Duke University Reviews

Pros

Duke has some good benefits, particularly in regards to how they give PTO. As Duke is a large organization with multiple clinical research departments and teams, it is not too difficult to move around to find where you fit best!

Cons

Clinical Research Coordinators are in short supply, and this may in large part be due to salary - Duke can rarely match salaries of other Clinical Research positions in RTP. Likewise, your work environment may vary wildly depending on what team you are working with, which is an incentive to stay for some teams and a red flag for others. At the time of this review, there are several Duke CRUs with CRC vacancies - even in my own team CRC positions have gone unfilled for about 6 months. In that time management has updated the team about multiple applicants who passed all interview rounds only to turn the position down due to low pay. In the meantime, much of the work from these vacancies is often divided among the remaining staff.

Pros

Access to events and experiences that a large university can give both during work hours and outside of work. Many of the people there are great. They want to help you learn and progress in your career. With how large the university is there is ample room for growth to other departments and even into the health sector.

Cons

They have no flexibility. Before the pandemic work from home was never an option despite half of the department traveling and not working in the office. The managers are allowed WFH one day a week but no one else is. They overwhelm their employees with the work of three jobs while barely paying them for one. There are departments that handle research of prospects and stewardship but are often under utilized and that work is pushed to the assistants. There is no accountability for higher levels employees. The blame is constantly pushed to the bottom tier of employees who are doing the most work with the least amount of pay and benefits. On the flip side, when large gifts were given the officer received all of the credit no matter how much work the assistants did to help them earn that gift. I personally developed packets to get multi million dollar gifts and got a button for my hard work while the officer earned days off and a slack in work expected of them.

Pros

Health and retirement benefits (but you have to wait 1 year to get retirement contribution). Casual office environment. Hybrid work (this is very dependent on role/dept). Students for the most part are great to work with. job security which is a double edged sword because i have colleagues that have been at duke 10+ years and don't seem to do anything- i wish i was making this up.

Cons

high ego of faculty members. our faculty is super male and white. pay for parking, low salaries, low raises (2-3% max per year) that are not based on merit, high turnover in the last year and instead of hiring replacements their workloads have been shifted onto others. my direct supervisor has no influence in my salary and told me to find a side hustle since inflation is so high.

Pros

Duke really does a fantastic job when it comes to onboarding new staff, helping them to get acquainted with campus, and making them feel like they are amongst a community that authentically cares for them. The students at Duke are some of the brightest and most driven students I have ever worked with and they are the future of great leadership. Across the board, staff and faculty at Duke show that they care about the work that they do and are willing to go above and beyond to ensure that the student experience is second to none. Benefits are decent, although the health insurance aspect was great, especially in having Duke Hospitals in your own backyard.

Cons

There is always room for improvement, no matter where you go. At Duke, there is a sense of elitism that can be felt at times, but that is because this is an elite institution, recruiting the brightest minds around the globe. Because of that, Duke students, staff, and faculty can be complex to work with, as 'no' is often not something they are used to hearing. Benefits could always be better, especially as the cost of living continues to increase.

Pros

Health, dental, pension, 403(b), all the things. They give a small stipend for your child to go to any private college in the US.

Cons

If you are an excellent employee, you will be given the work of 2 people. It's called "getting Duked". If you're average to below average, you will be given a normal level of work. The raises are insulting considering how much money that place makes. A great employee makes 1% of a higher raise than an average employee. It's just not worth it. It's very hard/impossible to raise through the ranks unless your boss favors you and only you. You must apply for a new job within Duke. A lot of your work/life balance depends on your department and your manager(s). People have been fleeing recently for much higher paying jobs.