This organization used to be a great place to work. After two major reorganizations, a reduction in force, the purchase of Walden, and some aggressive promises to stakeholders, it is now being run like the business that it is. Chamberlain/Adtalem is owned by shareholders who expect continually increasing profits - which is the norm for a publicly traded company - but a difficult feat to pull off for a University. Chamberlain currently maintains the absolute minimum of full-time people and working a 12-hour day six days a week is the culture and the expectation. Their former culture of care has morphed into taking advantage of people who care - and most people work themselves to the bone with the constant fear that students won't get clinical placement or have the support they need. This university is similar to hospitals these days- being short-staffed supports profits and they know you'll burn yourself out trying to care for each other and students. Recent changes include decisions to minimize resources for the campuses and focus mainly on hybrid and online offerings. This is leaving campuses languishing with a single leader spread over multiple campuses and associate or assistant dean positions let go, demoted, or spending their days begging visiting professors to take clinical groups and teach more courses. Students are feeling the crunch and some have experienced direct impacts. Chamberlain /Adtalem is dancing on the edge of revisiting the DeVry days. If you know, you know. Possibly worse is the backslide in diversity. During the layoffs, the diverse leaders, staff, and faculty were impacted. Of those who remained after many well-loved diverse leaders and colleagues left, a number have left in the second wave of the diversity drain. This reduction has damaged what was becoming an inclusive environment and left mostly non-diverse leaders and few people of color holding positions of limited control and influence (despite some of their titles). Again- pay attention to who works for Adtalem versus who works for Chamberlain. You'll see that "Adtalem" prizes its 2022 award for being one of America's best employers for diverse workers (Forbes). Just keep in mind that's Adtalem- it's a holding company for five Universities including Chamberlain and employs its own people. Chamberlain University has its own culture and its own issues with diversity. The final blow is Chamberlain's recent requirement that all of its employees (including academics) sign a few different versions of what they are calling a restrictive covenant. The covenant puts barriers up if you are considering leaving, and among other things, gives Chamberlain the exclusive rights to all your scholarly work (even if done outside of Chamberlain), including any doctoral research. Taking over the rights to publications and research has potential lasting impacts on how and when authors can publish and ultimately limits their ability to freely make choices about how to disseminate their work. Potential new employees should consider how important maintaining control of their research or other publications might be - and if they're willing to try to negotiate an addendum as part of any employment agreement. All new employees will need to sign the restrictive covenant. My advice: 1) If you are a diverse person (in any aspect of diversity) you may want to wait to see if Chamberlain can regain its foothold in being a place to work that supports diversity 2) Consider reaching out on LinkedIn to someone NOT at the location you are considering. (That location might be desperate and try to sell you on coming on board). Talk to connections about the global Chamberlain strategy and culture, recent changes, and the level of support they currently experience 3) Look for and read student-moderated Facebook or other social media pages about Chamberlain - read about the realities the students are facing and think through how those realities might be traceable to business practices. 4) Don't sign the restrictive covenant until you have your attorney review it and you understand what it means for your future. Use any leverage you have (like how long they've been trying to fill a given position) to help you feel good about standing your ground and asking to negotiate the details of the covenant. If you take the job: 1) Set excellent boundaries around your work-life balance from day one and plan to work hard to hold them. 2) If you're diverse, engage with AdtalemEdge (a special interest group facilitated by Adtalem) to identify other diverse individuals who can help you navigate the culture and avoid potential pitfalls. 3) Try to identify someone with influence who can be your mentor/sponsor. 4) Consider that you may have to limit your time working at Chamberlain if you are not already adept at holding boundaries.
