Pros
Working with UMB students is by far the highlight of working on this campus. Most are tenacious, resilient, bright and unique. I learn a lot from them and feel proud to put in hard work to help them succeed. The UMass administration FINALLY just put salary scales more in line with the cost of living in Boston, so, there is a recent small improvement to feeling beleaguered for very little pay.
Cons
There are large gulfs between staff and faculty, in terms of faculty respecting staff and their workloads. Many depts/units do not have clear systems or workflow processes outlined, and faculty often think they are above the rules or do not need to follow policies. As staff, my expertise is often dismissed or overridden, and my best skills in working with students are undervalued. Communication from leadership is poor, there doesn't seem to be a unified set of efforts amongst anyone. The diversity of our student body is not reflected in the lack of diversity in our faculty and staff.