1 star review about Chapman on Glassdoor!
This 1 star review I came across on Glassdoor summarizes the situation at Chapman perfectly…
“Pros:
Slower pace of work compared to non-higher education industries. Campus is fairly clean, built in the middle of Orange, many can appreciate the feel of working within an old town city.
Cons:
No remote work. Not allowed to work remotely when at a conference. Strict with that policy, and unforgiving. UCs and Cal States and other peer institutions offer hybrid and remote work.
Lots of turnover at all levels. Happening all over campus: New leadership comes in and restructures their department, resulting in the firing and layoffs of existing employees, only to bring in employees from their previous company.
Many new leaders are from Colorado University. There are Executive Vice Presidents, Deputy Vice Presidents, Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Associate Vice Presidents all for the Colorado University folks and their friends. That structure doesn't exist at the lower levels. Their pay is well above 300-400k, yet the university has been in a budget crisis and restriction for years. Rumor, looking to be true, there's an initiative to cut costs by laying off employees through return to office mandates, and constant reorgs/restructures.
Suspicious activity - used a hiring agency to bring in candidates for the COO position, none was hired. The interim COO left right before the interviews started. Says a lot there.
Lack of transparency under the new President and regime. Return to office was announced by the COO who was leaving the university the next week lol. No updates on leadership hirings, changes, or plans. News and updates are found through the gossip and rumor grapevine.
Firings and layoffs - the university will use this as their first option against an employee. Leadership doesn't like you just because? Fired. Doing okay/average work? Fired. Not a yes sir/ma'am? Fired. The marketing and communications department has fired 28 of its 30 original employees in 2 years since the new leadership from Colorado has started.
Pay - below market rate. Annual merit increases are only 1-3% unless you're in leadership or a favorite of a senior leader. No cost-of-living increases. Your VP or Senior VP determines your merit increase, not your direct supervisor.
Promotions - very rare to happen. Friends of leaders will be hired before they promote internally.
Benefits - okay medical insurance. Vision insurance is bad. The cost to employees on insurance is rising every year now. Merit increases barely cover the increases.
Parking - you'll have to walk 10-15 minutes to your office if you don't park before the students start class. Leave for lunch and your parking spot is gone for the rest of the day. If you're driving between 7:30A and 5:30P, it will take you 2-3 times the normal amount of time to drive through to where you need to go. Students cross the streets and don't care to stop for cars. Insufficient electric vehicle charging - university refuses to build more chargers. They demand everyone to come back to the office, yet don't offer support for people who have to travel 1.5-2+ hours one-way to the office. Culture - has gone from an education-driven industry to a corporate environment. Employees are unhappy across campus. Large groups are unhappy. Many are scared that they'll be laid off or fired. Many are unhappy with how things are being run right now.
Diversity and Inclusion - Not really diverse. Conservative, far-right-minded leadership.
Office - there are so many people back in the office that even with the A/C running, it's still warm. The office assistants are ordering fans off Amazon.
TL;DR: The 4.2 rating is propped up by reviews from students who work at Chapman through federal work study (anything with research, student, graduate in their title are probably student employees). If you were to filter this to actual full-time employees, this rating would drop significantly. If you want to work in higher education, go to a Cal State or UC school. Higher pay, better benefits, remote and hybrid work schedules, unions, etc. Culture is bad. Morale is just as bad if not worse.
Advice to Management:
Management won't read this, and if they do, they'll retaliate somehow. They're corporate lawyers turning Chapman into a corporate company. If you're going to keep using the phrase "we're family" maybe treat it as such and not as the typical punchline and meme for every other workplace.”
Heres the link(you need an account to view): https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Chapman-University-E23974-RVW105107820.htm
Thank you to whoever wrote this!!!