West Virginia University President Mike Garrison announced a new initiativethe Dual Career Programthat will assist the spouses and partners of prospective and new faculty members in their search for employment in the Morgantown area. The program is being administered through the Division of Human ResourcesEmployment Services unit.
Providing additional ways to recruit and retain faculty was a common theme during recent campus forums, Garrison noted.
Family is a familiar word at WVU ,he said.We are a close-knit community that supports one anotherwhether its in the classroom, lab or office. But in my conversations with faculty, they expressed a need to offer more programs and resources that support them (and their families) as people. I believe this initiative will be essential to recruiting and retaining a world-class, diverse work force.
Garrison said the program is just one more way WVU can help meet the needs of faculty and some of the important people with whom they share their livesspouses and partners.
WVU needs to make a stronger commitment to hiring and retaining the worlds most accomplished and imaginative teachers and scholars as faculty members,he said.Doing so is integral to our research and teaching mission. And in order to do that, we must work on providing more family-friendly services and resources.
He encouraged those who are recruiting new faculty to campus to use the programs Web sitehttp://www.dualcareer.wvu.eduto spread the word to applicants and their spouses.
Attending the event were several new and longtime faculty couples, who praised the programamong them foreign languages professors Michael and Valerie Lastinger from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.
These couples can tell you how important providing personalized assistance to new faculty spouses and partners will be to the job search,Garrison said.In many cases, it seals the deal to know that the University is committed to bringing a bright dual career couple to campus or the Morgantown area. It makes it clear that we value and support balance in ones work and personal life.
Michael Lastinger said,I think this program is a very interesting approach to not only developing the well-being of the University, but the well-being of those who contribute to this Universitythe faculty.
Valerie Lastinger added,This is an excellent initiative.and absolutely essential in recruiting new faculty with professional spouses and partners.
Rose Chavez-Uncapher, WVU s new Dual Career Program coordinator, said the initiative is really about meeting the needs of todays professional couples.
Under the program, spouses and/or partners of a newly recruited or recently hired benefits-eligible faculty member relocating to WVU will be assisted in his or her search for employment in the Morgantown area and surrounding community.
WVU recognizes that spouses and partners are important stakeholders in the
recruitment and retention process,she said.The Dual Career Program will bring a new level of support to the quality of life decisions couples and families face when considering new employment opportunities.
The program will also introduce spouses and partners to local volunteer and educational opportunities that support career and professional development, and will have an affiliated recruitment consortium to draw on that will bring together higher education institutions, employers and organizations in the area to help address the many challenges of academic recruitment and retention.
Chavez-Uncapher speaks from personal experience. She was thattrailing partnerfor many years as her husband, who is a professional working in the regulatory profession, traveled from coast to coast and job to job. Moving from San Diego to Seattle to Washington, D.C., and finally arriving in Morgantown in the fall of 2005, she can identify with the clients she will be assisting.
As a human resources professional with more than 10 years experience working in the health care, insurance and financial industries, Rose knows exactly what help and resources these spouses and partners need in order to conduct a successful job search,Garrison noted.I believe her personal experience and professional expertise will be a huge advantage in jump-starting the dual career program at WVU .
Chavez-Uncapher said she plans to use aone-on-oneapproach with her clients, finding out about their backgrounds, skills, talents and career goals.
Garrison added,I am thrilled with Vice President Margaret Phillips and the WVU Human Resourcesleadership in establishing dual career assistance. Many new and prospective faculty members have spouses and partners with professional positions in higher education and other fields. We will now be able to offer them help either in locating a professional position at WVU or with an employer elsewhere in the area.
When I first came to Human Resources a little more than a year ago, my team and I embarked on a plan that called for our division to be a more strategic partner with the University in providing quality, customer-driven services and developing programs that would attract and retain a highly-talented, committed and diverse work force,Phillips said.The Dual Career Program is one of several key initiatives we identified to support this strategic plan.
Most of our major competitors for higher education talent have such a program,she said,and we were determined to offer the same type of dual career assistance to the spouses and partners of our new and prospective faculty members.