lecturer

assistant professor

director

teaching assistant

research engineer

University of Dayton

A typical day working as staff in the library was somewhat typical if you have ever worked in circulation. I assisted students and faculty with general library questions such as how to locate books, use library equipment, book study rooms and answered some reference questions. 

I didn't learn much from this position that I had not known already. I have over twelve years worth experience working in both public and academic libraries. 

The management within the libraries is a traditional and conservative, a hierarchy exists that puts the Dean and tenured librarians at the top and the staff at the bottom. This divide helps contribute to the sense that staff, including myself, feel less valued.  Tenured faculty get privileges such as working from home, "research days" higher status and higher pay yet there does not seem to be a reason for librarians to even have tenure as they do not have the traditional demands of a true professor. 

Additionally, there was a tenured faculty member who was a known problem and received a demotion by the Dean when the allegations and workplace behavior they displayed would have gotten them fired anywhere else. This situation created lasting negative relationships between many people within the libraries and contributed to a sagging sense of morale. 

The hardest part of the job was struggling to keep up with the demands after numerous budget cuts forced my department from six or seven staff down to four. I was in charge of way too many things and had to rely on student workers sometimes to complete my work which was unfair to them. Several of my coworkers had this issue as well.

The most enjoyable part of my job was working with books!

I worked for UD for 2 years. When I started out, it was great. In 2018, things changed. Management wanted to cut costs, so they cut staff by getting rid of all temporary workers, leaving me to do a 2-person job by myself. On top of that, many of my coworkers constantly made mistakes that I had to fix. When I went to my boss to ask if we could write out a plan to get everyone on the same page, I was told "Well, some people on morning shift can't read, so it's a waste of time." I knew we had some mentally-challenged people on the morning staff (I worked in the evening so I didn't interact with them much, which was why I wanted a written plan), but to tell me we weren't even going to try to get on the same page was ridiculous. The last straw was when we were preparing for winter break, and doing some deep cleaning. One of my coworkers did a poor job of cleaning the cooler. I was asked to clean it by a manager who was unaware that it had already been cleaned. When I told that manager that someone else had done it, she told me "Well, that person did a poor job, so you fix it."

While I thoroughly enjoyed working with the students every day, management left me wanting.  There was harsh discrimination from the top and bullying behavior that went uncorrected when brought to the attention of HR and the dean's office.  If UD stops turning a blind eye to the mistreatment of their employees and begins to create the culture they currently claim to promote, then I'd feel secure in recommending them as a place to work.  Taking the brunt of the mistreatment from management in order to shield my student employees as well as the students who visited my area became exhausting and I resigned.  Within a month of my resignation, I came to find out that all but one of the student employees in my department also resigned as there was no longer a barrier between them and upper management.  Fix the toxic workplace culture and UD would be a joy to work for.

UD is a strange place to work. They really emphasize "community and service". It all sounds great as long as you don't look too close. The tuition benefit isn't guaranteed so don't count on that as a college plan for your kids. Academically UD suffers from massive educational inbreeding and many of the students have a weird sense of entitlement. Dealing with the students gets pretty annoying but is nothing compared to dealing with "management". Maybe I've just been unlucky but the management I've dealt with are genuinely incompetent. Basically UD is an overpriced low tier school that pretends to be in the same league as Purdue, Michigan, OSU etc. Without the proximity to WPAFB and UDRI, UD would just be another run of the mill liberal arts college.  
The work is not challenging at all which is why no one ever leaves. Working at UD is the pinnacle of wasted talent, their motto should be "The place where ambition comes to die" or "Mediocrity is for overachievers".

Most days involved doing small work projects with the on location teams such as maintenance sweeps of living halls or furniture moves. Rarely there would be large move days where multiple teams would be needed to move material to or from a location either for donation or for replacement. I learned a lot about interpersonal communication, especially with people who are apart of larger organizations who have little pull on the companies as a whole. It also gave me a lot of good experience with working with teams that I knew less well, giving me insight into working with individuals and groups that I do not get along with or my work ethic did not mix with. The hardest part of the job was dealing with higher ups that did low quality work and encouraged us to do low quality work when it would make it more difficult in the long run in doing so. I did enjoy getting the experience of working with other small groups in collaboration and even getting to take leadership roles in doing so.

My day to day work with students is amazing. Yes UD is a party school and there are a few downsides to that, but for the most part students love UD and are hardworking, motivated and genuinely want to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, institutionally, as a full time staff member it can feel at times like UD is a sinking ship--not necessarily because of any particular scandals or wrongdoing but because the impact of new national policies on our school feel dramatic and chaotic. I trust our leadership, and it can also feel stressful when every penny you spend matters and they are 'right-sizing' different departments. Maybe people in STEM feel differently, but this is not a fun time for the humanities in the broader higher education landscape. 

In April of 2013 OfficeTeam, an employment agency, sent me on an assignment to the University of Dayton.  The assignment lasted one month.  When the University of Dayton had a need in September 2013, for a clerical worker through the end of the fall term, once again they contacted OfficeTeam, and once again OfficeTeam placed me in the position.  I was highly recommend by the UD team that I had supported back in April.

The assignment that I have from September, through the end of the fall term is relatively light, in that not many clerical skills are needed.  What is needed is a high level of willingness to engage students and parents, to maintain FERPA (privacy standards), and to be consistent with front desk policy at a residential hall.

This has been a great temporary assignment, filled with the opportunity to connect with students from all corners of the world.

Working with the students was the highlight for me, helping them to navigate the college system and college life in general. The University supported the staff in achieving their CAP-OM certifications and always encouraged continuing education. Over my 17 years at UD, I made so very many friends who were also co-workers and was able to better assist our majors and the faculty through these associations. The hardest part of the job, in recent years, was all the changing technologies, new Banner system, Cognos, new website system; however, it was just another opportunity to work with fellow colleagues to answer questions and lean the systems quicker - we all worked together sharing emails with tips/tricks each would discover.

As an Chinese young guy, it is fresh to know something about food culture in the US. My job is not fixed. Instead, it could be different depending on when and where I am needed, such as gathering, cleaning, washing dishes, and serviing banquet. I have learned a lot so far, such as communicating with my co-workers, different dinning culture, and so on. The wokplace culture is nice. Most people are very nice and friendly to me. They teach my everyting with patient. I really appreciate them. I dont think this job is hard to me. I just need time to know some process of worl. The most enjoyable art of the job is to serve banquet because I like wearing uniform for banquet and serve people.

I was brought in as a temporary role to basically clean up the mess left behind by someone who randomly quit one day after being there for 30 years. I spent the first several months cleaning and organizing supply rooms and digitizing ancient syllabi decades older than me. I worked in the Religious Studies Department and I got to say that my fellow coworkers were a joy to work with. They were the kind of people you always wish you could work with; very patient, kind, and friendly people. In the short time I worked here I found myself genuinely caring for my coworkers. The work culture was extremely positive and encouraging and I will genuinely miss it. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Lecturer 6 salaries reported	$47,525 per year
Assistant professor 5 salaries reported	$68,900 per year
Director 3 salaries reported	$75,333 per year
Teaching assistant 4 salaries reported	$10.06 per hour
Research engineer 3 salaries reported	$87,333 per year

Working at University of Dayton: Company Overview and Reviews

University of Dayton

University of Dayton Ratings

Popular jobs at University of Dayton

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected