Description:

The goal of this SMART Talk session is to provide HBCU career leaders and practitioners with strategies on how to best engage industry partners and university leaders. Participants will walk away understanding a partnership framework that will give a pathway to industry leaders wanting to forge meaningful relationships that yield sustainable recruitment, and support university leaders wanting to court effective industry partnerships. This has become increasingly important as last year’s civil unrest prompted many organizations to examine their diversity initiatives, including recruitment, and look to HBCUs to identify top talent. This has resulted in many HBCU career centers, with limited capacity, to become inundated by organizations uncertain about how to effectively engage their campus. The session will outline five components driving an HBCU partnership framework that allows career centers to gauge an organization’s understanding of their students and campus culture, willingness to invest, level of commitment, presence, and introspection on diversity, equity, and inclusion. HBCU career centers can then share this framework and vetted organization prospects with university leaders, aligning them more with the business strategy of their institution. The session will also illuminate how HBCU partnership framework underscores the value proposition of the HBCU career center, and their role in impacting employment outcomes. Participants will leave the session with a handout detailing the framework so that they may workshop each component as it pertains to their institution. This presentation is informed by 15 years directing college career services held by DosReis, including nine years at a public HBCU, and her doctoral research on HBCU career centers at Northeastern University. In addition, Wilson’s corporate experience includes marketing and her current role is directing employer relations at North Carolina Central University.

Audience:

Career Services

Level:

Intermediate

Track:

Sourcing, Recruiting & Talent Acquisition

Type:

SMARTtalk

Main Speaker:

Catrina Dosreis, North Carolina Central University

Additional Speakers:

Cierra Wilson, North Carolina Central University