custodian

program coordinator

early childhood teacher

executive assistant

associate director

University of Oregon

 A typical day as a Construction Project Manager includes coordinating with architects, engineers, contractors, and campus stakeholders; reviewing schedules, budgets, and submittals; responding to RFIs; conducting site walks; documenting progress; and attending project meetings. Daily tasks often involve resolving construction issues, ensuring compliance with university standards and safety requirements, processing change orders, tracking costs, updating project documentation, and communicating impacts to campus operations. Through this role, I learned how to manage complex capital and renovation projects within an active university environment. I developed strong skills in project coordination, contract administration, budgeting, and schedule management, as well as the ability to balance construction needs with academic priorities, safety concerns, and stakeholder expectations. Management within CPFM is generally knowledgeable and experienced in higher-education facilities work. Supervisors support collaboration and adherence to policies, though project decisions can require multiple approvals, which sometimes slows progress. Expectations are clear, and accountability is emphasized. Workplace culture is professional, collaborative, and mission-driven. There is a strong focus on stewardship of campus assets, sustainability, safety, and minimizing disruption to students and faculty. Team members are supportive and take pride in contributing to the long-term success of the university. The hardest part of the job is managing tight schedules, budget constraints, and unforeseen construction challenges while coordinating with multiple stakeholders in an occupied campus environment. The most enjoyable part of the job is seeing projects progress from planning to completion, solving complex problems, working with skilled professionals, and knowing the work directly improves campus facilities and supports the university’s mission.

You do not do any maintenance there. It is extremely slow and it's hard to fill up 8hrs each day with the work assignments given. 

You are a custodian. They won't tell you until you're hired but you do mostly custodian/security for the building. 

If you like to keep somewhat busy, this place is not for you. The amount of experience required for this job is a joke! 

The coaching staff and players are "above you" for the most part. Give or take a few coaches who were just hired (Hokes and Yost) who are absolute professionals and are nice to you. 

You cannot perform certain work at certain times because they don't want you to be seen or to interrupt the flow for the players and coaches. 

The custodians don't have much to do there either. It is extremely over staffed and they do not need a maintenance worker. If you get the job you are the only maintenance person there. 

The custodians aren't very nice at all, except for a few. They have harassed previous workers there. 

Watch out for a temp worker there who only trys to stir up trouble so he can have a permanent shift, he will watch you like a hawk and try and get you in trouble for very small things. He will make up things as well. 

The management is awful. He is very soft-spoken at first but will yell and throw things. He is also very passive-aggressive and will write words of the day pertaining to whatever somebody got in trouble for the day before. Most of the custodians there are trying to get other jobs. You don't get treated very well and if you don't talk to him and acknowledge that he is the boss everyday he will find ways to make your work environment miserable. 

You only get paid once a month which is pretty difficult for the first few months working there.

you will get a job as maintenance, but you will not do any maintenance at all! You will help the custodians, and the grounds maintenance guy, and be security...that's it. 

There have been 5 maintenance guys in 3yrs that this building has been up and running. They have all quit because of how boring it is, because of being harassed by fellow employees, because of not being able to fill their 8hrs a day productively, it's difficult to want to stay there.

If you don't like to do much at all on your shifts and be bored out of your mind after you finish a whole week of projects in one night...then this job is for you.

Normally sifts were pretty low key. I would either be responsible for checking people into the wall when they came to climb, making sure they knew the safety information and renting out and putting away gear, or I would be responsible for teaching new climbers the basics of rock climbing safety so that they could safely climb at the wall. When teaching lessons I often worked with international students who spoke very little english which made my job challenging but it always worked out rather well. 

While working there I learned how to use our computer systems to help to check people in and out and that the attitude you bring into your job has a large effect on the people around you. 

This Job had a lot of time where nothing was happening so I got to know my co-workers pretty well. They are some of the nicest people that I met at the university and I loved working with them. 

The student management that we had was great. But our professional management was either far to gruff and as a result was not good at managing the employees. Our other professional  manager was not involved enough to make a difference at the wall. 

The hardest part of the job was trying to communicate with students who didn't speak english. This was a challenge that we faced almost daily but it was for the best because we learned how to describe our safety procedures in a number of different ways to deal with the language barrier.

The most enjoyable part of the job was teaching people about rock climbing and helping patrons figure out how to climb certain routes. It was always fun to see some one succeed at a problem that they had been working at for weeks or months.

I work more than one position at Fresh. I usually sign in to the workplace using a machine. After that it depends on where I am stationed for the day. If I work the dish room I will go there and assist with washing and putting away the dishes as well as deal with any technical problems we have. If I am working production that day I assist the chefs with making/storing any food that day. I also have the option to work customer service and serve food or stock the shelves and make sure our inventory is in check. 
The management is ok, one of them has a general distrust of us the students. During the winter when we could not even drive out of our parking lot without getting stuck in the snow; one of the managers told our sister she would be fired if she didn't show up for work at 5 in the morning. We immediately called his supervisors at University Housing and had to have the problem resolved. 
The co-workers are really friendly and upbeat. I can always count on them to brighten up my day. 
I would say the hardest part of the job would be getting accustomed to new jobs as you start out at Fresh. Many of the managers are particular about how they want things and that can take some getting used to. Aside from that there is a bit of variety in the tasks that one has to complete at Fresh that will take some time to learn. However I would say that there is no overly difficult part of the job. 
The most enjoyable part is working with co-workers and serving the customers.

A typical day at work starts by arriving to the facility 45 minutes before the games start.  I make sure the field, court, etc. is set up and the officials are there to referee.  Throughout the night I watch the games and help the officials get better at their job.  In between games I give my advice to the officials when they have questions.  If there is an injury, I am the first to respond and perform(if necessary) CPR and first aid.  At the end of the night, I shut down the facility.
  
The hardest part of the job is watching all the officials and helping them with their mistakes. I help them get better at their job.  To do so I have to learn how to explain things differently to different people because everyone has a different style of learning.  This is also the most enjoyable part of the job because I get to talk with so many different people.  It allows me to meet many new people and potentially become friends with them.  

All my coworkers are either Supervisors like myself or officials.  Everyone has the desire to learn the sport they officiate or supervise.  The supervisors all have different styles of teaching and give advice to one another.  We are a tight unit that works together in all situations that occur.  Even though we work alone at night with the officials, we meet once a week to discuss strategies of how to get better.

As the first generation of 3D product designers, the experience was naturally a bit unstable at first, with a preliminary layout of expectations and responsibilities. 

From there, management was hands-off and allowed us to grow into the roles that they had hired us into. From there, we learned to work as a team and keep the shop running for the benefit of the students in the Product Design Program.

Unlike the other 3D printer programs, the Product Design makerspace was created to be welcoming to students within the program, and provide a valuable resource for prototyping and ideation planning. I was glad to be there and help set the foundation of the space.

The day-in day-out of the job was not stressful in any way, but it was demanding at times, with machine malfunctions, assessment of prints, as well as general restocking and timetables. Often faculty within the program would step in to check on us, so there was some oversight.

Overall, it was a great experience and without it, I wouldn't have learned some of the nuances of additive manufacturing. I think it's an invaluable resource to the program, and I hope that it continues to benefit the students who work there, as well as use the space for their projects.

I taught at the University of Oregon both as a graduate student and an adjunct instructor designing and teaching both brick-and-mortar as well as online courses. I created over seven different courses, designed a syllabus, prepared lectures, facilitated class discussions, met individually with students to discuss a plethora of concerns, graded student work promptly and regularly, and worked with a diverse group of colleagues in various contexts. The work environment, as I imagine is the case with any university setting, is fast-paced and high-stress, as everyone needs to juggle multiple tasks all the time (research, teaching, administrative work, committee work, etc). It's a very difficult time to be an adjunct instructor right now, as the pay is not good and the benefits are not guaranteed (I do not know from one year to the next how many class I'll be teaching, which directly affects my salary and benefits eligibility). While my colleagues were great and the work is meaningful, I would encourage anyone interested in pursuing a PhD to seriously read about the state of higher education before applying. Jobs are scarce, most labor is contingent, you may have no control over where you work, and the level of competition is very high, because there are magnitudes more PhDs granted each year than jobs created.

Working at the University, I learned how to work with a variety of different people, doing various different jobs. A typical day at work mostly involved working at multiple different stations, including espresso, salads, and sandwiches. On the espresso bar, I made drinks and rang in orders, for salads, I made custom and pre made salads. On the sandwich bar I worked with other people to make toasted and cold sandwiches from order forms. I learned how to make espresso drinks which was something I did not know how to do before, as well as work in a team. Overall we were well managed, though most of the training came from fellow student employees, and some managers felt as though they were above doing certain jobs. I enjoyed working with most of my coworkers, and after a while we became like a bit of a family. Most people I worked with, I got along with very well, and was able to communicate clearly with. The hardest part of the job was probably staying on my feet for long periods of time, and going from one station to another. The most enjoyable part of the job was working with great people and getting to interact with customers on a daily basis. In addition, I enjoyed making espresso drinks and food for customers.

As a part-time student, we are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week as a Teacher Assistant. The workloads include leading a discussion session per week and grade any worksheets and homework available. 
Working here for 1.5 years make myself better at speaking in front of people, and work with other people as well. I also learned problem-solving, time management, and thinking outside the box. 
Through all the times I've worked, there are also challenges that I had to overcome. One of them is how to actually explain a subject clearly to the students so that they can understand better. Being in the position where the students are at is sometimes challenging since I have learned harder math subjects. But by talking with the students and as time goes by, I have learned a lot. 
As for the most enjoyable part of the job, I would say during the discussion section itself. Here, open-ended questions are totally welcome, where students can grow more in curiosity and apply what they have learned to whatever worksheet that is due on that day. We encouraged students to work in groups so that they can discuss each problem and learn different opinions.

In Carson Dining, I worked part time. The job duties change every day depends on my working position. but basically, I prepare food depends on daily menu and customer desire. 
In Carson dining, I learned how to listen and carry out the orders from supervisors quick and precisely. Since our dining serve buffet, the high-speed pace makes me learned quick learning skill. The quick learning skill is the biggest part I learned from this working experience. 
All the supervisors and our co-workers are very nice, we somethings even gather together and have some beer after close. I love the working environment very much, when not very busy, we share daily fun things with people and laugh together, which makes me feel very comfortable.
There also have hard things, for sure. For example, at the first week, I need to remember and understand every sign and place name people use in this kitchen, the food location and handing method as well. However, after I am familiar with all those stuff, that is a really nice place for me to work with.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Custodian 10 salaries reported	$20.39 per hour
Program coordinator 5 salaries reported	$53,500 per year
Early childhood teacher 6 salaries reported	$23.82 per hour
Executive assistant 4 salaries reported	$68,000 per year
Associate director 5 salaries reported	$81,300 per year

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