MSU is too big, and has too much duplication, especially when it comes to IT services. The bureaucracy makes it nearly impossible to get anything done in a timely manner. There's basically no communication between departments, and nobody seems to know what is going on in the university outside of their own department. It's pretty much a mess from the top down.
From a compensation standpoint, raises don't even keep up with the cost of inflation. The union might keep you in your job, but the contracts they negotiate are garbage which results in the raises being an effective pay cut each year in terms of actual purchasing power. The health insurance is okay, though they refuse to cover any dependent that has the option of getting insurance from their employer for less than a certain dollar amount per year out of pocket, even if that insurance is terrible. Really drives home the fact that the university doesn't care about their employees or their families. The dental insurance is terrible, you get to choose between a plan that is only accepted by one dentist in the area and a plan that only pays 50% of services. No vision coverage, unless you pay for it out of pocket. They make you pay for parking as an employee. Nothing like charging your workers for the privilege of coming to work, right? Information on other benefits (like tuition assistance) that they tout is so hard to find and confusing if you do find it that it becomes almost impossible to understand what is available and how to get it. Almost seems like they're making it intentionally confusing just to keep people from using it.
