The University of Cincinnati

Date: Oct 23 2007
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
This is a university that is imploding.

It's true that the campus has been transformed via an extensive (and expensive) construction program. Unfortunately, the university is so broke that the admin. doesn't even manage to maintain all these new buildings. I study & work in one of the university's new architectural gems. It is literally filthy, and unsound. Whenever it rains, our studios are swamped by leaking roofs, and leaking door jams; the garbage is infrequently emptied; facilities are unclean and stink; the media equipment never works; crime is a matter of daily routine - even students stealing from other students (not to mention the thefts from persons outside the university community); if you have to report a crime the office police will tell you they don't have the resources to investigate; the new surveillance system literally is trained on the vending areas, not the building in general.

The university's administration and staff display an attitude that mirrors the state of our buildings. The university has so mismanaged its finances that they have cut staff to the bone and initiated a hiring freeze. The result is a grossly overworked admin. staff, inadequate teaching staff, and a whole lot of really bad attitudes. This is easily one of the angriest campuses in the country. Have a problem? It will not be solved, but by reporting it you will be verbally assaulted. Myself and a large number of other student employees had to threaten to file a labor complaint with DOL just to get paid - it still took over five months to get all that we were owed. And the university still maganged to get the taxes/deductions wrong.

Finally, this university is so over priced, and with the tuition freeze on they are looking into new and slimy ways of gaining additional income by raising fees and initiating new fees. You will not graduate with a reasonably priced degree. In fact, if they have their way you won't graduate at all unless you pay a $300 graduation fee (what they would like to call a 'transcript processing charge').

I suspect that the really nice review I found at the head of this collection was written by one of the university's spokespersons; it certainly reads like more of an advertisement than a student opinion. It expresses an experience that is the true opposite of mine and so many other students.