Pros
Benefits and pay are generous; an annual 1-1.5% cost of living increase is almost always implemented. The location to Portland is wonderful and the grounds are amazing.
Cons
You’ll notice that the most positive reviews come from student employees and faculty/research staff. However, the vast majority of Reed administrative staff would have a different story to tell. The faculty/staff divide here is much worse than in other institutions in my previous 20 years of experience and qualified applicants seeking fulfilling administrative work should definitely look elsewhere. At Reed, your empirical data and years of experience will be ignored in favor of the opinion of veteran (very likely male) faculty members with advanced degrees in completely unrelated fields. Ego and bravado > facts. Supervisors (including, unfortunately, Human Resource staff) and coworkers routinely mistreat each other and the President and Vice Presidents act in self-serving ways without considering the benefit of the institution as a whole. Benevolent sexism is openly practiced by those at the very highest level: leadership routinely praise women but circumvent them on a day to day basis: the men in any given office are asked to head projects they have no experience with, to inform others of changes in institutional priorities, process and procedure, even without the administrative authority to deliver those directives. If you are a male staff member, however, you will enjoy disproportionate conferring of leadership status, title, and pay. Men are often hired at pay grades that exceed their experience and levels of expertise, while female candidates are deemed “not the best fit” or are simply “unimpressive.” Reed’s current focus on hiring a diverse staff and faculty has led to many truly qualified candidates being overlooked, internal candidates completely ignored, and an approach to hiring and promotion that’s ignorant and outdated. (The underlying assumption of course being that the only type of diversity that matters is the type of diversity that you can see). Promoting diversity does not require lowering standards- to do so is an insult to the individual and to the institution. Reed should replace this barbaric simplistic mindset with something meaningful, and focus more on genuinely mentoring internal talent (yes, even the Caucasian females), while working to improve its reputation as an employer so that the institution attracts external talent of all races and backgrounds. Because of the toxic culture and the lack of mature, ethical, informed leadership at the highest levels, individuals generally focus on protecting themselves instead of being fully productive. Capable individuals are at a disadvantage at Reed and are judged harshly when speaking out about unprofessional behavior or calling for more efficient business practices. Self-preservation has become the top priority and most staff members choose to look the other way rather than risk their positions by being truthful. Adopting and promoting “the Reed way,” no matter how ridiculous, is the only way to survive. Before considering a job at Reed College, thoroughly research the President and senior leadership and then do what the faculty and Trustees did not: pay attention to the findings.
