working for universities (Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro: chapel, layoffs, theater)

[davidvdb1]

Hi! I'm interested in exploring career opportunities with universities in the Raleigh/Durham area and around the state. I'd be most interested in writing, editing, and communications type positions. I'm a journalist considering a career change, and frankly part of the appeal of working at a university is the prospect of using tuition benefits to build new skills. I was also raised in an academic family (my parents are both professors, though not in NC) and would love to be working on a campus - and think North Carolina, and the Triangle particularly - would be a great place to do that. I've enjoyed my visits there. I have a sense that employees at universities, to some extent, trade salary for benefits and quality of life, and am fine with that. I'm wondering what all of you have to say about working conditions, pay and benefits, governance, or anything else at universities in the Triangle and statewide, and how the UNC schools and other public institutions might compare to private schools. I live in the Virginia suburbs of DC now and am planning a trip to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area in March, and am most interested in that part of the state, but would certainly consider the Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Asheville, Charlotte and Wilmington areas, depending on the job fit. Thanks for whatever information all of you have to offer.

[michgc]

Jobs here are not as plentiful as in NoVA. There is a lot of competition for jobs. Move where you find one. Yes, jobs are generally lower-paying than in the DC area, but it's overall cheaper to live here, too (primarily housing).

Each part of the state has something to offer, although none will have the big city feel like DC (Charlotte to some extent).

[adams_aj]

go to https://jobs.ncsu.edu/ and create an account and start looking there. They have a thing called the University Temporary Service (UTS) where you can post your qualifications and if a particular part of the university is in temporary need, they can find you. You might have to work as a "temp", then make connections. Good luck and report back on your progress.

[garnetpalmetto]

Originally Posted by adams_aj

go to https://jobs.ncsu.edu/ and create an account and start looking there. They have a thing called the University Temporary Service (UTS) where you can post your qualifications and if a particular part of the university is in temporary need, they can find you. You might have to work as a "temp", then make connections. Good luck and report back on your progress.

Please note that that's *only* for NC State. If you desire to work at any of the other local universities, even other members of the UNC system, you have to go through their individual HR offices (for instance, although NC Central, NC State, and UNC-Chapel Hill are all members of the UNC system, they don't share/pool applicant resumes for positions). The list of local colleges/universities is as follows (all links lead to their HR sites):

Campbell University (Buies Creek, NC - Their law school, however, is in Raleigh)
Duke University (Durham, NC)
Durham Technical Community College (Durham, NC)
Meredith College (Raleigh, NC)
NC Central University (Durham, NC)
NC State University (Raleigh, NC)
Shaw University (Raleigh, NC)
Skema Business School (Raleigh, NC)
St. Augustine's University (Raleigh, NC)
UNC-Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
Wake Technical Community College (Raleigh, NC)
William Peace University (Raleigh, NC)

Also you don't need to work as a temp and, to be honest, my experience is that temps tend to move from one temp job on campus to another - it's been more often that I've seen that then that temp get a full time job. I'd start by looking for a job in a field you're interested in or qualified in and apply for that.

[davidvdb1]

Thanks to all for your replies! Since I have a full-time job now I wouldn't want to leave for a temp position, but I appreciate the perspective. I'll also check the schools in the Triad (which while I'd probably prefer the Triangle looks like an underrated and attractive part of the state) and the Charlotte and Asheville areas too. I know that I'll be giving up a lot of the big city amenities I have now in greater DC and will have to take on the cost of a car if I find something that works out (I live car free and rely on transit now, which has good and bad points) but even with that I should come out ahead financially and hopefully be on my way to starting a new career.

[garnetpalmetto]

Originally Posted by davidvdb1

Thanks to all for your replies! Since I have a full-time job now I wouldn't want to leave for a temp position, but I appreciate the perspective. I'll also check the schools in the Triad (which while I'd probably prefer the Triangle looks like an underrated and attractive part of the state) and the Charlotte and Asheville areas too. I know that I'll be giving up a lot of the big city amenities I have now in greater DC and will have to take on the cost of a car if I find something that works out (I live car free and rely on transit now, which has good and bad points) but even with that I should come out ahead financially and hopefully be on my way to starting a new career.

Which big city amenities do you think you might have to give up? As for a car, I know the South gets a bad rap for being public transit unfriendly but you may want to take a long look at UNC-CH. Chapel Hill has a pretty decent public transit system that's free to use and, in addition, UNC employees can get free/reduced transit on TTA (the regional bus system that links Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) to make it easier to commute for those who work at UNC who don't live in Chapel Hill. In some ways if you were to work at UNC it may be easier to not drive yourself to work since parking is somewhat limited on campus.

[davidvdb1]

Pro sports is the biggest one, although the Triangle does have the Hurricanes, and I love college basketball (though NC State seems like the only ticket that's easy and relatively cheap to get without student or employee or other discounts). I take your point though - the Triangle in thinking about it likely has many of the same things the DC area has from a social and cultural standpoint, it's just the DC area has more of them and they're more expensive (other than the free museums, of course). I would certainly take a look at Chapel Hill - I've heard great things about both the town and the university. In fact, in thinking about the state, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Durham, Winston-Salem (seems to have an outstanding arts and cultural scene that's better than several much larger cities) and Asheville (never been, but have heard great things) seem like the most appealing places to me. If it were possible to live car-lite - by that I mean rely on transit or walking to get to work, and have an inexpensive but reliable used car for getting groceries, running other errands, and socializing with friends in places that can't reasonably be reached by transit (going from Chapel Hill or Carrboro to a Hurricanes game, a music club or art museum in Raleigh, etc) that would seem to be about as good as it gets.

[mpheels]

I attended UNC-CH, then worked there for 7 years, and had an overall positive experience. The bureaucracy was annoying at times, but you'll find that with any large organization. You do trade salary for benefits, but there is a strong institutional respect for work/life balance, and it's rare to work more than 40 hours/week. I think NCSU is pretty similar. I have friends who work at Duke, and they generally consider the state employee benefits are better, and the slightly higher salaries and Duke don't make up for the difference.

The Triangle can't compete with DC for culture and arts, but I don't think many places can. To be fair to the Triangle though, the arts scene is really great. First Friday is huge in Raleigh, with lots of galleries and other showings open late. The NC Museum of Art has a decent permanent collection, and frequently hosts amazing temporary exhibits. The Nasher (Duke) and the Ackland (UNC-CH) also host interesting/unique exhibits throughout the year. The UNC-CH Carolina Performing Arts series is amazing every year, and Playmakers Rep is one of the best professional theater organizations in the country. You won't find everything you would see in DC, but there is definitely enough arts/culture to keep you busy.

For sports - basketball tickets are easier to find than you think, except for the biggest games. UNC-CH links season ticket holders directly to StubHub, so there are always tickets available. The Durham Bulls offer a near perfect baseball experience. Inexpensive, small/intimate stadium, relatively cheap food and beer, and the team is generally very good.

[michgc]

Living here in the Triangle is like living in Northern Virginia without having DC attached to it. If you like city life, you will miss it living here. You obviously cannot compare the museums of DC to the ones here. There are some nice ones here but much fewer in number and scope. That is one area of DC I miss the most. We used to visit the Smithsonians quite frequently with our kids.

Chapel Hill bus system is more like the Fairfax County Connector, except it's free. It's a bus system that takes you around Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Routes are limited and times are limited. It's nothing like the Metro system where you can walk to the Metro and head downtown DC for a night out and come back at 2 AM or take it to a Nationals game or the airport.

You've already mentioned sports. Here there is the Hurricanes, Durham Bulls or college basketball. Compared to the Redskins, Ravens, National's, O's, Wizards, Capitals, DC United in addition to college basketball such as Terps, Georgetown, Mason, etc, well there is no comparison.

If you like the sites, landmarks, and rich history of a big city, well, of course, you cannot get that here. There is history here, of course, but it's mostly state and local history. There are sites you can visit but there is not the overall big, vibe of one of the most important cities in the nation and the world. This is a small area with small cities of regional and state importance.

I am past the point of going out to bars and active nightlife so I don't know what it's like here, but I can guess there aren't as many choices as living in the DC area. Again, I'd probably compare it to the choices of NoVA - Alexandria, Shirlington without the DC choices like DuPont Circle or Adam's Morgan.

One other major difference is the access to the big Northeast cities, if that is important. When I was younger and we got bored with DC, we'd head up to Baltimore for the night. We could easily go to Phlly or New York for the weekend, too. From Raleigh, you can head to Charlotte (2 hours away) or DC (4 1/2 hours away)

If you think you'd be happy living life in a smaller city setting, then check it out. If you really like life in the big city, then you may not be satisfied with it here.

[DKEBeck88]

I work for NC State (in IT) and my wife works for UNC-CH (in science). We previously worked for a private university in Ohio. Obviously, we love working for universities. One note of caution - for any university in the UNC System, you are considered a state employee, and currently the state has essentially frozen salaries and the creation of new positions. The state legislature has consistently decreased the amount of budget money allocated to the UNC System, resulting in layoffs and budget cuts despite the rest of the state's economy getting better.

I'm not saying that it's not worth it to try - just saying that at this point in time, working for the UNC System is...interesting.