies could get paid by OSU. I would file all the invoices and journal vouchers that had been approved. I would walk the deposits across campus and run any other errands that needed to be done if campus mail had already come or they needed the items there in a timely manner. I learned organizational skills, excel, banner and how a successful office runs. My management was amazing, and questions I had they helped with and my co workers were always there for each other. It was a very good work environment. The hardest part of this job was that I was attending college at the same time so I would go to class then drive to work and still need to do homework. The best part of the job was that when all the work was done and I could not help anyone else with their duties I could go and study.

At the start of each day, we prepare tables for assembly still prepping of meals and foods for event that day. Our work is mostly maintaining the cleanliness of the room and making sure that everyone is safe. 

I learned that every culture that we have at Oregon State University is different and they use numerous different ingredients to make each and every master piece that came through our facility. They all work hard in there own way. 

The hardest thing about this job would be the strenuous 5-9 hours that we have to work for a specific organization. Sometimes its easy but sometimes there are days that require our full attention because of so many items on the menu. Another difficulty that I faced while on the job would be the language barriers that we faced when working with people who were a generation before us. The majority of the time when we had to work with grandparents or parents, it can get a little sticky because we can't fully understand one another.

I worked at this place for four years and then left because there was no future for me there. My Department Head had no strategic vision or forward outlook, he just reacted to problems that arose. And the problems were many because he had no control over the support staff in the department. Teaching load was ridiculous for the teaching appointment I had. Higher-level administration could have cared less, all they want to know is how much grant money you expect to bring in this year. Most of the tenured/tenure-track faculty I knew weren't really interested in teaching, with a (very) few excellent notable exceptions. By and large the faculty are there to advance their own research careers and professional status in their respective organizations, and Oregon State is a great place to do that because it allows that to happen. Good luck if you want to go there and be recognized for teaching...

I am a full time student in the ECampus program at Oregon State University.  A typical day for a student in the program consists of watching online lectures, collaborating with fellow students, and actively working on the coding assignments for the week.  The program is fast-paced, so self-discipline and time management are very important.  Often the assignments are individual, but there are occasions that allows for students to work in groups. The hardest part about the program would probably be the pace.  It can be hard to  learn a large amount of information in such a short amount of time, but with proper planning and tapping in the support structure of classmates and staff, it can be done.  By far, the most enjoyable part of the job is the creative problem solving used to create the programs assigned each week.  It's not for the faint of heart, but it is a lot of fun,.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Graduate researcher 7 salaries reported	$2,521 per month
Graduate assistant 9 salaries reported	$2,304 per month
Instructor 77 salaries reported	$48,263 per year
Biological technician 98 salaries reported	$21.49 per hour
Research assistant 11 salaries reported	$47,996 per year

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