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Columbia University

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Columbia University reviews

4.0

65% would recommend to a friend

(5,408 total reviews)
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Lee C. Bollinger

60% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Columbia University has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 5,408 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Columbia University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Educación industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews
2.0
Nov 18, 2015

Bureaucratic nightmare

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I was fortunate to work with some talented colleagues. Additionally, my on-campus housing (I believe this is only for research staff) was quickly and easily arranged. Apartment maintenance was performed promptly. The IT department (CUIT) proved flexible and willing to solve our problems.

Cons

The bureaucracy is an unstoppable force; paper forms abound and forget about doing anything not covered by an existing policy or checklist. Department administrations appear stuck in the 1970s with staff that, on average, do little more than the bare minimum. Capable staff are hamstrung by arcane procedures. I fear this extends to the educational aspects of the University, which is compounded by a lack of willingness to change. My appointment was bungled no fewer than three times, leading to delays in pay and lapsed health insurance. At one point I was forced to purchase my own health insurance from the state exchange because of an administrator's error. Expense reimbursements sometimes took months to arrive. Procurement was an embarrassment. Several times during my tenure vendor accounts were left unpaid. Dozens of hours were wasted trying to follow up with our department's business office in attempts to rectify said situations. It took over a year for our group's charge account at Staples to be approved for use.

4.0
Oct 1, 2015

Great Institution, terrible politics

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing library and facilities for grad students

Cons

Anti-union culture amongst tenured profs and the admin higher ups. Terrible administrative bloat--lots of incompetent people filling the deans' offices. Within departments (at least humanities), admin is much more competent.

Viewing 70 - 72 of 5,408 Reviews

Glassdoor has 6,149 Columbia University reviews submitted anonymously by Columbia University employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Columbia University is right for you.