KSU makes list of ‘Great Colleges to Work For’

Staff report

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Kent State University has been selected as one of the 2011 “Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the nation’s No. 1 source of news and information about colleges and universities.

The Chronicle’s “Great Colleges to Work For” program recognizes small groups of colleges, based on their enrollment size, for specific best practices and policies. This is the second time that Kent State has made the prestigious list in its four-year history.

The Chronicle released its results as part of the publication’s fourth annual report on The Academic Workplace. The results are based on a survey of nearly 44,000 employees at 310 colleges and universities.

Kent State employees rated the institution highly enough to be recognized in the Compensation and Benefits category for large universities with 10,000 or more students. The university was last honored on the “Great Colleges to Work For” list in 2009.

“Kent State has received many honors and recognitions this past year, including being named among the top 200 universities in the world and growing our enrollment to now rank as Ohio’s second-largest public university,” said Stephane Booth, Kent State’s associate provost for quality initiatives and curriculum. “What is particularly special about this achievement is that it is based on the feedback of our faculty and staff. As members of the Kent State community, we take great pride in our institution and have a shared commitment to excellence, demonstrating ‘Excellence in Action’ every day.”

The survey results are based on a two-part assessment process: an institutional audit that captured demographics and workplace policies from each institution and a survey administered to faculty, administrators and professional support staff. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution received recognition was the employee feedback.

“Employees are the university’s most valuable resource,” said Willis Walker, Kent State vice president for human resources. “It is gratifying to be recognized by our faculty and staff, and The Chronicle, in the Compensation and Benefits category.”

He adds that the compensation package faculty and staff receive is more than just the dollar amount in their paycheck.

“It also includes health benefits, the tuition waiver, an employee-assistance program and other resources that are a significant part of each employee’s total compensation,” Walker said.

Jeffrey J. Selingo, editor of The Chronicle, said that colleges are realizing they need to do more to attract quality employees.

“The ‘Great Colleges to Work For’ survey is meant to help both employers and potential employees by giving them vital information about workplaces,” he said.

“Great Colleges to Work For” is one of the largest and most-respected workplace-recognition programs in the country. For more information and to view all the results of the survey, visit The Chronicle’s website at http://chronicle.com/academicworkplace. The survey results also were published in The Chronicle’s The Academic Workplace special report as part of its July 29 issue.