associate dean

assistant director

research assistant

custodian

administrative coordinator

Reed-College

I found that working for Reed was an enjoyable experience, but one which felt stagnant.

Co-workers were a delight, benefits were excellent, location was lovely, and atmosphere was generally positive. Doing work which changes and benefits the lives of those around me was a refreshing experience, and I felt like what I did on a day-to-day basis was important. Getting to move around and be outside was particularly nice considering the location and setting of Reed College.

Friction between management caused various issues, and a disregard for the importance of the position was often problematic. Often, it was treated (by both the community and those outside of it) as a simple security position; which is a vast over-simplification of a position which requires officers to regularly evaluate the need for medical responses, interact with the community in a "customer service" capacity, and deal with threats to the physical well-being of the campus and its community. This disregard was felt palpably in the low-income of the position.

Both a Pro and a Con of this position is that it fosters an extreme feeling of community and belonging. This sense that one is part of a greater community can feel toxic when one is treated poorly for wearing a uniform and performing their duties for the community they serve.

I have worked two positions as a student worker at Reed College. My Junior year I was a student assistant at the Office of the Registrar from September 2013 to May 2014, where I helped process course registration data and paperwork and provided assistance to full-time registrar staff.

Later, during the summer of 2015 I worked as a student worker at Reed College's Building Services, where I assisted custodians in cleaning and maintaining dormitory buildings. This job also included organizing a tool warehouse and extensive assembling of furniture before the dorms reopened in August.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Benefits and paid time off were nice

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Toxic culture of distrust, ladder-climbing, ridicule, lies and back-stabbing. Low wages with poor pathetic raises.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Terrible! It is very classist. If you are staff you will be looked down upon by administration and faculty as lower beings in the chaste system there, undeserving of respect or acknowledgment.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Pretty boring and mundane but other staff are mostly kind.

A fun place to work, if you enjoy intelligent students and staff. Constantly shifting cultural atmosphere and challenges makes the position a very interesting one. Poor management, focusing on micromanagement of your movement, and not on the actual job of helping students be healthy and safe so they can graduate, makes it a very hostile workplace.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Co workers,  and work environment.
Like all jobs  , nothing  is perfect. So you make of it what you can.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It's old institution and new ideas take a while to take root.  That is everywhere though. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very welcoming and patient.  Direct and clear in communication.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Very business,  with alot of problem solving and communication.

It's a better position than most of the admissions  work you'll find out there, but is inevitably limited by the fact that, unless you're a professor or working high up in management, you're still in kind of a filler position. If you're an employee that requires special accommodations, consider looking elsewhere; the management will be very understanding and try their best to help you out, but the college is too small and unorganized to properly deal with unexpected issues in a timely manner.

Great place within certain departments, but the overall leadership is often challenged with a lack of communication and can be received as toxic. However, amongst other colleges, this is a great place to work. Benefits are good, supervisors and colleagues are friendly, and the food on this campus is delicious

I saw a need in the Reed Community of Low SES and First Generation students and was able to develop a student group using funds according to student votes to do so. In a couple years, I was able to institutionalize a partnership with the Office for Inclusive Community that pays a wage for this work, while still allowing autonomy to continue to develop the programming, etc.

The library director couldn't care less about transparency, morale, or DEI. Male librarians get away with making disturbing comments. When the pandemic first began, non-librarians felt expendable and librarians were frustrated. Managers are simply librarians who are next in line, and never receive management training. 

Reed College's Health-related programs were hugely underfunded. There was at most one lifeguard on duty for the pool, which is not enough to perform anything other than an active drowning rescue. My time as a personal trainer was cut short due to cutbacks from the sports center's budget. The PHA program was well intended, but was unfortunately not terribly successful.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Associate dean 5 salaries reported	$81,492 per year
Assistant director 3 salaries reported	$59,833 per year
Research assistant 2 salaries reported	$21.80 per hour
Custodian 2 salaries reported	$20.69 per hour
Administrative coordinator 6 salaries reported	$23.28 per hour

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