The University of Washington is at the forefront of a new collaborative effort to help institutions recruit diverse faculty and staff and assist dual-career couples seeking employment throughout the state.
The UW, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, launched the Greater Washington State Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (GWS HERC) in October 2013. The GWS HERC provides resources to employers seeking talented and diverse employees and assists jobseekers looking for work, including couples seeking employment in similar locations. The UW Office for Faculty Advancement manages the consortium.
Organizations pay an annual membership fee to join. Their employees are able to post job listings and attend training sessions, conferences and networking events. GWS HERC members include accredited colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, research institutes, hospitals and laboratories.
The GWS HERC job board offers any jobseeker the chance to search for employment opportunities available at all member organizations free of charge. Dual-career couples seeking employment may use the website to search for and be alerted to jobs available in particular sub-regions of the GWS HERC.
“A 2008 study by the Clayman Institute at Stanford University found that 72 percent of faculty at research universities in the United States have partners working outside the home,” said Luis R. Fraga, UW Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement. “For female faculty, that figure climbed to 74 percent, while 65 percent of underrepresented ethnic minority faculty have academic or other employed partners. This consortium will assist organizations seeking to employ individuals who are becoming increasingly more challenging to recruit.”
GWS is one of 16 regional HERCs across the country. HERC is a national organization and was founded in 2000 by a group of colleges and universities in northern California.
More information about GWS HERC can be found at www.gwsherc.org or by contacting UW Director for Faculty Advancement Norma Rodriguez at normar@uw.edu.