About University of Chicago
What is the University of Chicago?
"The University of Chicago is an urban research university that has driven new ways of thinking since 1890." Its motto, "Crescat scientia; vita excolatur", translates as "Let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched." The University counts 101 Nobel laureates affiliated with UChicago, 7,540 undergraduate and 10,518 graduate students, and 193,885 alumni worldwide. Undergraduates choose from 53 majors and 47 minors in the College, and graduate study runs through four divisions and seven professional schools. Beyond its main campus on Chicago's South Side, it has seven international campuses and centers.
Where will I work?
Most postings are in Chicago, on and around the main campus on the city's South Side. The University says it "values the benefits of working in an in-person collaborative environment", and its alternative work arrangements policy allows remote work by agreement, from "working full-time from home or another location" to "working in the office on a hybrid schedule one or more days per week". Postings say whether a role is on-site, hybrid or remote: an admissions coordinator role "is available for partially remote work", a financial operations analyst role "is a remote position with occasional attendance at in-person meetings". Remote work outside the Chicagoland area needs the University's approval in advance, and remote work from outside the United States "generally is not permitted".
What is the University of Chicago team like?
Staff work in research, administration and management, information technology, financial management, communications, student affairs, alumni relations and development, legal and regulatory affairs, libraries, and museums and the arts. The University's normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, and "Most employees work a weekly schedule of 37.5 hours per week". Under the alternative work arrangements policy, units can agree flextime, remote work, compressed schedules, part-time work or job sharing, case by case. Postings publish a pay range, which the University calls its "good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting". Some staff are represented by unions (I.B.T. Local 743, S.E.I.U. Local 73 and I.B.E.W. Local 134 on the current board), and their leave is set by their collective bargaining agreements rather than the staff policies below.
Work-Life Balance
Benefits-eligible staff accrue "three (3) standard workweeks of vacation per year for the first eight (8) years of continuous service", four weeks a year through the twentieth year and five after that. The University has "nine official paid holidays and a winter recess", and each calendar year staff accrue "five (5) personal holidays". Over the winter recess, "The University closes all non-essential functions and pays benefits-eligible staff employees for workdays between Christmas and New Years' Day", which comes to four workdays each year. That is 33 days off a year from the first year, before sick leave.
Perks and Benefits
- 3 weeks of vacation a year, rising to 4 after eight years and 5 after twenty
- 9 paid holidays and 5 personal holidays a year
- A paid winter recess between Christmas and New Year's Day
- A choice of four medical plans, two PPO and two HMO
- Two MetLife dental plans covering orthodontia, and a VSP vision plan
- A 403(b) retirement plan: the University contributes 4% of pay and matches voluntary contributions at 200%, up to 4% of pay, once staff are eligible after a year of service
- University-paid basic life insurance of one times salary, up to $50,000
- Long-term disability insurance
- A confidential Staff and Faculty Assistance Program at no cost, including counseling
- Tuition assistance for University classes, and for eligible children at the University and the Laboratory Schools
- Flextime, remote work and compressed schedules by arrangement
- Pay ranges published on job postings