assistant professor

Trine University

At first I was very excited to start with Trine. As they made it sound like a great job and fun workplace. My hiring manager was awesome but ended up quitting only a few weeks after i got started. Then, a lot more people began to quit as well. I was shocked but pursued working here with not much concern. 


I was told that I will be working weekends and will begin long travel just after 3 short weeks working here. It was a lot to manage and with everyone quitting, their workload was topped onto mine. I began to feel much less appreciated within the first month. Management was hard to communicate with and fellow counselors seemed annoyed with any help or concern for any new hire. 

Most people seemed stressed or overworked, I myself was. It became a toxic environment with shifts, changes, and unexpected outcomes as the new school year got closer. I was told to travel for 10 days straight, which I declined and would be punished for later (termination). I wanted a work/life balance here at Trine but I could feel they want you all in at this job. You must be willing to work 60-80 hour weeks and travel very long distances for the role. It takes a toll on you and your family, which Trine shows little mercy for. 

Higher ups are wanting more numbers, data, etc to critique your work. Your efforts are minuscule on most days. You’ll feel devalued as a human and you will be gossiped about to HR. 

My manager and HR thought it was the appropriate thing to do was to let me go for not hitting my numbers for the year. Considering I only had less than a year to learn and had next to no help in any situation. My manager was very nervous and nearly shaking and crying when they decided to let me go. I know it was the right call for me to find what else is out there. 

I wish it could’ve been better. Most people are friendly but you’ll see how many people are miserable but are stuck here.

PTO was hard to utilize as well. At the end of it all, you’re micromanaged and told what to do without any exceptions and if you decide to do otherwise, you might as well be waiting for the day they let you go for whatever reason they find just.  

Overall I'm thankful for working at this institution and I think that it's mission and work is wonderful, however Sometimes it feels like high school children were selected to manage. They have no concept of how to treat employees beyond a vague idea of "being nice". Don't expect respect from your manager here. 

They like to make you feel like you owe them even though you're the one doing the work. There is also a strange attitude of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" that you have to consistently and vigilantly watch for. 

Sometimes it can feel like a social club rather than a job, and if you want to actually work, I would suggested you look elsewhere. We all enjoy having a conversation in the work place, however the amateur level of unearned egotism reflects on the intellectual dialogue of the place. 

Oh, and don't ever believe they allow growth. They will promote their own students as your boss regardless if you are more qualified. This is even true if you happen to have a master's or Phd. 

Overall, they do not recognize hard work as a positive thing, and they don't apply a very professional organizational structure.

The university spent 10 years and more than $50 million building new dorms, football stadium, and athletic center. During that time, no money was spent on programs and equipment, and none was spent to increase faculty salaries, which are 10- 20% lower than at peer institutions. In 2009, the university launched an initiative to improve programs and equipment and, supposedly, faculty salaries, but the five-year plan to raise faculty salaries with yearly increases was stopped without explanation after the first year. The administration does not care about faculty and staff, only about money. Several departments, notably mathematics and mechanical engineering, have lost more than half their faculty in the past three years. Despite the administration's assurance that they want to put a stop to the "revolving door," they have done nothing to please faculty and much to anger them.

- My daily activities depended entirely upon what my boss wanted me to do that day
- As part of my job, a fellow student and I were requested to complete a marketing plan for a semester of activities. As I had never done this before, it was a great learning experience
- My manager was fair and a pleasure to work with, but even though I was the marketing consultant, he had difficulty taking my advice on marketing affairs. This made me feel under-appreciated.
- My co-workers were college students as well. We were all paid minimum wage, so unfortunately, my co-workers had a fairly low work ethic.
- The hardest part of the job was dealing with the feeling of being under-appreciated
- The most enjoyable part was definitely the creative freedom that I was granted. Essentially, my supervisor gave me a task and allowed for me to decide how it would best be completed.

This institution is a hot mess. All smoke and mirrors on the outside but deep within its bowels it is a disorganized entity lacking leadership and vision. Trine operates on an fire, point and aim approach. There is no job security. People are fired on a whim. Employees are not provided with the tools needed to be successful while the expectation remains high. Promotions are given to those without merit and they come frequently. You can even be a Vice President at Trine University and only hold a high school diploma. Some departments are greatly favored over others. There is a change in middle management leadership approximately every 18 months.  Change does not always equal progression. 
If you enjoy being unappreciated, living in fear of losing your job, and having the rug pulled out from underneath you, then this is the place for you. 

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Trine, the students were the only reason I stayed as long as I did. This was my first "big" job after college and I didn't really know what to expect or plan for. I am someone who works better with regular signs of thanks and appreciation and you really don't get that in the office. Management will buy donuts and provide all these goodies but that means nothing if the next day they pile on a ton of work to your agenda. I had an issue with a co-worker and expressed those issues after I left and management didn't do anything to reprimand that person. The environment was extremely toxic and there were days I wanted to quit. But my students were the reason I kept my sanity and stayed. 

I am thankful for the experience I received while I was there, but I would never go back. 

First, if you are a woman expect to be treated as a lesser being. Not only are the cabinet members sexist but also quite racist. I was on call 24x7 when my male counterparts were not. I was constantly stuck between a war between two departments and it was miserable.   Towards then end I could hardly stand to go to work. I left the university to take on a lower job to get paid 20% more than at Trine. Best decision to leave.

The colleagues outside of my department on my level were fantastic. They genuinely cared about students and wanted to collaborate. I enjoyed working with the students at Trine. It was too bad that many of them were being taken advantage of and made to believe that they could get fully admitted to engineering programs when they couldn't and they would be out a lot of money.

I worked as an adjunct for a few years. I have worked at other institutions. The leadership at Trine treats their full-time employees very poorly. They "revoked" remote employment during a pandemic. So many good people lost their jobs. There was no warning. Leadership seems to change their mind at a moment's notice. Talented people lose their jobs... underqualified people get promotions. It makes no sense. If you want managerial support, logical job advancement opportunities, and to feel valued, avoid working here at all costs. It's an awful culture. Something isn't working "at the top." As other reviewers have stated, it's a hot mess. 

A great adjunct faculty teaching position. Trine has done a very good job I’m supporting me and helping improve my skills. This includes extensive training in course design. Also I get immediate response when I have a technical support question and I know that if I need something taking care of the problem has a tendency to stay fixed. The flexibility given in designing the courses is also definitely a benefit. The university also continues to provide opportunities for faculty development well beyond the typical required certifications that are provided by other institutions. Once again I feel well supported it Trine University. I feel there are opportunities for advancement at this institution.

Being a resident assistant allowed me to be able to be more outgoing and become a better leader. It was my job to create a welcoming environment for my residents so they could have the best college experience as possible in terms of residential life. I got to learn how to balance work and personal friendships with my residents. I had to know when I could have fun with my residents to make them feel comfortable and involved in the campus community, but I also had to make sure University policies were still followed properly. Being a resident assistant allowed me to develop skills that I never would have just by being in a classroom or from working at an internship writing code.

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