by Amy K. Lavender
The University of West Georgia welcomed Dr. Sonel Shropshire on March 9 to present a two-hour workshop to employees on how to insure diversity during higher education recruitment.
Throughout his 19-year academic career, Dr. Shropshire has been recognized as an expert on methods of creating effective diversity strategies for academic institutions. As president of The Academic Network, Inc., he has developed minority recruitment strategies for faculty, staff, and students for more than 367 institutions.
Dr. Shropshire shared that hiring managers need to focus on three key points when recruiting with diversity in mind: locate, recruit, and retain. During the workshop, he offered employees tips on how to implement this three-pronged approach.
First, Dr. Shropshire said it is imperative to locate your potential applicant pool and then find unique ways to communicate with them.
“The two biggest myths out there are that there aren’t the right applicants out there and that there’s not enough money out there for recruitment,” Dr. Shropshire said. “These things simply aren’t true.”
Dr. Shropshire advised hiring managers to look beyond “the usual suspects” and to think outside the box when recruiting applicants. He says Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are a good source, but don’t sell yourself short by stopping there. Also look at Hispanic Service Institutions (HSIs), and check other universities’ diversity graduation numbers to determine which schools are graduating large numbers of diverse students, and then reach out to them when you’re looking to hire.
By reaching out to colleges, Dr. Shropshire says you’re doing the most important part of recruiting: building relationships. However, he suggests also reaching out to professional organizations and alumni groups when seeking the perfect applicant. Even your own alumni are a good resource to tap, he says, advocating a “grow your own” approach.
By contacting various groups and creating a relationship with them, employers can implement their own “feeder programs.” Of course, some of these partnerships may require funds. Dr. Shropshire says he’s got that covered.
“There is more than $3.7 billion in unused federal funds left over every year that has been earmarked for diversity recruitment because schools don’t apply for it,” he said. “The tools are available to get you started funding your own feeder program. You just have to apply for the funds.”
Dr. Shropshire recommended checking out www.grants.gov and www.foundations.org for options that are available.
Of course, you don’t have to do all the legwork yourself. There are multiple tools to help hiring managers find and recruit diverse applicants, such as the Minority Faculty Applicant Database (MFAD), which Dr. Shropshire created. More than 2,090 academic institutions currently advertise faculty and administrative positions in MFAD to a database of over 35,700 interested candidates. And it’s absolutely free.
You can also create your own in-house database of applicants who are not accepted to past positions but who could possibly be a good fit later on. By creating such a “Denied Applicant Database,” you are able to send out job opening notifications to people you know are already interested in working at your institution.
Employers shouldn’t overlook other local options for recruitment either, such as hosting career fairs, hosting seminars and conferences, and attending conferences that cater to HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Also, when writing job descriptions, don’t alienate a large portion of your applicant pool by having a long list of requirements as well as “preferred requirements,” which discourages minorities – especially women – from applying.
“You may be missing out on a really great candidate who doesn’t necessarily have all of that ‘preferred’ experience or skills, but they have other intangibles that will add value to your organization,” Dr. Shropshire said.
Of course, another key aspect of hiring is retention. Once you bring a new employee on board, you want to encourage them to stay. Dr. Shropshire says you can make sure you retain quality employees by showing them that their workplace values diversity and provides them with a support system.
“Minority employees want the same thing everyone else wants,” Dr. Shropshire said, “including competitive pay and a positive work environment.”
To that end, Dr. Shropshire advises making diversity recruitment part of your department’s strategic imperative, including it in your mission statement, and having a separate mission statement about diversity. Above all, he says to pay attention to your department’s or institution’s reputation and strive to make it a place where everyone wants to work.
For more information on Dr. Shropshire and diversity recruitment, check out his LinkedIn page or go online to www.theacademicnetwork.net.
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