(Posted July 16, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College was rated favorably in the "Small College" division in 14 out of 27 categories in the Chronicle of Higher Education 2008 Great Colleges to Work For survey.

Juniata was rated as a small college (499 employees or fewer) and received enough positive responses to merit mention in 14 categories. The survey is based on responses to the Chronicle from more than 15,000 administrators, faculty members and staff members at 89 colleges and universities across the country. The survey, which debuted in the July 18 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education, will be repeated annually and expanded to include more colleges and universities in subsequent years.

I've always known that Juniata is a great place to work, and now the Chronicle survey has made it official."

Thomas R. Kepple, president of Juniata.

"I've always known that Juniata is a great place to work, and now the Chronicle survey has made it official," says Thomas R. Kepple, president of Juniata. "Colleges and universities excel when superb employees are committed to making the campus great. Our commitment is to continue to make Juniata a welcoming workplace as we move up in the ranks of the best colleges in the nation."

The Chronicle of Higher Education survey, which was administered by ModernThink LLC, a human resources consulting firm based in Wilmington, Del., found that Juniata rated highly in the following categories: Work-Life Balance, where policies allow employees to manage their personal lives; Collaborative Governance, where faculty are appropriately involved in decisions related to academic programs; Confidence in Senior Leadership, which rates leaders for the skills, knowledge and experience necessary for institutional success; Healthy Faculty-Administration Relations, which rates how senior leadership communicates with and respects faculty; Internal Communications, which gauges how ideas are considered and issues are debated; Teaching Environment, a rating for how the institution recognizes innovative and high-quality teaching; Professional/Career Development Program, which evaluates if employees are given opportunities to develop skills that will advance their careers; Job Satisfaction; Connection to Institution and Pride, measuring employee's loyalty to the institution; Perception and Confidence in Fair Treatment, which measured whether employees were confident of fair treatment in compensation and performance; Respect and Appreciation, where employees are recognized for contributions; Engagement, which measures the emotional connection of employees to the college; Vacation or Paid Time Off; and Life Insurance.

Juniata was one of 50 private colleges and 39 public universities invited to participate in the survey. The Chronicle's published survey results named only those institutions that scored high enough to be recognized in a particular category.

The colleges and universities participating in the survey were representative of one of five classifications set by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: research universities with "very high" research activity; doctoral/research universities; master's colleges and universities; and baccalaureate colleges for arts and sciences.

Each institution participating in the survey was asked to submit a list of employees randomly selected from administration, faculty and professional support staff. The sample size for the survey was either 400 or 600, depending on the size of the institution.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.