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Subject:Re: Worth of Benefits From:"Jean A. Pratt" <JPRATT -at- ID2 -dot- USU -dot- EDU> Date:Thu, 20 Feb 1997 09:49:42 MST7MDT
I have a slightly different twist on the "Benefits" thread.
I am full-time staff (read: very nice benefits pkg.) for a research
group at Utah State U. I am also a Ph.D. candidate. There are days
when I wish I could go back to being a full-time student so that I
could pursue my research more intensely, but I have a husband and
two teenagers who are accustomed to my income and benefits package.
And, the experience I gain as Project Manager compliments my
experience and research interests as an online help developer.
On the other hand, our research group operates solely on soft money
(i.e., if we have no research grants or development contracts, then
we have no jobs). All of us on the team hustle research and
development funds to keep the whole group going. Our research
interests are wholly integrated so that if I obtain funding to
continue my research it will also generate funds for the software
engineer, resource designer, administrative assistant, and
instructional design consultant. So, although we have the benefits
of USU, we actually operate somewhat like a group of independent
consultants -- moving from one project to the next with not too much
of an overlap and no down time between.
All of us have turned jobs down elsewhere. The director of our
research group tells us that he knows we're the best because
corporate partners keep trying to steal us. (How's that for a morale
booster?)
----------------------------------
Jean A. Pratt
Project Manager
ID2 Research Group
Dept. of Instructional Technology
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-2830
JPRATT -at- ID2 -dot- USU -dot- EDU http://www.coe.usu.edu/it/id2/
PH: 801-797-2630
FAX: 801-797-3851
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