administrative specialist

account analyst

personal trainer

instructional coordinator

graduate researcher

University of Maine

Being a Peer Mentor was delightful and enjoyable. I gained invaluable experience while working this job and am very fortunate to have gotten the chance to be part of something that made a difference. The schedule was very flexible for both the mentor and mentee. The employer understood that you were a student as well, and so the tutoring and meeting times were made for both parties involved. The students gained valuable skills that aided them not only academically, but also personally so that their college experience could be more enjoyable and hopefully relieve any tension or anxiety they may have had about the whole experience. The hardest part of the job would be the skill time management. In teaching the students time management and effective study skills or life skills, we too, as mentors, had to practice and uphold that skill. If you did not have proper use of that skill then being a mentor would be next to impossible if not very difficult, because you had to juggle your coursework and life along with your mentee's schedule. And if you had more than one mentee at a time, then you have to remember each person's schedule and coursework and remember where you had left off with them in terms of their academics and life outside of academics. Not only did the students learn, but I learned from them as well. There were times when my mentees taught me or introduced me to something that I would have never thought of and that made me a better person because of it. Therefore, I took away from the whole experience that it was not just an opportunity to help them grow, but also an opportunity for growth in myself that otherwise would have been ignored or at the very least not discovered if not seen through someone else's perspective of their college experience.

I worked for the University for 14 years in progressive roles starting as a work study student, and moving to a graduate assistant, then on to several professional staff roles in multiple departments. UMaine is and will always be home. Over the years, I worked under 4 Presidents, 5 Provosts, and various other administrative leaders. The leadership turnover, not unlike other higher education institutions, is frequent. I believe only one cabinet member has remained the same, and perhaps one Dean, and all the others have turned over, some about every year or so. My experience is that several members of the administration are plain incompetent, micromanaging, and the culture at the top is a work 24/7, and to run people to death until they get fired or quit. Work at the lower levels is not as stressful, depending on the department, but seeing all the leadership and policy changes are so unsettling. The current COVID-19 return to work policy is maddening, because it appears to be inconsistent and people who were told to do their jobs fully remotely with no notice and very little support are all immediately called back to sit behind closed doors or wear masks, without regard to how productive folks may have been at home. Mid-level managers have nearly no authority, and with the new administration that now extends to deans and VPs. Benefits are incredibly good, almost unbeatable, salaries are mediocre. Advancement is possible, but you are generally maxed out below Director level unless you've appeased the administration somehow, unless you're tenured faculty. It used to feel like family, now it feels like family arguing politics at the Thanksgiving table.

I served as the Administrative Support Specialist for the English Department of the UMaine for the academic year of 2014-15. The English Department is one of the largest departments on campus due to the number of faculty and students. During my tenure with this department, they experienced unexpected employee turnovers and during several periods of time, I was the only non-faculty/academic staff person to in the department to administer the operational needs.  The workload was heavy at times, particularly at the start and end of the semester, however I learned how to multi-task at a whole new level and thoroughly enjoyed it. University academic departmental management presented a new experience for me and the intellectual culture to learn from was always exciting and enjoyable. The students also made the work meaningful due to their uniqueness, politeness and enthusiasm. As a UMaine alumnus, I distinctly enjoyed learning the University’s many operation systems and I found my ability to navigate this with great ease. My work was not simply clerical (I was responsible for the upkeep of undergraduate as well as graduate students’ paperwork, registration, and transcripts) but also organizational, as I helped the coordination of the Graduate Program, dispatched personal and academic correspondence, assisted existing and incoming graduate students as well as perspective applicants. I also managed the day-to-day operations of the graduate faculty, which included classroom scheduling, paperwork filing, copying and or scanning and the booking of public events. I created web pages for graduate students and performed other necessary updates within the Department’s website.

Working in dining services is to have to listen all day to other employees put each other down and rat each other out to management. This behavior is encouraged by the way management responds. The atmosphere is pretty toxic. I have even seen management openly pit employees against each other. The benefits are OK if you do not mind being coereced into having a "life coach" and being told how to live your life outside of work. I've worked at colleges before and they are usually very cool, inspiring places to work. This campus is a real oppressive republican sort of mentality that does not encourage free thinking or comaraderie- oh and considers putting plain tap water in your mug for the ride home to be stealing (if you aren't management). Also, yes, they have paid sick days, but don't even try to use even one of them unless you are ready to deal with being accused of lying. Also, if you have an important family event to go to, dont think you can swap a day with another coworker. It's not allowed. You work the days you are scheduled. period. Management wont allow anything that makes sense and helps everyone. Loyalty and cooperation is a one way street here. The good reviews I read look to be from students working on summer jobs.

A typical day started early due to school/camp programming. Between programming, work included land care and facilities upkeep during school season for communal spaces. During the summer season, staff would support each other for time off and between leading cohorts. I learned effective facilitation techniques, and environmental education principles, and increased my confidence in outdoor classroom settings. Management was always open to conversation for feedback or concerns. The workplace culture was welcoming and filled with environmentalists excited to learn together and teach the public. The hardest part of the job was simply the travel time between 4-H sites - however, the ride was easy! The most enjoyable part of the job was the gift of the location. Since on-site housing was provided, staff could enjoy the spoils of the natural surroundings by exploring the trails, rivers, and streams. I highly recommend this experience for any emerging environmental educators.

This job came with numerous opportunities and experiences. The typical day at work is simple office duties and public interaction as it is an open office and service lounge. The workload consists of emailing back and forth with different campus members about events, materials, resources,and answering questions. There is paperwork that needs to be printed, faxed, or copied and occasionally a drop in or phone call to respond to. This position has the added responsibilities of creating and hosting events as well as providing all the materials needed for the event. All the co-workers get along and each supports the other to create a clean running and productive environment. The hardest part is just making sure everything has been communicated clearly and that everyone, from staff to campus members, is up to date on all that is going on. The most enjoyable part is being able to meet countless new people and create good connections.

My work with Civic Passage at the University of Maine was a wonderful experience.  It was brief but rewarding; I took on the job of project management on a number of assignments, including painting and cleaning a local food bank and preparing meals for the Ronald McDonald House in Bangor, Maine.  

I was in charge of coordinating (and driving) student volunteers to and from project sites and communicating with those we were servicing.  It was a good job but I took it on during my last full year of on-campus study and would have liked to started sooner and therefor maybe advanced in the program more.  

The other students I worked with were often passionate about what they were doing and some were forced because they had broken an on-campus rule.  Either way working with different people every time and working as a team with strangers was always an exciting experience.

Work load varies a lot depending what time of the year it is and what department you work for. The benefits are GREAT but compensation is sub-par; even with an outstanding performance review there is NO mechanism for merit-based raises (at least in my bargaining unit), although we do usually get 2-3% a year for cost of living increases. Also, the culture in my department isn't very supportive compared to others across campus, and management doesn't stand up for us when they should. Those are the only reasons I'm considering leaving... but it would take a LOT OF MONEY to convince me to leave UMaine entirely so I'm looking mostly within the System.

I loved my job while working for UMS. I felt that the work I was doing was important and contributed to the success of the university. 
The downside is the union. If you are a high performer, you won't be able to be adequately compensated. You'll get the same raise (or not) as everyone else. The trouble is, most years the raise does not keep up with inflation, meaning every year you work there you'll actually be making less. Then they'll sneak other ways to cut your pay like raising insurance premiums and introducing deductibles. The only way to get a real raise is to switch jobs and even then, requires you to supervise people. The more folks under you, the more you make. So if you don't want to supervise folks, don't expect to make much. Great place to start a career though. They'll work with you to make sure you have the basic toolset that'll make you very desirable in the private sector.

Everyone who works here has a complex and only cares about advancement and power. Things like blatant favoritism & unfair workloads to unfair scheduling towards preferred students. The managers have no clue what they’re talking about, and give students incorrect advice. The hardest part of the job was the fact you are not allowed to sit down or lean. At all. “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean” is the atmosphere of this place. You’ll hear that phrase constantly. Everyone is over scheduled and there’s nothing to be done and then instead of fixing the schedule they cut everyone’s time and hire new people. You will probably only work about 3 hours a week here. Thought this would be a convenient job to have during school but it was worse than all of my classes combined. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative specialist 3 salaries reported	$20.40 per hour
Account analyst 5 salaries reported	$43,660 per year
Personal trainer 2 salaries reported	$43,012 per year
Instructional coordinator 4 salaries reported	$39,969 per year
Graduate researcher 1 salary reported	$35,000 per year

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