UI selects Des Moines law firm to complete employment practices review

The University of Iowa’s Employment Practices Committee has selected a Des Moines law firm to review the university’s employment policies and practices as defined by the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The UI signed a professional services agreement on Nov. 6, 2017, with Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. to evaluate policies and practices related to hiring, promotion, documentation, compensation, and termination of both faculty and staff.

“Determining the scope of the review and selecting the appropriate firm took time, but the committee felt it was important to be thorough,” says Peter Snyder, co-chair of the Employment Practices Committee, professor of internal medicine, and president of UI Faculty Senate.

The agreement requires the contractor to submit written reports to Cheryl Reardon, UI chief human resources officer and associate vice president, and James Jorgensen, UI deputy counsel. Jorgensen will serve as the project manager while Fredrikson & Byron attorney Emily S. Pontius will serve as the point of contact for the contractor.

The review will begin with the UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and also will include the UI’s academic and operational units, as well as UI Health Care. The agreement shall not extend beyond Nov. 2, 2018, unless amended. The initial review will not exceed $95,000. Remaining steps will be negotiated upon the successful completion of the initial review.

UI President J. Bruce Harreld, who announced the external review in May, thanked the members of the committee for their work.