The Chronicle Names McPherson College to 2018 ‘Great College to Work For’ Honor Roll for the 3rd year in a row.
McPherson College is a great place to work and it’s been confirmed by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The 11th annual report on The Academic Workplace named McPherson College to its “Great Colleges to Work For” for the fourth year in a row and to its Honor Roll for the third year in a row.
The Honor Roll is an elite group of institutions that are standouts within their respective enrollment sizes. McPherson College was the only Kansas college to make the Honor Roll list and the only Kansas college included on the report.
“All of us work very hard to make McPherson College a great college, and it’s exciting to be recognized again this year by one of the country’s leaders in higher education,” McPherson College President Michael Schneider said. “The fact that we’ve earned this distinction four years running – and three times been named to the Honor Roll – speaks volumes about the strong, collaborative relationships among our faculty, staff, and administration.”
President Schneider points to programs like the Horizon Faculty Fellow that encourages entrepreneurial faculty, the college’s health insurance plan that has not had a premium increase for several years, and annual pay raises, as reasons why people like working for McPherson College.
“I like that the college gives faculty freedom to design our own courses. I think we’re better teachers because we can find our own way to teach our subject,” Dr. Kim Stanley, professor and chair of modern language at McPherson College, said. “That freedom helps us to reveal our passion for our subject, so students can better connect with us and with what they’re learning.”
While this is the college’s third year on the Honor Roll, it is the college’s fourth year overall to be named to the Great Colleges to Work For list. This year, it was one of only five institutions nationwide to earn top honors in 11 or more of the report’s 12 categories, which include areas like compensation and benefits along with work and life balance.
“One of the things that attracted me to McPherson College was the fact that they were listed on the Great Colleges to Work For Honor Roll,” Khalilah Doss, vice president of student life, said. Dr. Doss oversees student experience and started working at the college prior to the fall of 2018.
“Our campus truly values the importance of faculty and staff having a healthy balance between work and home. This level of harmony is critical to my success as an employee as it allows me to do a job I love while being able to be present for my family. One of the most amazing feelings to ever have is showing up to a space that makes you feel welcomed, supported, valued and wanted. The McPherson College leadership has figured out how to create this environment for all staff and faculty.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education – one of the nation’s top trade publications for colleges and universities – surveyed 253 two-year and four-year institutions nationwide. Only 84 institutions were selected for the Great Colleges to Work For list, and only 10 of those made the Honor Roll in the small-college category.
“Making the Honor Roll for the past three years is a great accomplishment,” Brenda Stocklin-Smith, director of human resources, said. “The quality of our pool of applicants has improved, which is a direct result of being named to this prestigious list. Many of those who now apply tell me they knew of McPherson College because of this recognition.”
McPherson College was also singled out in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s special issue on the workplace in an article that focused on creating community. In the article, McPherson College was cited for its monthly campus “huddle,” which replicates a town hall meeting, and for its Campus Communicator, a weekly newsletter for faculty and staff.
“We’re all working toward the same goal—to provide a life-changing educational experience for our students—and are given a great deal of autonomy on that journey,” Ben Coffey, associate dean of students, said. “It helps that we’ve got some pretty great people here, so our colleagues become a family.”
Community is central to McPherson College’s identity, according to President Schneider. “As our college community continues to work through the challenges of an intense yet innovative strategic plan, Community by Design 2021, faculty and staff are actively implementing our plans. Community by Design drove decision making and much of the work we did over the last year. In addition, we did all of it while balancing our operating budget and maintaining our overall student retention. By working together, these plans will nurture the creative processes to sustain innovative academic ventures that will shape the future of our residential campus community.”
Great Colleges to Work For is one of the largest and most comprehensive workplace studies in higher education. For more information and to view the survey results, visit The Chronicle’s website at: https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/greatcolleges18.