Probably the biggest con is once you get here, as staff, its hard to get out. There really aren't that many opportunities for advancement or developing skills, unless you want to enter management...and know the right people. Within the past few years, Purdue rolled out a program to try to guide staff on career trajectories. To the best of my knowledge, the program has been a dismal failure, as departments fight for fancy sounding titles that don't allow employees to move or advance anywhere within Purdue.
Purdue University suffers from several problems which one should seriously consider before applying or making the move.
-Did you grow up near West Lafayette, or did you attend Purdue University? If not, skip. There is a strong sense that someone from this region or from Purdue is a better candidate or employee than anyone else around. This feeling flows into hirings, promotions, salary raises, firings, etc. I've had knowledgeable colleagues just completely sidelined and ignored because they weren't from Purdue, or because someone who graduated from Purdue said the opposite thing. This also creates a challenging climate for anyone who has seen things done better elsewhere because the answer to any suggestion is basically that Purdue is the best so why change?
-Purdue is a moderately ranked public R1 institution, yet there is considerable pride and ego here. I've worked at Ivy League institutions and was surprised to find that the sense of strength in reputation and academic programs here rivals those found at more noteworthy places. The dirty secret is that the electrical and computer engineering and aerospace programs are the strongest, while the rest of the university is along for the ride. Along with that, the most open-minded departments are the ones who know they actually are strong programs (engineering).
-The faculty detest Mitch Daniels, the president, but he is probably one of the university's greatest assets. Daniels is a well-known and decorated public figure, and has worked to make the costs of higher education more manageable. Unfortunately, many faculty can't stomach that a non-researcher like Daniels gets the spotlight instead of them.
-Nepotism is a powerful thing here. One way it happens is that among staff, many of them are spouses of faculty, and spousal hires occur more often here than any other institution I've ever worked at. The second way it happens is because of that disproportionate sense of regional and institutional pride: because many of the employees went to school here or grew up here, they tend to hire their friends for plum jobs. This means that if you are an "outsider" you will find yourself with less salary, more work, little chance for promotion, and more constraints on your time so that "insiders" can disappear from the office with their boss.
-The spousal hire situation may make faculty happy, but is toxic for staff. The result is that there are a bunch of unhappy people trying to look busy while not being busy. This results in people not really wanting to resolve issues, not really caring if tasks get done, and playing petty politics. Buck-passing is rife here, among staff and management.
-And why are spouses generally hired at Purdue University? Because of the small size and isolation of the town, there are few potential employers within 50 miles. So another reason why there are many unhappy staff is that there is nowhere else to go.
-In almost every department, there is one real "trooper" who is down in the trenches, diligently working and can be trusted to get things done in a timely and correct manner. Once you identify these individuals, it is a pleasure to work with them. But cherish the time you spend, because soon they disappear.
