Pros
The best thing about working at Rice is the work life balance. A week off between Christmas and New Years. If local school districts close due to weather Rice typically closes too. So if you have children you don’t have to stress about what o do when school closes (since daycares usually also close for bad weather). I’ve rarely had issues with taking days off if needed planned or for emergency. They are much more understanding that “life happens” than any corporate employer I’ve ever worked for. They actually treat you like a person and most people are very friendly and happy.
Cons
You have to pay for parking which I’ve never understood why. I came from the corporate world and parking was always paid by my employers. My particular position is extremely boring and redundant. I’m also seated in an office space that’s set up where I feel very isolated all day. There seems to be little room for growth because I do the same repetitive task every day all day and haven’t seen any new positions I’m interested in within Rice. There are no alternative schedule like 9/80 or 4/10 and no option to work remote even though my position could easily be done remotely. I’ve suggested it many times and last I heard was Rice is a “people oriented place” so they don’t want people working from home. Understandable BUT when you position has little people interaction and you’re sitting in office isolated all day, what’s the point? Also it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I’ve worked for employers that let you work remote once a week and not have to deal with traffic and the hustle of going in the office that one day was a big stress relief. Insurance coverage is good, but expensive. There are no annual bonuses and yearly raises are just a few cents. Supposedly it’s based solely on cost of living. But a raise of less than 1% that’s only a few cents does not keep up with cost of living.