Western Governors University Employee Reviews about "people"
Updated Feb 3, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
- "Great people to work with and being able to work with students reach their goals of going back to school." (in 58 reviews)
- "Many managers have only gotten to the position that they are currently in because of the institutions rapid growth." (in 47 reviews)
- "Senior people keep leaving and the salary is too low to attract new people to fill the position." (in 40 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of Western Governors University and is not affected by filters.
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Reviews about "people"
Return to all Reviews- Current Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Emphasis on Work-Life Balance
Feb 24, 2016 - Software Engineer in Salt Lake City, UTRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
WGU puts a lot of emphasis on work-life balance. I often am told to 'work-from-home' if I would like to attend a family event or go to the doctor. Management is very understanding that people need a life outside of work and encourage it. The pay is fair and maybe even above average, but the real perk is how flexible they are with your schedule and your work hours. Being a non-profit they are not concerned with or beholden to any shareholders and are truly freed up to focus on providing a quality product to their students. For the employees that means that they are very open to spending money on software solutions, training, consultants, etc. to make your job more enjoyable.
Cons
I've found that WGU is maybe a bit TOO relaxed for my liking. I'm used to a little bit of pressure to get things accomplished and find that I flourish with a little healthy stress from deadlines. It may just be the projects that I've been put on, but I don't feel like any of the things that I've worked on really matters to anyone.
Continue reading - Current Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Good place to work
May 8, 2015 - Software Engineer in Salt Lake City, UTRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Most people are really nice and friendly to work with. Really good health insurance. Good work-life balance. Fairly stable. Possibility to work from home.
Cons
Salary: They spend tons of money on contractor, but under-paying most of people in my team(15%-30% lower than other company), and refuse to make a change. Senior people keep leaving and the salary is too low to attract new people to fill the position.
Continue reading - Former Employee★★★★★
Much To Fix
Aug 11, 2016 - Enrollment Counselor in Salt Lake City, UTRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
This depends on your perspective. One of the pros is that some people get to work from home. However, that is only a pro if you are one of the ones who wants to work from home and actually gets to do it. Not everybody wants to work from home and not everybody who does want to work from home gets to. So that is subjective. Secondly, there is the potential to receive an annual bonus around August of each year. Again this is a good thing but at the same time can feel deflating when you have the best year ever (as was the case this year) but still miss the targets that have been set so the full bonus payout was not reached. Third, you will work with some good people. I liked all my peers and that is one thing that kept me there but in the end even that was not enough. Finally, it is a good stepping stone for new college grads or others with some college looking for some real world experience that they can then take elsewhere. And yes, I say take elsewhere because many people want to leave WGU and for good reason, which I will get to next.
Cons
I have seen some reviews where the individual writing the review was clearly disgruntled and did nothing but bash WGU. The problem with that is they are hard to take serious and one can't help but wonder if they were fired and were just taking out their frustrations. I will be critical but I am not disgruntled. First, I was not fired. I voluntarily left for a job that paid substantially more. That is one of the major cons of working at WGU. The starting salary (I was an enrollment counselor) is shall we say...low. After two years of working there I did not see much in the way of raises outside of what I'd consider a cost of living raise. They may be considered merit raises, but I do not know for sure. I did just fine as an EC and enrolled a lot of students but my raises were pretty low. In contrast, Bob Mendenhall (former President who now works in a different capacity) made over $800,000 in 2012. I do not have more recent figures but I am going to guess based on the success of the university that he is now approaching $1 million a year. He was the highest paid college president in Utah in 2012. Pretty shameful that the people who are enrolling students at a pretty rapid clip are just getting by but the president is rolling in money. But they are a non-profit so I guess not everybody can benefit from the success of the university. Even jobs such as mentors, which require a master's degree only start in about the low $40k range. For a university that preaches about 'changing lives' they certainly do not put much value on the education its own employees have. That is a source of heartburn for me. Second complaint is the never ending technical problems. Mr. Pulsipher, if you are reading, I hope you were brought in to fix the technology problems that run rampant at WGU. I cannot even begin to list all the problems with the application process (student oftentimes have to troubleshoot their computer with the help desk to even apply), the readiness assessment, the admissions decision, the telephones, admissions inbox, the list goes on and on....Nobody seems to listen or care. I am hopeful the new president, who has a technology background will fix all the problems with this ONLINE university that should be running like clockwork by now. My third complaint is the fact that WGU, which is a non-profit is slowly turning into the next University of Phoenix. The focus has been on getting more and more students. The funny thing is WGU cannot even support them all and many times programs are capped and cannot accept anymore students but we were told as an enrollment team that we need to do a better job of converting potential student into actual students. WGU puts barriers to entry into place such as the readiness assessment, prior college experience required, pre-requisites etc....but then blames the enrollment team that we are not converting at a high enough rate. Perhaps the marketing team should look in the mirror when it comes to conversion and the demographic they are marketing to. I lost track of how many times a 'potential' student told me they had no interest in school and did not even know they had requested information. The problem in my opinion is that the marketing team is not selective enough in how they market. People who are looking to get points for their online Star Wars games are requesting information with no intent of going to school. WGU has been lumped into a pool with all the big for-profits. WGU should be above that. My third complaint is that management does not seem all that interested in what people have to say. They might say they do but the reality is nothing happens. They have a WGU Ideas box and they show interest in it for a few months and then it just disappears. WGU has a lot of smart people and does not take advantage of those employees' ideas. It is a waste of a lot of good thoughts and input. Finally, and one of my biggest issues is the way WGU handles processes and refuses to change any of it. For example, I was taken to task by the transcripts supervisor because I gave a student her direct e-mail. Apparently I did not follow 'protocol'. Students are not to e-mail the transcripts supervisor to her direct e-mail under any circumstances....ever! Enrollment is supposed to be student facing but the transcripts supervisor is exempt from talking to students or receiving e-mails to her directly. It is a complete joke. We could not forward students on the phone to admissions or transcript evaluators either. I will never understand that but it certainly did not create a 'WOW' experience for many of my students. Likewise, we could not discuss the results of a student's readiness assessment. Students want to know how they did and we could not tell them. If they did not pass a section we could not tell them what it was. Just because this is how it's always been done does not make it right and Mr. Pulsipher needs to review some of these archaic policies. If WGU truly wants to fix things they need to really start taking a vested interest in fixing them. The focus has been on nothing but getting more and more students. They have effectively put the cart before the horse and will falter if they don't figure things out. I liked a lot about WGU and hate to see them go the way UOP has the last several years but it will happen if they don't make drastic changes. This is not a forgiving industry to be in and WGU will learn this if they stick with the status quo.
Continue reading - Former Employee, more than 5 years★★★★★
Great co-workers; bad management
Jul 26, 2019 - IT Manager in Salt Lake City, UTRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Great camaraderie. There are a few people who really work hard to try and make it a great place to work.
Cons
A VP sexually harassed several women and those women where removed from their positions and put in another dept if they complained. the VP retained his position and as far as i can tell, had no repercussions. More than a few managers create a hostile work environment and have little to no interest in developing employees and advancing careers. It's a game of demand to much and see what they can get. I have witnessed a several times, directors and managers, bold face lie to upper management about dept performance in an effort to make themselves look better.
Continue reading - Current Employee, more than 5 years★★★★★
Pros
It’s getting harder and harder to enjoy my job. The expectations are unrealistic, workload/caseload has increased significantly (more than an additional 30%) than what I was initially told I would be responsible for. Feel duped, to be honest. Hard to find a pro with the pile-on of excess work.
Cons
The CEO (that’s what he actually is, but his title is university “President”) has changed the management structure so that it’s now more top-heavy and key decisions that impact the lower ranks are made most often without consultation from the people it impacts. It’s becoming more and more like Amazon (where the CEO came from), with crazy , stressful, workload expectations. Can’t take a vacation without your Key Performance Indicators being impacted (they never shut off even when you’re out of office for weekends or requested time off). Major issues with accountability, and an employee often feels pressured (by KPI or other) to work even when out of office.
Continue reading - Current Employee★★★★★
Mission Focused but Little opportunity for growth
Nov 22, 2022 - Project Manager 3RecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Everyone I work with, great passion to serve students. Very mission and purpose focused.
Cons
Promotion proceeds is not transparent at all. Little opportunities for growth unless you are a “people leader” as opposed to an individual contributor.
- Current Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Pros
Flexibility with your schedule and the mission of the university is a sound one. The people that work for me are amazing and have a true desire to help students.
Cons
Little influence in the vision of the university/ability to truly lead your team. Poor communication across departments/roll out of initiatives.
Continue reading - Current Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Pros
Working for WGU is wonderful. I have the opportunity to work with many fantastic people and help current employees reach their next career step
Cons
WGU is a very competitive employer with lots of applicants. It can be frustrating to candidates to not get the job but I would tell them to keep applying. It is worth it.
Continue reading - Current Employee, more than 5 years★★★★★
Your degree means nothing
May 11, 2021 - Enrollment Counselor in Salt Lake City, UTRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Some flexibility. Tuition discount after 6 months.
Cons
People without a degree who have worked for WGU for less than a year being promoted to management positions. In-line promotions (leveling) are not based on performance. If you are denied the promotion, management can point to a number of decade-old metrics that have nothing to do with current job performance. This way they can promote those who they like and those who fit the narrative of “advancing equity” regardless of their performance metrics which everyone can see. When you earn a degree while working at WGU no one knows, and worse, no one cares. WGU does not buy what they sell. “Our graduates earn $17,000 more per year after they graduate”. You can earn that much more, just not at WGU.
Continue readingWGU’s internal promotion process reviews a wide range of qualities and requirements that each employee must fulfill prior to being recommended for promotion. While performance metrics are included, so are elements of leadership, professionalism, proactive problem-solving, policy compliance and overall self-management, just to name a few. Additionally, while we would love to promote everyone who has met these requirements, organizational structure and budget must also be considered, as we also plan for annual increases (regardless of promotion) and continued growth. As mentioned, one of the amazing benefits to working at WGU is our Employee Tuition Discount. It drastically reduces the cost of attendance and many of our employees have taken advantage of this program. We take pride in providing them with the knowledge and education necessary to succeed and increase their earning potential in a field of their choosing. However, we are even more pleased when they remain with us after their graduation. These individuals bring additional insight to their positions as both a student and employee. As a Non-Profit University, the level of commitment our students, faculty and staff exhibit is essential to our progress and mission, to change lives for the better by creating pathways to opportunity.
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Great people to work with and being able to work with students reach their goals of going back to school.
Cons
I have been year almost 2 years and even though I recent switched over to a new position (same department) it is taking longer for the ability to work at home. They keep changing the qualifications.
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