professor

director of admissions

tutor

student advisor

assistant director

Savannah College of Art and Design

This was one of the worst places I have ever worked, and that is not an exaggeration. The turn over rate is high and emphasis is often placed on SCAD's brand. The pay rate is not competitive and it is a stressful work environment. You are always looking behind your back out of fear that you may have done something wrong while doing your job.  You are often asked to work additional times outside of usual work hours, while smiling and pretending to love SCAD.  Daily tasks often change on the fly and you are often asked to do things outside of your job description, regardless of what you were hired to do. They literally take "other duties as assigned" to another level. You may even be asked to clean the bathroom.

The hardest part of this job was killing your soul and drinking the SCAD "Kool-Aid" Volunteering for events because you have been forced to do so. Employees are made to volunteer for events, if you value your job you will "volunteer". The joke is we "volun-TOLD" to this event. You are forced to pay anywhere from $100-500 to attend gala's and events at SCAD Show so that the audience is full and it looked as if SCAD had some kind of relevance. 

Everyone lives in fear of the President and her husband, whenever they are up from Savannah he walks the halls looking for staff infringements, finding issues with what people are wearing to the way they are standing. He feels empowered to tear down hardworking people for sport.  You cannot be seen on your cellphone in their presence as it is considered in poor form (much of the communication between staff members happen via cell).  You are not allowed to say that it is too cold or too hot in the building or you would be in trouble for speaking out against SCAD. You cannot laugh too loud or frown because it may be seen as putting SCAD in a bad light.  It is frowned upon if you are found "leaning" in a doorway, emails are often sent out in regards to staff dress code and behaviors.

The administration office on the 5th floor is glass encased and you must be buzzed in to see anyone and they are not accessible to the staff and or students. 

It is not a true art's college as students and staff are not allowed to be themselves, you have to be a conservative, uptight, SCAD warrior. If you speak up or think on your own you will be "talked" too. 

Everyone from the VP to the security officers are unhappy in their roles and this often trickles down from the higher up's to their staff. People here are good workers but they are unhappy and underpaid. There is no work-life balance, if you have a family you will be expected to push them aside to put SCAD first. If you have planned vacations you may be told that you cannot take it due to a SCAD event requiring you to volunteer. Time off is a the discretion of your manager (if they are a good manager it would not be a problem, if for some reason they do not like you additional time worked or vacation may be forfeited). 

If you believe in higher education then look for work elsewhere, SCAD will suck all of the compassion and life out of you. There is no room for growth and no ability to speak to management (they could care less because they hate being there as much as you). This place has few people of color in high positions and the three that are in upper management are treated as "talking heads" simply put out there for show. It is full of institutionalized racism and treated like it is in small city Savannah rather than Atlanta.

The campus is unsafe there are often homeless people in the building and security will let anyone in.

Leadership within the college & Institutional Advancement is lacking and shows once you are working there. Most people at the top are either related to the president, best friends or have only worked at SCAD their entire adult lives. The amount of nepotism taking place is gag-inducing. Tunnel vision is a HUGE issue with leadership who doesn't really understand higher education. The college worries more about how it looks/feels to the external world than it does about the depth and substance of its mission and products; it's all smoke and mirrors folks. Major roadblocks are encountered when you bring new and fresh ideas on how to improve upon things for the betterment of the college and the fundraising shop.

I've never worked in a place as hostile as SCAD's fundraising shop. Employee turnover is outrageous and poor leadership is the direct cause. Director+ level managers have no clue what they’re doing and often fly by the seat of their pants when issues arise. Their incompetence creates a horrible ripple effect of unnecessary problems and issues for the college as a whole and for those in middle management and below, who actually are qualified and are working tirelessly to do their best for the benefit of the students and their co-workers.

There is a level of secrecy that is scary and Area 51-like. The things I witnessed and heard shocked me as a professional. One day you are given a stellar annual review + salary raise and the next you are shown the door for speaking up about serious issues needing to be addressed with work load and lack of administrative support. There is a culture of fear within the employees which directly translates into horrible moral and constant snickering among co-workers. Managers talk trash about VP's & even the president like it's going out of style behind their backs, but kiss the ground they walk on when around them. Disgusting!

In fact, the more successful one is in their role, the more they have to fear. Executive and upper management does not want to be challenged or held to the universally accepted standards for institutions of higher learning. Management is more interested in blindly-loyal foot soldiers than in innovative, qualified and confident administrators or faculty. People who suggest ways to improve, who strive for best-practices, or push for transparency are shown the door and quickly. Warning, I was.

Inarguably, a very successul business. It has brought back to splendor the city of Savannah from decay by buying and restoring old properties. Walking a very fine line between education and "education for profit." I agree with reviews mentioning paranoia. Student evaluations carry too much weight. Student complaints to advisors, counselors and others offices get your boss and HR to call you in. SCAD is paranoid of lawsuits, and makes good faculty members become themselves paranoid by feeling a real threat of "losing the job." A professor evaluated as "easy As" gets plenty of high marks and accolades, while a professor with high standards and college-level expectations for the students, gets bad reviews. Students expect grades no lower than a B, with a minimal amount of projects and tests. With a rumored 92% admission rate, it is hard to fathom 100% of final grades being As or As & Bs! However, it is often done, as a means of survival and of "job security."

The best part is however the challenge to be creative and innovative in your teaching style. I myself feel I have grown to be a much better, creative and engaging educator. However, there are limits. Lectures are despised, while entertainment is praised, and expected in most cases. Lecturing gets you straight to bad reviews. In all honesty, SCAD needs to be careful in not becoming a "glamorized high school." Students need to face challenges and solve these on their own, without parents involvement, and without the professor acting as proxy for the parents. It is vital that these students develop survival skills for real life in a professional job, and I honestly feel the university protects and panders too much to the students. Many may be graduating from college immature and still thinking life is a fantasy or a fictional plot where always a protector or superhero will fly in for the rescue.

I worked in a non-academic department, so I cannot and will not speak to the experience of working in an academic department at SCAD. Let me also start by saying some of the people I worked with, including my supervisor, were wonderful, motivated, and talented people who genuinely cared for and protected their employees' and coworker's job security and satisfaction.
Unfortunately, however, SCAD leadership and most of their initiatives prioritize image and impossible turnaround times over quality and depth of content. If you know how to say no, you will be passed over time and time again. If you DON'T know how to say no, you will be worked to the bone with a small chance of being promoted after years and years of work. You will be stuck in a constant cycle of ridiculous projects dreamed up by the president that are for image only and do nothing of real substance for students or the community at large. I was constantly pulled into projects and responsibilities outside of my job description that left me exhausted and feeling unappreciated. 
The workplace culture is quite catty and based on favoritism, as well. All companies have gossip, but this company should win an award for it. I've never met so many grown adults so invested in saying awful things about one another behind each other's backs. 
To keep it brief, if you are introverted, sensitive, or trying to be a part of projects that prioritize real learning and social change, this is unfortunately not the place to work. 

The interesting thing about SCAD is that it can always get worse. Just when you think it's at rock bottom and things can't possible get less ethical, less honest, less paranoid, less abusive, less degrading, less hostile ... it will. 

You will see your best and brightest colleagues run screaming to literally ANY other job--even TitleMax--and you'll tell yourself that if can't possible get worse. But it will. It always gets worse and there is nothing here worth staying for or worth saving. 

My friends who have gotten out say it takes weeks and sometimes months to get your stride back and I suppose that makes sense. After years of being micromanaged while treated like you are worthless and stupid, why wouldn't it take some time to get your professional confidence back? 

Why wouldn't you continue to feel terrified you might lose your job over every single task you are asked to complete? SCAD is the only place I've ever worked where people leave broken, feeling mentally/physically abused, and often with a seething hated for the company. 

You may hear people joke that SCAD is the North Korea of art schools and the comparison is not as crazy as it may sound. 

There is no professional or academic freedom; policies are changed on a whim and used to threaten/control staff/faculty; you are spied on at work and in your private lives on social media; everyone is terrified about losing their job all the time; the bottom line is always profit and the SCAD image.

The work is great. You get hands on experiance with film equipment, and how to maintain it. You also get to have a good relationship with the students and help them to get the equipment they need to make their films. However the direct management is where the problems lie. They are constantly changing the rules for reservations and then breaking them so you look like the bad guy rather than them. If you want to get anything done correctly you have to go above the direct managers to their managers or to the managers of another department. They don't communicate with you at all unless it is something that could potentially make them look bad if they don't communicate it. They also just sit in their office all day watching YouTube videos and shopping on Amazon. They are the true definition of "Manager" they don't lead they manager and they barely do that correctly. The number of times we had to rush to pack equipment that a student or professor had spent weeks talking to the management about getting is astounding. It got to the point where the professor's and students would just email staffers, or find out which work study worked in the equipment checkout center and send them in to make the reservations. There is a complete communication breakdown and the direct management doesn't seem to want to change that. Honestly if SCAD didn't have great Health care, and the students weren't as great as they were I wouldn't have stayed for as long as I had.

At the college the Atlanta campus is treated as secondary to the main campus in Savannah.  The Atlanta campus expects Atlanta staff to work the weekends when Savannah campus students are bused to the Atlanta campus when a hurricane threatens to hit the Savannah campus.  The Atlanta campus has a shortage of staff on both the faculty and staff side which can mean employees take on extra jobs not explicitly in their job description. There is very little professional development (especially if you are looking to be part of professional organizations or conference, none of this is paid for by the college).  The leadership can be strict about things such as where you eat your food (not at your desk) and does not like music played while at your desk (even if it is quiet).  The institution does not always do what is best practice according to research in higher education.  Not sure if this is because they think being an art school sets them apart or because they just value other things.  Pay at the institution is much higher than public schools compared and that may be a factor to why professionals stay even when they are not happy or satisfied.

There was nothing short of a revolving door during my entire employment as an Assistant Director of Enrollment (ADE). The Admission Department is completely incapable of developing and retaining talented employees. The culture is dysfunctional, upper management is oppressive and their only concerns are micromanagement, tyranny, and conformity instead of the mission of the university.
 
 There is a lack of employee engagement and satisfaction due to the disproportionate amount of responsibility. Inflated egos ran rampant and managerial incompetence proved to be damaging to innovation, productivity, and employee morale. Jobs were threatened routinely in relation to enrollment numbers. Had very little faith in any effort towards retention of competent ADEs as executives made it clear we were of no value.
 
 Could no longer settle for the disrespect and maltreatment, particularly from individuals whose only credibility resided in their job title as opposed to demonstrated excellence or leadership.

Unbearable administration, from Dean level up to the President
Not run like a real university, more like a communist country
Incredible lack of respect
Micromanagement to a point of absurdity
Constantly being spied on
Their way or the highway
No freedom of speech or expression
Cult-like environment
Leaders are only following and trying the please the President, not acting in the best interest of the students or faculty

I stuck it out for ten years. I tried to find other jobs but when real colleges found out I was teaching at SCAD they didn't take me seriously. Eventually I found a great job and have been happy, but suffering from PTSD, ever since. It's that bad. No matter how rosy they might make it appear, it's an awful, oppressive and disgusting place to work. Stay clear if you value your sanity and sanctity.

Working as a Front Desk Greeter was a great work study job at SCAD that allowed me to earn an income and not fall behind on my school work. Daily routine was checking in with the cage managers, scanning student IDs, directing tour groups and guests, and handling packages and deliveries. During peak hours you have to interact with a high level of students rushing to get to class, though between classes traffic drops to almost none. Job can be easy to get a hang of, though stressful the first time you have to deal with someone who has lost their ID card or walks by the ID scanner.

Largely you work by yourself at the front desk, though you check in with managers hourly or if there are any problems. Team in the back cage office are supportive and friendly, though you only see them from time to time. Best to bring something to fight off boredom between rushes as there is a lot of down time.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Professor 10 salaries reported	$85,750 per year
Director of admissions 3 salaries reported	$56,667 per year
Tutor 9 salaries reported	$10.00 per hour
Student advisor 5 salaries reported	$52,900 per year
Assistant director 10 salaries reported	$51,250 per year

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