News
Rutgers plays key role in Web site to help job seekers land higher education positions in New Jersey
Archived article from Nov 7, 2005
By Kelly Hartnett
A new Web site will make it easier for people seeking employment at higher education institutions in New Jersey to find those jobs. The New Jersey Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (NJ-HERC), an association of 28 public and private colleges in New Jersey, is sponsoring the first higher education employment Web site in the region at www.njherc.org.
The Web site, which went live July 1, is managed jointly by Rutgers and Princeton University. It lists nearly 800 job openings in academic, administrative, staff and executive positions at 28 universities and colleges across the state – numbers likely to grow as the progress of the site continues.
Karen Stubaus, associate vice president of academic affairs, who is in charge of the faculty section of the site for Rutgers, describes the site as “one-stop shopping for higher education jobs in New Jersey. It is a fabulous endeavor that we expect will have an impact not only on faculty recruiting, but also on our relationship with the other higher education institutions in the state.”
The prototype for the New Jersey effort is Northern California-HERC, launched in October 2003, with Southern California following suit soon after. Jayne Grandes, director of harassment compliance and equity in the human resources department at Rutgers, coordinates the staff section of NJ-HERC. “The California sites were so wildly successful that NJ-HERC did not have to reinvent the wheel,” Grandes said. New Jersey’s version followed a design and layout similar to California’s, using the HERC software and hardware, provided by an independent company.
Each participating New Jersey institution pays membership dues based on a sliding scale, according to its size. In return, the school is allowed an unlimited number of postings. Faculty and staff can search for jobs within their discipline and by keyword. Job seekers also can search by region and institution, and create customized profiles with the option of e-mail alerts when positions that fit their specifications become available. The site also offers a variety of community information on childcare, schools, transportation and entertainment in each region for those relocating to the state.
A unique feature is the dual search, which allows couples to perform a search within an institution, a region of the state (north, central, south) or the entire state. Stubaus said the dual search was one of the most attractive features of the site for Rutgers. “It’s pretty difficult to place a couple, and the chances are one institution won’t have the opportunities that both spouses need,” Stubaus said.
With a dual search option, universities and colleges are hoping to expand their recruitment base and increase retention rates of employees. Stubaus describes the old way of placing couples as awkward and time consuming. “In the past we’ve had to rely pretty much on personal contacts and word of mouth,” she said. “What this site does is streamline the process.”
Staff recruitment is centralized through University Human Resources; however, the faculty side of recruitment traditionally has been through departments or deans’ offices. “It’s a real culture change for Rutgers,” Grandes said. “Because Rutgers is so decentralized, departments are used to doing their own thing; they post their academic jobs how they see fit.” Although departments will still be able to do that, “for the first time faculty recruiting will be centralized,” she added.
Grandes explained that the project is a much less expensive recruiting strategy compared with advertising, but has a similar capability to reach a large number of people worldwide – a prime reason the majority of the schools in the area were so quick to join in.
An added benefit for the institutions involved is that the consortium serves as a “networking vehicle,” connecting those in similar positions throughout the state’s universities and colleges. Those involved with NJ-HERC at the various schools meet regularly to discuss site content, hiring practices and diversity issues.
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