College workers in midcareer are most likely to express negative feelings about their jobs, the Chronicle's first extensive survey of college workplaces has found.
College employees say they place great value on their work environment. Here, Helen M. Alexander (right), professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the U. of Kansas, examines sedge plants in the university greenhouse with Dianne Lynn Schroeder, a student. (Photograph by Aaron Paden, U. of Kansas)

27 categories that recognize colleges for their best practices and policies.

• Editor's Note
• Ways to Win the Hiring Game
• How the Survey Was Conducted
• Demographics of Survey Respondents

The practices and policies that help make some colleges great places to work.

• GROWING ITS OWN: Duke University offers training that cultivates the professionals already on the campus.
• BENEFITS FOR LIFE: Indiana Wesleyan University strives to help its employees balance work and life with perks like meal deliveries.
• LEADING BY FOLLOWING: The University of Michigan tries to make sure decisions can be made from the bottom up.
• 'MOVE IT OR LOSE IT': The State University of New York at Buffalo entices its employees to seek a healthier lifestyle.
• FAVORITE BENEFITS: Tuition exchanges and reimbursements are popular at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
• HELPING HAND: Virginia Wesleyan College is revising a quirky tenure policy.
• STRATEGIC PLANNING: The president of Drake University did more than just talk about accountability; he put himself through the employee-evaluation process.
• EASY TO TALK TO: Professors at George Mason and Stanford Universities say their administrators are open and accessible.
• COMMUNICATIONS CHALLENGE: The University of Louisville sent 16,000 messages in 18 minutes to inform students and employees about a hostage situation.

College employees say their work environment is the thing they value most about their jobs.

• SENSE OF PLACE: Rhodes College strives to preserve a beautiful and serene campus.
• ENHANCING TEACHING: Cornell University has a wide mix of classroom settings.

When four distinct age groups meet in one academic workplace, cultural clashes are inevitable.

• DEFINING THE GENERATIONS: A guide to the four generations working side by side in today's academic workplace.

Benefits in higher education are under scrutiny, but most employees still do better than workers at private companies.

Allowing faculty members to stop the tenure clock has become a popular benefit, a new survey shows.

It looks like an algebraic formula, but a workload policy at Boise State University gives professors remarkable flexibility in their teaching, research, and service.

More colleges are offering professors a part-time option.

Professors and staff members are well-advised to take great care when planning for medical expenses during retirement.

Commentary

The need to help faculty members balance family life with career issues is inarguable. Joseph Untener offers a guide to creating one of the most important such policies: for maternity leave.

Academics in search of tenure-track positions should consider all offers — but also know their own limits, writes Laura S. Malisheski.