PIM 48: Career Couples Employment Assistance Progam

Category: Administration
Contact: Dual Career Couples Program Coordinator – ext. 0644

General

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is committed to the recruitment and retention of highly qualified and productive faculty, administrators, and other professional staff members. We recognize that career decisions and productivity are influenced by family considerations. The Dual Career Couples Employment Assistance Program has been jointly developed by the Office of the Provost, the University Career Center, and the Department of Human Resources to address some of the special employment needs and concerns of dual-career couples.

The University will assist the spouse or domestic partner of a relocating UNC Charlotte employee with efforts to find employment within the University and/or within the surrounding communities for up to one year from the date of the employee’s relocation to the Charlotte area. University assistance includes informing partners of professional contacts and potential employers. The Employment Assistance Program does not function as a placement or employment agency and cannot guarantee employment.

Advertisements for faculty, administrative, and other professional staff positions (both EPA and SPA) will indicate that UNC Charlotte is sensitive to the needs of dual-career couples (See PIM 32-Dual Career Couples Program). This will inform prospective employees that the University has a proactive policy of supporting dual-career couples and it is appropriate to expect a realistic and open discussion of partner employment.

Dual Career Couples Employment Assistance Program Coordinator

The Dual Career Couples Employment Assistance Program Coordinator (hereafter referred to as the Program Coordinator) is located in the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, King 223, and may be reached by calling 704-687-0644.

Notifying the Program Coordinator of Recruitment Actions

The Program Coordinator receives information regarding the initiation of a recruitment action for a new or vacant faculty, administrative, or other professional staff position from the Director of Employment and Staffing (SPA Staff positions) and the Director of Employee Relations and Compliance (Faculty and EPA Staff positions).

Informing Selecting Officials of the Program

Upon the closing date or date the review of applications begins, the Program Coordinator will contact the “selecting official” for the purpose of providing information/a reminder regarding the Program’s services. In addition, the Program Coordinator will provide the selecting official copies of the program brochure to be included with information sent to all non-local (living outside the Charlotte Metropolitan Area) candidates invited to campus for interview.

Notifying the Program Coordinator of Hiring Decisions

Selecting officials should notify the Program Coordinator as soon as an offer of employment has been made and accepted by an individual to be appointed to a faculty, administrator, or other professional position. Notifications to the Program Coordinator should include the new employee’s name, mailing address, telephone number, employing department or office, position title, and the name of the new employee’s partner (if applicable.)

Determining Program Eligibility for Newly Hired Employees

Concurrent with receipt of the notification that an offer of employment has been accepted, the Program Coordinator will determine whether the new employee is eligible for the services provided through the Program. Eligible employees include those accepting appointment to faculty, administrative, and other professional positions that currently reside outside the Charlotte Metropolitan Area and will be relocating.

Informing Eligible Employees of the Program and Distributing the Needs Survey

Once program eligibility has been determined, the Program Coordinator will review the selecting official’s notification to determine whether the new employee has a relocating spouse or domestic partner. If the selecting official is unable to identify a partner, the Program Coordinator will call the new employee to confirm whether the employee has a relocating partner.

If the new employee has a relocating partner who will be seeking employment assistance, the Program Coordinator sends a welcoming letter to the new employee. The letter will include a needs survey, release form, and a request for the new employee’s dual career partner to complete both the survey and release form, and return them to the Program Coordinator in the postage-paid envelope provided.

Determining the Employment Assistance to be Provided

Upon receipt of a completed survey from a partner who wants employment assistance, the Program Coordinator determines from the survey whether the partner is seeking “academic employment” as a faculty member, academic administrator, or academic researcher with UNC Charlotte or another local institution of higher education or “non-academic employment” with UNC Charlotte or another local employer. Some partners may request both academic and non-academic employment assistance.

Academic Employment Assistance

The Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources will consult with the Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in developing a specific job search strategy for each dual career partner seeking academic employment. The advice and assistance of appropriate college deans and academic department chairs will be solicited in developing the job search strategy.

Non-academic Employment Assistance

For partners seeking non-academic employment, the Program offers one of the three levels of employment assistance described below as determined by the completed survey:

(1) Level I: Basic Entry-Level Employment Assistance
For partners seeking basic entry-level assistance such as resume writing, interviewing skills development, and career counseling, the Program Coordinator will provide information on services (to include workshops and classes) available through the University Career Center and other sources. Upon the partner’s arrival in Charlotte, the Program Coordinator will provide a tour of the University Career Center and assist the partner in initially accessing the services available through the Center. (Note: Partner’s initially seeking entry-level assistance will presumably progress to the point of needing general employment assistance.)

(2) Level II: General Employment Assistance
For partners seeking immediate assistance in identifying non-academic employment opportunities in relatively specific occupational fields, the Program Coordinator will provide information on the services available through the University Career Center, a North Carolina State Application for Employment form (used by the UNC Charlotte Employment and Staffing Office in filling all classified SHRA staff position vacancies), a copy of Campus News (the weekly newsletter for faculty and staff,) a list of employment agencies in the Charlotte area, a copy of the Charlotte Observer’s Employment Weekly, a list of the major employers which hire in the partner’s field (copied from The Business Journal’s Book of Lists,) a personalized list of contacts generated through a variety of resources available to the Program Coordinator, and such other information as may be available and of interest to the dual career partner. Upon the partner’s arrival in Charlotte, the Program Coordinator will provide a tour of the University Career Center and assistance in initially accessing the services available through the Center.

(3) Level III: Advance Career Professional Employment Assistance
For partners who are “seasoned professionals with advanced career status” the Program Coordinator will send a personalized list of contacts generated through a variety of resources, a list of career-related professional associations, a list of the major area employers in the dual career partner’s field, information on the resources available through the University Career Center, and other pertinent information. In addition, the Program Coordinator will present the partner’s credentials to an Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee including the University’s Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources for review and suggestions for further assistance. Upon the partner’s arrival in Charlotte, the Program Coordinator will provide a tour of the University Career Center and assistance in initially accessing the services available through the Center.

Program Evaluation and Reporting

The Program Coordinator will maintain contact with all partners throughout their participation in the program. At the end of the new employee’s first year of employment at UNC Charlotte, or once the dual career partner secures employment (or withdraws from the program), whichever occurs first, the Program Coordinator will send the partner a follow-up survey to assess the usefulness and effectiveness of the program. Data from the completed surveys will be used to prepare quarterly reports which will include information on the number of program participants, types of employment assistance offered, levels of assistance provided, etc. This information will also be used to make improvements to the program.

Dated: April 5, 1995
PIM Number: 48
PIM Category: Administration