For the second consecutive year, Mississippi University for Women has been named one of the Nation’s Greatest Colleges to Work For by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
It is an honor that comes as no surprise to many long-term MUW employees, including Dave Haffly, Director of Plymouth Bluff and Outsource Enterprises. Haffly has been employed with MUW for more than 20 years. MUW operates Plymouth Bluff.
Haffly, who has worked at several other colleges, said he knew from the moment he first stepped on the campus that MUW was where he wanted to work.
“I was very impressed with the campus itself,” Haffly said. “It was different from anywhere else I had been before because of the history that you could sense there.”
Complementing the history of the campus, Haffly said the sense of togetherness is almost tangible.
“I feel like there is a lot of congeniality,” he said. “I sometimes say, I’ve been on a number of different college campuses and there seems to be a genuine friendly, team spirit, can-do attitude here.
I think we’ve been blessed with people who have had the interests of MUW at heart and advancing the cause of higher education within this part of the country.”
Haffly said that sense of togetherness is reflected in the number of staff members who choose to remain a part of the MUW family and work on the campus for long periods of time.
“There is a commitment there that is much deeper than dollars and cents because, practically, anybody of our long-term faculty could go somewhere else and earn more money but there’s a commitment to what MUW is about.”
That commitment also extends to the alumni, Haffly said.
“The alumni here, they have always been very appreciate of everything you do that helps them out,” he said. “There is a certain class and style that you don’t see very often anymore. That kind of extends to, it’s not just the ones that may have graduated in 1932 but students that have graduated in the time that I have been here.”
Overall, the 59-year-old Haffly said his experience at MUW has been the best throughout his career in higher education.
“It’s just been a great place to work,” he said. “There is a lot more to it than just a paycheck.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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