Union University Reviews

I'm not even sure where to start. I was very surprised to see sketchy ethics at a self-professed Christian institution. Students frequently received the runaround from staff and administration, and non-traditional students were frequently ignored altogether. There were several situations where students were ignored by everyone in Financial Aid or Admissions until I contacted those departments on their behalf. This was not the treatment of students that I experienced when I was an undergrad at UU. The quality of customer service has declined over the years. Moreover, the administration's care for staff has tanked as well. If you want a good-paying job with promotions and raises, don't come here. They underpay (unless you're upper admin, and no bonuses either), and unless you're on the in crowd, you can forget a promotion. I watched several highly qualified people be passed over for promotions in favor of external hires; those current staff then left for other opportunities because they had been ignored. If, for whatever reason, even made up reasons, people higher up the chain don't like you, you're not going to do well. It doesn't matter how well you do your job. There's an insular, fearful culture at this university. High achievers and go-getters are viewed with suspicion unless they have the blessing of the admins. The school has some difficulties with -isms as well. I witnessed racism, sexism, ageism, and classism in interactions with students and staff. Nonwhite and low-income (of all backgrounds) students were not treated with the same level of care and respect as the middle-class white students. Nonwhite staff members were not given adequate opportunity to advance, even if they had more than earned it. Female staff members, despite being the majority at UU, were very limited in their advancement as well. Qualified female employees were not promoted; leadership preferred to hire males from outside UU. HR was more focused on running events than advocating for equity and fair treatment among staff. The school has become more focused on being Southern Baptist than on being a quality educational environment. Speakers from outside a very strongly SBC/evangelical background are no longer invited to speak in chapel. Again, very insular. Lack of transparency from upper leadership, the members of which are frequently unavailable or are roaming the world for photo ops. It's hard to know what's going on in an institution when you feel as though the leadership doesn't trust the people under them. Overall, I have seen secular institutions and companies that behave better than this Christian one. Were I not also a Christian, I wouldn't want to become one after seeing how they've behaved.

Stuck in the 1990's for approaches to education Deans and chairs are overly paranoid which causes communication to be stilted Pay is terribly low for all but the president's friends