Good, but has potential to be great
Pros
* Good employee benefits (free tuition for children, good healthcare insurance, competitive faculty salaries) * Campus looks spiffy. The grounds are under constant landscaping care and always looks attractive. I was always proud of the way the institution presented itself when I hosted guests. * The university seems to have a lot of resources, and can typically "make things happen" if you can provide a good rationale for why you might need travel funds, laboratory improvements, etc. * In a low cost-of-living part of the country. $200-$250K can still buy a decent house with a lot of land (depending on how far you are willing to commute) * Ft Worth/Dallas area is a nice place to live; real culture in the downtown areas (art, theater, etc), lots of things to do
Cons
* The business school, athletics and one or two other programs were clearly the priority of the university, as demonstrated by the attention they received, the resources invested, and the new tenure lines they were provided. Other schools within the university knew where they fell within that hierarchy. * Philosophically speaking, the university seems to think of itself more as a business than as a higher institute of learning. Real education requires holding students accountable to performance standards, not just giving everyone a gold star for effort to insure they are happy "customers". I would have been a happier faculty member, had I felt that the university shared this point of view. * As a new faculty member coming in with fresh perspectives/ideas, it was very difficult to effect positive change that involved challenging the effectiveness of old and possibly outdated approaches. * the lack of diversity within certain departments is unfortunate * was discouraged by university not pushing harder on faculty to apply for and get external funding to supplement their research activities. I was diligent about seeking grants while many of my colleagues just stuck their hand out to the university when they needed funds to support research. This sense of entitlement seemed to be endemic across the campus, as I saw this attitude present beyond my own department.
