Does UCSC Silicon Valley Extension pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, UCSC Silicon Valley Extension employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.4 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension?

52% of UCSC Silicon Valley Extension employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated UCSC Silicon Valley Extension 3.3 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.7 for culture and values and 2.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension?

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) (2) , Program Manager (2)

What are the pros of working at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension according to real employee reviews?

"Good benefits" ((in 6 reviews)); "People were nice and culturally senstive" ((in 5 reviews)); "knit teams" ((in 4 reviews)); "Good colleagues to work with." ((in 4 reviews))

What are the cons of working at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension according to real employee reviews?

"Main problem is the poor management and the common practice of dropping current employees into roles they have no experience doing." ((in 3 reviews)); "Terrible upper management, they don’t care about the employees." ((in 3 reviews)); "Salary not as competitive based on location" ((in 3 reviews))

What are employees saying about UCSC Silicon Valley Extension redundancies in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about UCSC Silicon Valley Extension redundancy and their outlook for job security at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension in 2026.

UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Reviews

3.2

52% would recommend to a friend

(39 total reviews)

PK Agarwal

69% approve of CEO

18% positive business outlook

UCSC Silicon Valley Extension has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 39 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The UCSC Silicon Valley Extension employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

39 reviews

1.0

22 May 2019

Toxic drama and politics

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

There are a few good souls who really try to do good. The health, vision, and dental benefits are nice.

Cons

The culture here is so toxic that the pros don't even begin to make up for it. It really boils down to management. Upper management discourages department team bonding because it is "exclusive to other departments" (their words, not mine). After Dean Lynda Rogers retired, her authority was passed into the hands of a select few who are sorely under-qualified for their jobs. Since those people came into power, there have been clear signs of nepotism as several other under-qualified people were promoted to higher positions within and even outside of their departments. As a result, a large portion of upper management is filled with people who have little leadership experience, and it really shows. This doesn't even begin to cover the insanely petty drama that occurs day to day in the office. I will not perpetuate the gossip, but I believe it is worth mentioning that many of the senior employees frequently got really nasty about the most pointless things.

1.0

25 Jan 2019

Honestly couldn't get out fast enough...

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

It was a good first job to get myself into education. I don't think I could have gotten my current role if I hadn't started at Extension so I am grateful for that. I was also able to experiment and I learned a lot of what NOT to do.

Cons

Management is terrible and nearly all of UNEXs problems can be diluted down to management issues. They play favorites, they promise things that are never delivered (usually the promise is extended to get you to do more work), they have outright LIED to my face. It's impossible to get any sort of promotion unless you are one of the favored few. They rarely promoted from within anyway, preferring to hire from outside instead. They have decimated entire teams just because they didn't like those particular managers. They gossip behind your backs, and tell subordinate employees things they have NO BUSINESS telling them because they are personal friends. Colleagues not even on my teams would know about changes to our teams before we even did, because they were part of the gossip mill. They don't care at all about their employees, especially lower level. They were alter your job, sometimes DRASTICALLY, without any warning or even a conversation to ask how you feel about it. They also love making sweeping top down changes on a whim without giving any thought to the fallout, usually leaving it to the low level employees to clean up the mess it makes (making new processes, finding loose threads, etc). As far as benefits, the pay is very low for this area but the benefits are decent. Dental and vision are free, health is cheap, and it's one of the few jobs that comes with a pension. I unfortunately was not able to last the five years to get vested...

1.0

25 May 2019

Cut and run

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Amazing people throughout the various teams. The staff is welcoming, kind, and smart. They deserve better than they have here. Some on the management team (Ehren & Dave) are capable and empowering leaders, but their backs are against the wall in the current environment.

Cons

Employees are held hostage to the uninformed whims of an unqualified, power-hungry employee who managed to get a job that she didn’t earn or deserve. The impression among employees is that upper management, controlled by this one rogue employee, actively works to subvert their best interests. This person is empowered beyond her presumable capacity, and the organization refuses to explain how she got a job that was never posted, or even what the actual scope of her job is. The whole things smacks of corruption at its worst or complete ineptitude at its best. A strong leader at the top level could clean this place up, but the deck is stacked against him/her. Those with power manipulate the system to inflate their own best interests.

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