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UB cited as a ‘great college to work for’
UB continues to be recognized as a great place to work, making the Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual list of “great colleges to work for” for the fifth straight year.
UB was among 103 institutions cited for the honor based on a survey of nearly 47,000 faculty, staff and administrators—the largest number of responses in the survey’s five-year history—representing 294 institutions.
To conduct the rankings, colleges were placed in groups according to their size based on overall student enrollment—small, medium or large—and whether they are a two-year or four-year institution.
The colleges then were judged on 12 features of excellent academic workplaces—such as job satisfaction, teaching environment, diversity and professional/career-development programs—based on employees’ responses to a series of 60 statements. Employees rated the statements—for example, “I am given the freedom and responsibility to do my job”—on a five-point scale, from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
Recognition in each of the 12 “Great Colleges” categories, except for diversity, was given to the 10 highest-scoring institutions in each size for four-year colleges and the four highest-scoring colleges in each size for two-year colleges. In the diversity category, three four-year and three two-year colleges were recognized.
The survey was administered by ModernThink LLC, a human-resource consulting company, in partnership with The Chronicle.
UB was recognized in two categories: Compensation and Benefits, and Tenure Clarity and Process.
The Chronicle noted that one of the things that makes UB great in the tenure category was that the Provost’s Office offers workshops on choosing external evaluators and building portfolios in order to help clarify the process for junior faculty members. The publication also lauded the university’s practice of frequently arranging “less-formal conversations about these policies” between faculty and department chairs.
James S. Nadbrzuch, associate vice president for university life and services, says UB is pleased to be recognized as a great place to work in workplace surveys by the Chronicle and other organizations.
“This type of recognition acknowledges UB’s commitment to being a great employer and to workplace quality in its pursuit of excellence, and the university’s recognition that its faculty and staff are its most valuable resource,” Nadbrzuch says.
To see the full list of colleges, visit the Chronicle’s website.
Reader Comments
Jim Holstun says:
It would be good to share the credit a little here, particularly since we owe satisfaction with "Compensation and Benefits" primarily to the great unions of UB and SUNY: UUP, PEF, CSEA, GSEU, Council 82, NYSCOPBA
Posted by Jim Holstun, Professor of English, 08/12/12