Lubbock Christian University (LCU) has been recognized for the ninth consecutive year for being a Great College to Work For by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The distinction is based upon results from an employee engagement survey conducted in the spring.
The University is especially honored to receive recognition this year, as the employee survey was taken during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when work was difficult for so many businesses. It reflects that even amid a challenging season, the LCU faculty and staff were led well and remained committed to the mission of transforming hearts, minds, and hands of students for lives of purpose and service.
Dr. Scott McDowell, President of LCU, responded “The fact that LCU has been recognized as a Great Place to Work for the ninth straight year speaks to the enduring ethos of this place. Quite simply, Lubbock Christian University is a place where the faculty and staff fully buy in to the mission of providing a truly exceptional education in a Christ-centered environment.”
Richard K. Boyer, Principal and Managing Partner of ModernThink, the consulting firm that administered and analyzed the survey, said, “It takes courage to lead. And the 2021 Great Colleges to Work For participants demonstrated remarkable courage, commitment, and optimism in their decisions to participate in a ‘great place to work program’ in the midst of a world-wide pandemic. There’s much to learn from these remarkable institutions and their inspirational leaders.”
There was a total of ten recognition categories this year. Based on the results of the employee engagement survey, LCU has been identified as a workplace that excels in the following four of those categories: Mission and Pride, Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness, Faculty and Staff Well-Being, and Faculty Experience.
In response to the recognition, Matt Bumstead, Dean of the School of Business commented, “I love being here because we get to work around the kind of people who operate at the highest standards every day.”
Kecia Jackson, Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator for the University, said, “I love the balance that is demonstrated by our leadership. They work really hard and do a good job at what they do, but at the same time they know how to have fun and to play, and I think that’s really important when you’re in higher education.”
According to the Great Colleges website, 70 colleges and universities were recognized this year, with LCU being one of 14 in the southwest region to receive the honor. Being honored as a Great College to Work For by employees is a great accomplishment and shows the pride for the University that is felt by those who work at LCU.
Dr. Don “Doc” Williams, long time beloved professor of Communication and Theater responded, “In my 53 years at LCU, I have been challenged and I have grown by the interaction with students, faculty, and staff as we work to make Lubbock Christian University a great place of learning.”
Despite the difficulties presented over the course of the past year, LCU employees have shown a determination and commitment to live out the values of LCU, to be guided by Christian faith in every dimension of life as a community of higher learning.
President McDowell concluded, “We are united around genuinely loving our students well, which translates into consistently acting in their best interest. We challenge them very rigorously, we listen to them well, but the default setting here at LCU is to continually ask the question of how we can best serve our students, and I believe the survey confirms just how rewarding that service is for our faculty and staff.”
The Great Colleges to Work For® program is one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country. For more information and to view all current and previous recognized institutions, visit the Great Colleges program website at GreatCollegesProgram.com and GreatCollegesList.com. ModernThink, a strategic human capital consulting firm, administered the survey and analyzed the results.