Kent State Recognized as a “Great College to Work For”

Employees give university high marks for compensation and benefits

Kent State University is being recognized again as one of the nation’s best. Kent State has been selected as one of this year’s “Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the nation’s number one source of news, information and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators. Based on a survey of more than 44,000 employees at 300 colleges and universities, The Chronicle’s 2013 “Great Colleges to Work For” program recognizes small, medium and large institutions for specific best practices and policies.

The Chronicle released its 2013 results today, and Kent State is one of 97 colleges and universities to receive this prestigious designation. Kent State is the only Ohio public university on this year’s list. Only two Ohio institutions made the list: Kent State and Walsh University, a private, four-year university. 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.

This is the third time the university has been honored as a “Great College to Work For” in the past four years.

“Kent State’s most valuable resource is our employees, and to be recognized by our employees for the investment the university makes in them – resulting in Kent State being named a ‘Great College to Work For’ – is a tremendous honor,” said Joseph Vitale Jr., Kent State interim vice president for human resources. “Compensation goes beyond a salary. In addition to a paycheck, our compensation package includes health and welfare benefits, vacation benefits, tuition opportunities, retirement benefits and other resources. Our offerings in compensation and benefits help us attract, retain and develop the great talent that makes up this great university.”

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.

Now in its sixth year, the “Great Colleges to Work For” program has become one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country.

“The institutions that the Great Colleges program recognizes provide innovative educational experiences – while also offering their employees outstanding workplace experiences – and we are eager to help readers learn more about them,” said Liz McMillen, The Chronicle’s editor.

For more information and to view all the results of the survey, visit The Chronicle’s website at http://chronicle.com/article/great-colleges/140369#id=big-table. The survey results also will be published in The Chronicle’s Academic Workplace special report in the July 26 printed edition.

For more information about Kent State’s compensation and benefits, visit its Human Resources page at www.kent.edu/hr.

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Photo Caption:
Pratim Datta, associate professor of management and information systems at Kent State University, gives a lecture. Kent State has been selected as one of this year’s “Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595