Vantaggi
Many of the long-time staff and faculty genuinely care about the students and their education, and offer an expected collegiate culture. And the nursing department remains a rare academic gem within the school.
Svantaggi
The issues are numerous and stem from the top down. The president runs the school like a business and cares more about the optics than actually improving the lives of the students and staff, such as building updates and athletic buildouts rather than devoting resources towards substantively bettering student education. She routinely puts out a positive message but absolutely will throw anyone under the bus if need be. Salaries have historically not been competitive for years, and yet the school doesn't believe in remote work for staff. The faculty base is dangerously reliant on adjuncts vs full-time faculty for courses, AI-assisted cheating is frequent, the computer science graduate program is essentially a degree mill for international students, and whole academic departments have been hollowed out in recent years, but such things are never properly addressed for fear of affecting enrollment numbers. Attrition and turnover have been significant the last few years, but recruiting and retaining qualified replacements is often slow due to below-market competitiveness. And anyone who isn't scared enough to voice such concerns or advocate for better allocation of resources or a realignment of focus to those in leadership are routinely ignored. It's just not the Rivier it used to be.