UI leads consortium to increase diversity and dual-career recruitment

A new nonprofit regional job consortium will help the University of Iowa and area employers build a diverse employee base and recruit dual-career couples.

As the lead institution, the UI collaborated with Iowa’s other public universities and 11 other founding institutional members, to create the Central Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), the regional arm of a national consortium with more than 700 member organizations.

Members may post job openings on one of the region’s largest job boards, which is designed to attract highly trained and diverse applicants. Job seekers can search through the Central Midwest’s almost 600 open positions in higher education, research, medicine, nonprofit organizations, public service, and business.

Members also gain access to more than 88,000 job seekers currently registered with HERC across the nation, 65 percent of whom have a graduate degree and about one-third of whom identifies as a member of a minority group.

“As a hallmark of excellence, diversity is essential to the educational experience and to the UI’s mission as an employer,” says Georgina Dodge, chief diversity officer and associate vice president. “A diverse workforce ensures we meet the future needs of the institution and the state, and we are excited by the opportunity that HERC provides to grow our diversity.”

Another feature of the HERC job board is its innovative dual-career search capability, which allows couples to jointly search for jobs based on the distance they are willing to commute. The American Psychological Association estimates that 80 percent of faculty members are part of a dual-career couple.

“Many times, when trying to attract high-quality applicants, it’s an advantage if their partners can find fulfilling employment locally,” says Kevin Kregel, associate provost for faculty. “Partnering with regional colleges and other community employers to pool job openings within a commutable distance will greatly enhance our recruitment efforts.”

Job seekers can register via the Central Midwest HERC website to gain access to more than 26,000 national job openings or create a job-seeker account and upload resumes to let recruiters approach them.

Central Midwest HERC members receive numerous additional benefits, including discounts with human resource and advertising vendors and access to nationally endorsed professional-development webinars.

This new consortium supports the UI’s “Build a Career, Build a Life” initiative to help employees meet their work, family, and leisure goals. About 85 percent of faculty recently employed at the UI cited that work–life considerations influenced their decision to accept a position at the UI. The UI will launch a website providing one-stop access to work–life resources by the end of November.

HERC is a national nonprofit association in which members share a commitment to hiring the most diverse and talented faculty, staff, and executives. Founded in 2000, HERC includes 18 regional chapters and more than 700 member organizations nationwide. For more information about becoming an institutional member, please contact Diane Finnerty, interim director of Central Midwest HERC: director@centralmidwestherc.org.