Attention: Heed This Warning - Information Technology Mercy College Employee Review

This is going to be long, but if you are considering working here, particularly in IT, I implore you to read all the way through. TL, DR: Sub-departments of IT are extremely unprofessional. Management doesn't really do anything, and is completely clueless as to how to properly run the department, overworking technicians and changing/reassigning schedules with little-to-no notice, with no accommodations for technicians at all. The pay is laughable, no technician makes over 55k annually. 24 hour on-call system, if you are on call expect calls over the most ridiculous "issues." Steady stream of technicians out the door, with no replacements in sight. This is about to make that much worse. Let's dive into specifics. The problem that caused me the most stress was the complete lack of cooperation and respect between sub-departments of IT. The members of the Level 3 departments never failed to talk down at those in Level 1 and 2. Every single interaction left me feeling diminished and demeaned. Asking a simple question was often met with derision, obfuscation, and ridicule. It should be noted that Level 3 sub-departments, specifically Technical Services and Enterprise Applications, are actually third party vendors from a company called Ellucian. Level 1/2, "User Services", are in-house college employees. Level 3 has a document in a sharepoint called "Tips and Tricks." Instead of answering simple questions, they will refer you to this document. Every time. There are places in the document that tell you to request help from Level 3, however upon requesting help as directed, I was often asked if I "bothered to check Tips and Tricks." There are places in this document that refer to technicians in Level 1/2 that no longer work at the company. There was a time where I need help with an issue that was NOT documented in "Tips and Tricks." Upon requesting help, I was reported to my manager because I "did not check Tips and Tricks before bothering Level 3." Upon checking the document, I found that they had updated the documentation with my specific issue, AFTER I requested assistance. I found proof in the version history. Once I pointed this out the version history was turned off. Whenever I needed tasks completed by Level 3 in order to complete my own work, it took days to carry out the simplest tasks that should take a matter of seconds. For example, I once came across a user's name entered incorrectly. As Level 1/2 I did not have the requisite access to make the corrections in the system. It took me submitting 3 tickets (to my own department!) and nearly one week to have the corrections made by Level 3, a correction which required changing a "b" to a "d". Any complaints about Level 3's lack of professionalism were met with a reply that they are "shorthanded." However, Level 1/2 has been severely shorthanded for a matter of years now. In the past 2 years, 10 technicians have left, including 7 of the most senior technicians. Only 2 of the open positions have been filled in those 2 years. It's been a steady stream out, and the workload is simply dumped on the remaining techs. While the workload in between semesters is close to nothing, during the semester it becomes intense and extremely demanding. Carrying an un-proportional amount of the weight are the technicians assigned to the admin building. All of the prep work for any technology is carried out by 2 technicians who work in the admin building, which is located in a site away from the 3 main campuses. Those technicians are responsible for shipping and mailing, prepping any and all devices needed for faculty, staff and students, and attending to the needs of the staff within the admin building. On top of this, they are also expected to respond to the IT needs of C level and executive staff, which are located ON CAMPUS, as well as handling support for high profile events. When I was assigned to the admin building, I would often be asked to complete tasks in multiple locations simultaneously, something that my manager didn't seem to understand was a physical impossibility. However, the IT technicians on campus don't have it much easier. No desk or office space is designated to any of the technicians on campus. When assigned to any of the campuses, I had to try to find a classroom that was not occupied. If one was not available, I would have to roam through the hallways or sit in the stairwell. All the while dealing with my manager asking why my tickets were not updated, which could not happen because I had nowhere to charge my computer or sit and work. Management refuses to say no to any users, often bending over backwards to accommodate unreasonable or unrealistic requests. The executive director is the son of one of the former deans of the college. I had an experience where a user wanted me to break policy to accommodate them. Upon telling them no, the user CALLED THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S FATHER. Who then called the e-director, who then called my manager, telling us to go ahead and break policy "just this once." Spoiler: it wasn't just that once. The manager creates a schedule monthly to assign technicians to locations, and assign their hours of work. As far as I could tell that is his only responsibility, I never figured out what else he does there. I don't think he delivered this schedule on time a single time in the years I was there. Meaning there was ALWAYS confusion over where and when you were working. You could already be on your way to the Dobbs Ferry campus and all of a sudden find out you were actually assigned to the Manhattan campus. There was one technician that always had a particularly brutal schedule, for example for one schedule, Monday he was assigned to Dobbs Ferry from Noon to 8 pm. Tuesday, Manhattan 8 am to 4 pm. Wednesday, Dobbs Ferry from Noon to 8 pm. Thursday, Bronx from 8 am to 4 pm. And Friday, Manhattan from 11 am to 7 pm. We never figured out if it was a personal vendetta against this particular technician, or if the manager just didn't care. There is a 24 hour on call system. I still to this day haven't figured out why the college needs a 24 hour on call system. But I will tell you that it was not fun getting woken up at 3 am because a monitor wouldn't turn on. Or because an automatic door wouldn't open (why they thought this was an IT issue I don't know). Or getting dinner interrupted because a professor didn't know how to turn on the projector. My personal favorite was the time where I got called at 7:30 am on December 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 because a podium computer's keyboard wasn't working (why was somebody working on Christmas day?!). I stopped answering my phone at all outside of work hours after that, which worked did wonders for my mental health and familial relationships because at one point I was placed on call for FIVE STRAIGHT MONTHS. I have a lot to say about the pay, or lack thereof, but I will leave it at this: I made 52k per year. Since leaving Mercy, I've been employed at two different places. My responsibilities have been much less, with a vastly improved environment, and my salary has been higher by multiple tens of thousands. I believe that speaks for itself. This review is literally pages long, but I haven't detailed even a tenth of the problems and experiences I had working at Mercy in the IT department. When I finally left, I had a considerable decline of stress-related health issues. My blood pressure lowered, a lot of skin issues cleared up. I lost 30 pounds within 3 months after I quit. Without being aware or my job change, my family and friends commented on a significant upward change in my attitude and moods. If you care about your health, your career, your happiness, I beg you not to work here.