Fairfield University Employee Reviews about "great place"

Pros

WAS a great place to work. Work was appreciated, and freelance agreement was respected.

Cons

With multiple VP changes, a CFO enacting unreasonable budget cuts, and a new president, I believe the culture of the University has changed. This was reflected in the department in which I worked. Freelance agreement was disregarded in order to find cheaper labor without my knowledge. When this was discovered and pointed out, I never heard from the University again. Literally. Emails and voice mails were not returned. With over 5 years of service, extreme flexibility, and never once hearing anything but positive feedback from all departments and offices, this is how I was treated. The suddenness of this action was a serious financial blow to my business, and as all freelancers can relate to, my ability to provide for my family. I would not recommend any professional to do business with the University.

Pros

Extremely generous amount of paid time off. The best health plan I ever had. Fantastic tuition remission program. Super friendly staff. Gorgeous campus. The lawn is always picture perfect. Healthy work life balance. University tries hard to offer a solid education to the students. Great place to work, get a graduate degree and still have a life.

Cons

Salary so low, the number is barely on the chart. There is a good chance that the students you are serving will start off with a higher salary than what the university is paying you. Not for type A personalities, you will become frustrated every day. Change moves at a snail's pace. University is slow to lay off unqualified employees. Many of these employees get ingrained into the system and become Fairfield University employees for life. These lifers occupy seats which could be occupied by more qualified staff. It is common to find people who have been working for the university for 10,20,30+ years. Sadly many of the lifers have made little to no attempt to move up in their careers. Even with the abundance of tuition remission at their disposal. Complacency has gotten the best of many employees. These employees would not last a day in the corporate sector.

Pros

Great place to learn and build new skills. Great coworkers. Open to doing training and supporting employees who want to get a degree or learn new skillsets.

Cons

Hard to find guidance sometimes, communication between teams is lacking, between departments even more-so. Not a very strong sense of comradery sometimes and few to no department or team meetings.