The institution is stodgy and behind the times in a lot of ways. We've just come through a pandemic with 5-day/week work from home, but that won't be allowed from now on even though it's been very successful. There's little to no concern that this decision means staff will leave.
HR policies are outdated--very top-down structure with little to no recourse if you're at/near the bottom (and HR is unhelpful unless you're in management), so if you're saddled with a terrible manager, there's nothing you can do.
Real reluctance to move with the times as an employer, while simultaneously claiming to be at the forefront of everything. The culture in some departments is great; in others it is downright toxic, and no one seems to care, because the university believes its own propaganda.
The most recent staff survey was frustratingly superficial, designed to ensure that the results confirmed that everything's just great and nobody needs to change anything.
