Kennesaw State Named a 2013 ‘Great College to Work For’

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The Chronicle of Higher Education has once again recognized Kennesaw State University as one of the top universities in the country to work for. It was the only university in Georgia to be recognized this year.

The Chronicle’s “2013 Great Colleges to Work For” cited Kennesaw State among the top 97 institutions in three categories — collaborative governance, professional/career development programs, and facilities/workspace/security. The recognition is based upon feedback from university employees and an institutional audit of workplace policies and practices.

“We are very proud to be recognized among an impressive group of institutions whose employees identified many positive attributes about their work environment,” said Kennesaw State President Daniel S. Papp. “Our faculty, staff and administrators are the foundation of our University, and they demonstrate their commitment to Kennesaw State each and every day. We are deeply appreciative of their work on behalf of our nearly 25,000 students.”

This is the second time Kennesaw State has been recognized by the Chronicle. In the “2009 Great Colleges to Work For” survey, the university was among the top 10 schools for confidence in senior leadership, teaching environment, collaborative governance, professional/career development programs, physical work space conditions and post-retirement benefits.

“What makes Kennesaw State such a great place to work is that we invest in our people,” said Rodney Bossert, the university’s assistant vice president for human resources. “We do that in so many ways with training initiatives from new employee orientation to professional development and retirement education. A university is only as good as its people, and I am pleased that we have some of the best and brightest in our midst.”

Bossert noted that two of the categories for which Kennesaw State earned recognition in this year’s survey — collaborative governance and professional development — are aligned with the university’s strategic planning goals.

“It’s rewarding to gain national recognition for the investments and strides we are making in these areas,” he added.

Kennesaw State employs multiple mechanisms to ensure that campus stakeholders are collectively empowered to make recommendations and impact policy decisions. These include four actively engaged senates representing faculty, staff, students and university administrators, which together comprise a University Council. The president’s cabinet and planning and budget advisory committee and the provost’s deans’ council also contribute to the university’s shared governance infrastructure.

Faculty and staff are afforded things like tuition assistance, paid professional association dues, support to attend conferences and other professional development activities, mentoring and coaching for faculty and managers, IT courses and other training throughout the year.

Also recognized in the facilities/workspace/security category, Kennesaw State’s campus offers several new or updated office buildings, classrooms and other facilities. Among its newest buildings, two have attained LEED Gold-certification for state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly construction. A nationally recognized emergency system enables succinct communication between all of the support departments traditionally charged with security/safety and with the campus community.

For the past six years, the Chronicle’s “Great Colleges to Work For” program has recognized small groups of colleges (based on enrollment size) for specific best practices and policies. There were 12 recognition categories. Among four-year and two-year colleges, 97 institutions were recognized in at least one category.

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

This year’s survey encompassed responses from nearly 45,000 people at 300 institutions. All accredited institutions in the United States are invited to participate, and participation is free.

Full results of The Chronicle’s annual survey can be viewed online at:
https://chronicle.com/article/Great-Colleges-To-Work-For/140369?forceGen=1#id=big-table

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