University of Miami Reviews in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL Area

Pros

*Great Stipend (`30K/yr if you get an RA over the summer and take extra assignments over the semester)
*Insurance reduction for Grads
*Great professors and research opportunities
*In general, work/study balance is very flexible
*Awesome Graduate Student Association

Cons

*Qualifier Exam is difficult - if you don't pass both opportunities, bad news, so study study study!
*The labs that we teach are well organized, but there is no training for new grads resulting in a large amount of variation in difficulty/quality for the undergraduates taking the course.

Advice to Senior Management

I don't agree with a lot of her personal politics, but Shalala is doing an excellent job improving UM.

Pros

Competitive pay, flexible hours, nice work environment with other students, pay increases every semester

Cons

No feedback from boss, little communication, they treat many workers poorly and give no benefits, minimum wage paid to them

Advice to Senior Management

Give more feedback

Pros

The university is steering towards clinical and away from basic research -- if that's what you want, good. See Cons.

Cons

The university is steering towards clinical and away from basic research -- if that's not what you want, bad. See Pros.

Pros

Best benefits you will ever find
Tuition remission
Medical care/doctors are excellent
Job security
Centrally Located
Public transportation easily accessible
lots of employee perks
appears hard to get fired
Staff Assistance Program

Cons

Salaries are on the low end
High turnover rate
More rude people than nice people
Cost of living in the nearby cities is high
employees must pay to park which is expensive
Not as much room to advance as you might think unless you have a PhD or Doctorate
Middle-upper management seriously lacking personalities and normal inter-personal skills
Human resources has one and only one policy: Always side with management no matter what the evidence shows. You will be ok as long as you don't go to HR complaining about management. No exaggeration either. Happens ALL the time and is not a secret.

Advice to Senior Management

Please change your HR policies regarding always siding with management. You are loosing great people because of this. Please get management extensive training on people skills. Most of your managers have been in school too long to know how to adequately deal with people or are way past retirement and simply too old. You are a great organization but these factors hinder UM tremendously.

Pros

Good place to work if you need to go to school and have a job at the same time. They're very flexible about taking time off and it's a pretty social and laid back environment.

Cons

Have had a few management and staff changes that were sprung on people last minute, and people have had to move around to compensate.

Advice to Senior Management

Maybe letting other people in the office know when staff changes are going to be occurring would be a good idea.

Pros

University of Miami is not what everyone will think it is. It is a disastrous place to work for. Human Resource is a mess. If you have problems with administration or are being treated unfairly, Human Resource will use it against you and your supervisor will be informed instead of trying to fix the problem. It is a very uncomfortable position to be in. All my family has worked here, including my mom that was a director here for 26 years and she has never felt so disgusted about the University of Miami in her life. I do NOT recommend this place.

Cons

No respect from management. They treat their employees horribly and nothing is done about it.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn how to treat your employees.

Pros

The school is centrally located in a vibrant city that is a gateway to South America and the Caribbean. The student body reflects this diversity. Dress code is laid back and the campus is paradise on earth during the winter months.

Cons

Not enough investment in innovation and too much belt tightening at a time when long term investment is needed. In the dozen years time between my time as a grad student and my return as faculty the department has gone from forerunner to also-ran. Retiring tenured positions are replaced with non-tenure track positions. Faculty essentially teach their courses and go home. There's little reward beyond personal satisfaction for bringing new things into the classroom.

Heat and humidity especially in the summer is no joke. Some days are like sticking your head in an oven. Every year you have to ride out hurricane season. Can be raining hard on one side of campus and completely dry on the other. Local Cuban ex-pats blame Fidel Castro. *-)

Advice to Senior Management

Invest for the future. Miami the city is not a major center for academia like Boston or New York and can feel out of the way or even back water so staying ahead of the curve is crucial. The students are eager and deserve the very best we can give.

Pros

U of Miami is located in a beautiful climate with palm trees all over the campus. Vacation time is ample, as is sick time. These leave policies are VERY generous, as they aren't as stringent as many other places I've worked at. It is a very laid back place to work if you are looking for a change of pace.

Cons

I'm not a laid back kind of person and I've had to make some adjustments to dealing with being laid back in the professional world. Things don't get done as fast as they need to be and it is often dissappointing. Compensation seems well below that of other major cities in the US, yet the cost of living remains high (which is why most people have to commute so far to work here).

Advice to Senior Management

Stop hiring people just because you are related to them. There are LOTS of quality applicants out there that deserve to work and will be better at their jobs than your cousin.

Pros

You get access to free stuff through their affiliations and status as a University. The hours are flexible around class schedules and this is basically the only reason I don't quit. They do recognize you for good performance however it is always just a pat on the back, never a bump in pay.

Cons

The people they put in charge at a University are some of the most incompetent and frankly stupid people I have ever encountered. It is also very disappointing how the budget never seems to have enough there for raises (or any form of bonus). I wish I could quit, but the pocket money helps being a student in Miami and finding a job around class schedules can be challenging.

Advice to Senior Management

Management - PLEASE rethink some of the hiring policies employed at the University of Miami. I have seen more bad hires come and go than I care to remember. A hire should have some familiarity with the department they are hired for and not because someone in charge knew the individual's family. There are brothers, sisters, cousins, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, etc of someone everywhere!

Pros

The Campus is a great place to work, and the job security is very strong. Benefits are good but they seem to be eroding away a little every year.

Cons

The salary is very low, and it does not seem that they are promoting from with in any more. There have been a lot of new hires from the outside