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University Recruitment Policies and Principles

To facilitate opportunities and partnerships between students and employers, the Career Services Network has established policies that provide a consistent operational position. The Network adheres to legal and ethical standards of the University and our profession.

We abide by the NACE Principles for Professional Conduct.

Established University of Illinois Recruitment Policies:

Policy of the Career Services Council of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The first policy statement that describes the work of the coordinating committee, now known as the Career Services Council, and its professional membership is the University of Illinois Board of Trustees statement on May 15, 1954, which says:

"The University of Illinois recognizes the desirability of offering a coordinated service to facilitate the placement of its students and alumni in positions so that the maximum value of its educational programs may be realized, both by graduates and by employers.  A basic tenet of this policy is that the service is primarily an activity of the University as a whole, and secondarily, that of its constituent parts.  The placement services (otherwise known as career services) should be available to seniors, graduate students and alumni."

The first policy statement of the coordinated career services offices is the final sentence of that Board of Trustee recommendation.  It is our Article I.  It and subsequent articles follow:

Article I: Employer Eligibility to Recruit at the University of Illinois

The placement services of the University should be available to all employers, small or large, whether located in Illinois or elsewhere.

Article II: Employer Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Affirmation

The Career Services Council and each and all of its member offices subscribe to and support the University of Illinois' commitment to and statement of Nondiscrimination. Accordingly, all career services offices shall require all employers recruiting on the campus to provide affirmation regarding non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity. They shall complete a form which states that their organization:

affirms that it is an equal opportunity employer and does not engage in discrimination against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status (as defined under the Immigration Reform and Control Act), ancestry, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military or status as a disabled veteran, or veteran of the Vietnam era, and complies with all federal and state non-discrimination/equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, orders and regulations.

In 1991, the committee adopted, and the Chancellor approved, the addition of informational statements concerning campus policy on invidious discrimination and state and local laws. Concurrent with these statements, the career services offices agreed to make available upon request, the official signed statement of any employer that recruits on campus through their offices. Thus, students interested in seeing a company's non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity affirmation position may do so.

Article III: Student Records Release Authorization of The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974

A predecessor of the Career Services Council, recognizing that a uniform statement was necessary, adopted the following wording, approved by the University legal counsel, as its official student release authorization used by member offices:

I hereby authorize (name of the office) to release information to other educational institutions or to potential employers.  It is understood that this release is in accordance with University policy on student records.  This release will be considered valid, unless revoked in writing, by the signatory.

Concurrent with the aforementioned statement, adjustments may be made in who the information can be released, e.g., scholarship agencies, government agencies, etc., but a separate release form needs to be signed for other purposes.  It was agreed that the commonality of functions and purposes of career services offices would enable a consistent statement for release of information to either educational institutions (for graduate and professional school admission) or potential employers (for full and part-time employment, internships, student teaching, and cooperative educational positions).

Additional adjustments may be made for emphasis, such as pursuant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as a preface or conclusion, as long as the core statement remains intact and includes the prescribed words.

Additionally, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a students file is automatically open and able to be reviewed by them unless they waive their rights of access to their evaluation, recommendation or credential files and records.  The specific wording of that waiver is prescribed by the University Legal Counsel Office and adopted by a predecessor of the Career Services Council to be:

the applicant must complete and sign the following statement before submitting this form to the evaluator:  This request is in compliance with federal law PL93-380 (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974).  I do ______________  I do not ______________ waive my rights of access to this letter of evaluation.

Article IV: Ban on the Use of Alcohol in Recruiting Activities and the Recruitment Process

As a result of several incidents on campus in 1999 and 2000, a sub-committee of career service directors, in response to the Dean of Students suggestion, investigated and established a policy statement to be utilized on web sites and in recruitment information to employers.  The group adopted the following statement to be included in electronic communications and printed literature to employers:

The University of Illinois and the (name of office) is a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) the association for human resources and career services professionals.  As members, we abide by the Principles for Professional Conduct, an ethics document that tells us that serving alcohol to job candidates is inappropriate and inadvisable.  It states specifically, serving alcohol should not be a part of the recruitment process.  We trust that employers that recruit University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students will join us in supporting the practice of professional conduct embodied in the document during the exercise of their recruiting activities on our campus.

It is further suggested that pre-recruitment correspondence should include the aforementioned statement and admonition so that employers that recruit at Illinois are aware.

Article V: Employers that Require an Investment as a Condition of Employment

It is has been a long standing and informal policy that career services offices should not reserve space on behalf of employers, (primarily those employers that hire for summer, internship or part-time employment), that require students they are hiring to make an investment in their products (e.g. books, knives) to make sales demonstrations with, or to pay for their job training. 

It is not our intention to be in restraint of trade or in violation of any law constricting the exercise of commercial rights.  However, career services offices need not lend their name to support or sponsor or give de facto endorsement of employment opportunities which might be detrimental to UIUC students welfare.  Therefore, the career services offices propose the following statement of policy:

The use of the facilities of (name of office) or the reservation of space in another University building or facility, for student employment recruitment is restricted to student groups and prospective employers who do not require an investment by candidates as a condition of employment, or that do not require the candidate to pay the organization for their own training.

Article VI:  Third Party Recruiting at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Third party recruiting by an employment agency or an agent that represents an employer, but is not employed by them, has been discussed by the coordinating committee many times, even in the distant history.  It was first discussed in May of 1957, and then again in January of 1960, May of 1969, October of 1970, December 1972, and finally, in November of 1980 when a more enduring position was established.  From all of those discussions, the following policy is derived:

No list of candidates shall be given to either employment agencies or management consulting firms, and job listings from management consulting firms or employment agencies should be accepted only under the following conditions: 

job notices from third party recruiters can be made available to students whether or not the employer firm is identified.   As job notices are advertised, information from agencies and the fee amount and arrangements must also be made known.

Each office should determine by whatever means is appropriate whether the job vacancy it is listing is a bona fide or real job vacancy.

The changes to the older policy reflected in the 1980 version, express the desire to inform students of all possible employment options including those from third party recruiters as long as students are well versed in all possible consequences.

Article VII:  US Citizenship Required Statement on Employer Job Information Forms

Deliberations in 1989 led the committee to adopt a statement to clarify and communicate the employer's legal position on the interviewing and hiring of international students on F-1 visas. The statement, which is included in the non-discrimination affirmation of Article II as:

"national origin, citizenship (as defined under the Immigration Reform and Control Act), disability"

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) requires that employers only hire people who are authorized to work in the United States. This typically includes U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and U.S. nationals. It is perfectly legitimate for an employer to require individuals to be authorized to work in the United States as a condition of employment. Moreover, an employer does not violate the law by refusing to sponsor an international student for an H-1B nonimmigrant specialty occupation temporary work visa or for a permanent employment immigrant visa.

Yet, a U.S. citizenship requirement for employment is proper only if it is required to comply with a law, regulation, or an executive order; by a federal, state, or local government contract; or the U.S. Attorney General determines that the citizenship requirement is essential for the employer to do business with an agency or a department of the federal, state, or local government.

IRCA permits employers to hire any international who has the appropriate work authorization, but it does not protect internationals from employment discrimination unless they fit within one of the protected classifications. IRCA and Title VII also permit employers to refuse to hire an individual based upon the person's limited work authorization or the difficulty in obtaining the work authorization for the person.

Article VIII:  Ban on Exploding Offers and Improper Employer Influence on Student Job Acceptances

The Career Services Council of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) endorses the NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) recommendation that employers extend to students a minimum of three weeks to return a decision on a job offer and to refrain from any practice that pressures students to make decisions that advantage the employer to the detriment of the student.

The Career Services Council recommends, but does not require, that employers keep their job offers open until the end of semester in which they recruit at UIUC so that students can explore comparable opportunities and make the best decision for all concerned.

UIUC Career Services offices are specifically concerned with practices that require a student to decide on a job offer within a very short time frame or face having the offer rescinded. Offices are also concerned with the practice of multiple job offers by the employer, in excess of the number of jobs available, with the provision that the limited number of offers would go to the students that respond the quickest with their acceptance. Both of these practices are referred to as exploding offers.

This policy is not limited to exploding offers, but also includes any form of improper employer influence of student decision making, such as encouraging reneging on other employment offers and/or cash incentives for short time frame acceptance. These are examples and not meant to limit the scope of the policy or the authority of the Career Services Council.

The Career Services Council and its member offices will determine appropriate sanctions for employers that engage in the aforementioned practice(s).

Article IX:  Education of Students on Their Obligation in the Recruiting Process

The career services offices at the University of Illinois will educate students who use their services about obligations of the recruitment process which include, but are not limited to:

  • provision of accurate and truthful information
  • adherence to schedules for interview appointments and meetings
  • acceptance of an employment offer in good faith
  • notification of employers in a timely basis of acceptance or non-acceptance of their offer of employment
  • cessation of interviewing and withdrawal from the recruiting process after accepting an offer of employment
  • interviewing only with employers for whom they are interested in working and whose eligibility requirements they meet
  • requesting reimbursement of only reasonable and legitimate expenses incurred in the recruitment process
  • abstinence from alcohol consumption in the recruitment process

Member offices will counsel, advise and educate students on appropriate ethical behavior in recruitment to maintain the integrity of the University-employer interviewing-recruiting process.

Article X:  Releases, Indemnity Agreements, and Affirmation of Liability Insurance - Experiential Activities

It is the policy of the University of Illinois that Career Services Offices, and their representatives, do not provide releases or provide signed indemnification agreements to employers for internships, cooperative education, or other experiential activities. However, under certain conditions, the University is able to affirm the student has liability protection under the Universitys liability self-insurance plan. These conditions include:

  • When the student is an enrolled student for the semester in which the experiential activity occurs; and
  • When the experiential activity is unpaid and a requirement for graduation in the students academic program, and/or
  • When the experiential activity is unpaid and the student is enrolled for academic credit directly related to the work experience.

Any release or indemnity agreement must clearly delineate the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved. It will be submitted to University Legal Counsel for review and approval, if appropriate.

An agreement will not be accepted if the student is receiving financial compensation in conjunction with the experience. Students who are in unpaid experiential positions and not receiving credit should request from their employer liability coverage for "volunteers" at their workplace.

Adding Career Services Council members

From time to time, academic and/or service units at UIUC see fit to provide formalized career services to its student constituency and corresponding employment arena. Consequently, the Career Services Council, as the campus' connecting and coordinating body for the career service function would seek to add to its membership if the following condition is met:

Units devoting at least 0.5 FTE of personnel resources to the career services function shall be eligible for membership; the 0.5 FTE can be from multiple employees; faculty, academic professional or support personnel, but does not include graduate or undergraduate student employees.

If the condition is met:

The unit may apply in writing to the Chair for membership, recognition and inclusion in the Career Services Council. Or, the Executive Secretary of the Council may approach any such unit to inform them of the existence of the Career Services Council and its missions and solicit their application for membership.

Finally, an individual, academic professional or faculty, who is assigned the career service functions as part of their job description may affiliate with the Career Services Council and participate in its activities without vote and without their parent unit's official membership.

Conclusion

The aforementioned are specific policy statements that have been adopted as operating procedures by career services offices by previous coordinating councils and are included in council minutes and/or specifically documented.  The charge given to the Coordinating Committee on Career Planning and Placement by the Chancellor and their designee, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, upon recommendation of the task force in 1975, may also be considered a policy statement of the new Career Services Council. It has its own new mission statement, but it still must fulfill the responsibilities of the previous committee, the Coordinating Committee on Career Planning and Placement as the previous committee did for its predecessor.  Those purposes of the previous committee assumed by the Career Services Council are:

  1. The encouragement and evaluation of new program thrusts in career planning and placement
  2. Monitoring the career planning and placement efforts across the campus
  3. Identification of programmatic deficits and facilitating activities to adjust those deficits
  4. Formulation of policies that clarify how the work of the various offices can be coordinated and monitoring the implementation of those policies

(All of the above are incorporated in the new mission statement.)

Beyond policy, the 27 career service providers on the UIUC campus find day-to-day means and methods of working together to assist and enable UIUC students transition to their chosen careers and professions.  In so doing, they provide profound service to those that employ UIUC graduates and benefit by the knowledge, training and skills they acquired at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.