The Chronicle of Higher Education has selected Buffalo State College as one of 2011’s Great Colleges to Work For. 

The results, released today in the Chronicle’s fourth annual report on the academic workplace, are based on a survey of more than 44,000 employees at 310 colleges and universities, including 245 four-year institutions and 65 two-year institutions. In all, only 111 of the institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies.

Among large four-year colleges and universities—those with 10,000 or more students—Buffalo State was one of 10 institutions to receive special recognition in the following categories:

- Collaborative Governance: “Faculty members are appropriately involved in decisions related to academic programs.”

- Professional/Career-Development Programs: “Employees are given the opportunity to develop skills and understand requirements to advance in their careers.”

“I am delighted that my colleagues at Buffalo State share my sense that this is a great place to work,” said President Aaron Podolefsky. “Our successful culture of shared governance is the result of our employees’ deep investment in Buffalo State’s mission and a campus climate in which every member of our community has a voice and feels valued for his or her work. I am also very pleased that our staff ranks us so highly in the category of professional and career development programs.”

The “Great Colleges” survey included a two-part assessment process: consulting firm ModernThink LLC administered a survey to employees, and an institutional audit captured demographics and workplace policies at each institution. Feedback from faculty and staff was the biggest factor in determining which colleges and universities made the list. Roughly 330 Buffalo State administrators, faculty members, and staff members provided anonymous survey responses online in March and April as part of the program.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is a top source of news, opinion, and job information for college and university faculty and administrators. It has a weekly print readership of 245,000 and web traffic of more than 14 million views a month.