Clarksville, Ark. --- For the second consecutive year University of the Ozarks has been named one of the top universities in the country to work for by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In the Chronicle’s 2010 “Great Colleges to Work For” survey, released on Monday, July 26, U of O was one of 30 four-year colleges across the country that were named to the Honor Roll. U of O was the only university in Arkansas to make the survey’s Honor Roll.
The third-annual survey recognizes colleges for specific best practices and policies, such as compensation and benefits, faculty-administration relations and confidence in senior leadership. The program was based on responses from nearly 43,000 administrators, faculty members and staff members at 275 institutions, including four-year colleges and universities, as well as community colleges.
“University of the Ozarks continues to receive a number of national accolades, but I am most proud of our designation as ‘A Great College to Work For,’” said Ozarks President Dr. Rick Niece. “That commendation is a tribute to the professional and personal respect we maintain for one another at Ozarks. When others recognize Ozarks as being a great college, that means a lot to me. But when the claim is validated by our own people, the recognition means a great deal more.”
The Honor Roll highlights the top 10 colleges in each college size category based on the number of times they were recognized in 12 individual recognition categories. U of O was recognized in nine of the 12 categories: collaborative governance, professional/career development programs, teaching environment, compensation and benefits, job satisfaction, work-life balance, confidence in senior leadership, supervisor or department chair relationship and respect and appreciation.
The Chronicle article stated that at U of O a “positive teaching environment is cultivated, in which faculty members are evaluated on an individualized basis, allowing for differences in pedagogical approaches.” The article also pointed out that some employees at Ozarks receive annual stipends for professional development.
U of O was in the small university category, which includes institutions with enrollments of under 3,000. Among the Honor Roll universities in the small college category were Furman University in South Carolina, Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, Centre College in Kentucky and Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. Other Honor Roll universities included George Mason University, University of Michigan, University of Mississippi and University of Notre Dame.
The Chronicle of Higher Education is the leading source of news, information and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators. The newspaper has a weekly print readership of 350,000 and Web traffic of more than 14 million pages a month. ModernThink LLC, which administered and analyzed the survey, is a strategic human capital consulting firm that has conducted numerous “Best Places to Work” programs.
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