Pros
I learned a lot that will help with my future career due to being thrown into things with little to no training. I also have a much better idea of what to look for in my next job as far as institution culture.
Cons
Very low salary. They'll frequently hire current employees to do a 2nd job when there is a vacancy, and they pay those 2nd assignments with pennies while people work 12+ hour days. Upper administration doesn't care about work/life balance. It reminds me more of a factory or corporate job because they'll overwork you and then not care about you. They will only reward or thank you if you are one of the university's "favorites." They act like anyone who isn't faculty, or staff at Director level or above is worthless. They turn their noses up at the rest of us, even those of us with Master's degrees and real qualifications. I've even seen my supervisor snubbed at a University event when he/she has worked here for over 5 years and dedicated countless hours to the university. The beauracracy is very inefficient. Simple things have to be approved by many people before they can happen. The entire university seems as though it is in a time bubble. They love to hire from within, especially Southeast graduates, which leads to a lot of "groupthink" and lack of new ideas. I feel like I've stepped into the 80s as far as campus culture and internal processes. Getting things paid for is an example of this. They will only issue checks, and only after you have jumped through the many hoops of paperwork, and it usually takes several weeks. I've had vendors wait for well over a month to get paid for a service they've already provided. If you have a reason to get reimbursed for having to put things on your credit card when hotels and other places don't take checks, it can take an extraordinary amount of time to get that money back. That's difficult to handle when your own salary is miniscule. Competent employees usually leave soon after they realize that things won't change. I pity those who have spouses, houses, and kids intertwined in Cape Girardeau and who can't leave as easily...
