Columbia University Employee Review

I worked at Columbia University full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Low stress, good benefits including free tuition for self and family, job security, prestige, noble mission.

Cons – Talking specifically about CUIT - antiquqted systems, antiquated management, low expectation, limited career growth. A lot of open systems, so if your next target is the corporate world, this is not the place to be. Your marketibility will deteriorate, unless perhaps you are a new grad.

Advice to Senior Management – CU is a story of two extremes: stellar education/research, abysmal administration. How the two can peacefully/seamlessly coexist without one altering the other is a topic worth of a few PhD dessertations.

Talking specifically of CUIT: the techonology, people, culture, mindset, and management are all antiquated. Low salary keeps at bay good people with modern skills and mindset who could cause changes. Job security keeps old timers around forever, especially those who wouldn't want to go face the market. A harsh judgment, yes, but it's the truth that applies unfortunately to many if not most at CUIT. A few outside middle and top management hires were comical; they didn't last too long, even with the low expectations at CUIT. Where do they pick them up?

CUIT is in dire need of people with experience at other better run and modern IT departments. Specially true of middle and top management. Key leadership positions are tragically filled by old-timer geeks who neither have the management skills nor the strategic vision to transform CUIT into a modern IT department with the kind of IT infrastructure and IT services worthy of an Ivy League school.The poor leadership unfortunately emnates from the very top of CUIT, an outside appointee. The Silicon Valley notion of startup companies hiring A employees in the beginning so that they in turn go out and hire other A employess, is evidently true at old organizations such as CUIT as well.

Instead staying at the cutting edge of IT, or better yet, being an IT innovator, CUIT struggles to catch up with the state of IT elsewhere, and is always way behind. Very true of technology, more so about management of IT. Instead of enabling CU's mission, CUIT hobbles it.

CUIT can not/will not transform unless CU administration overhauls the very top management and brings in people with proven experience in IT transformation.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend