AHEAD Conference 2012

JULY 2012

Howard Green, NODVeronica Porter, Northeastern UniversityElizabeth Gaillard, AAASAnne Fitzsimmons, NOD

-NOD

-Pipeline & Disconnect Issue

-OFCCP

-Case Studies – RIT, Sodexo

-NACE

-Northeastern University

-AAAS

-Q & A

-Discussion

Agenda

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The National Organization on Disability: A 30 year-old, non-profit with a focus on employment for people with disabilities

It’s ability, not disability, that counts

Mission: Expand the participation and contribution of America’s 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life.

Focus: Increase employment opportunity and economic self-sufficiency for the 33 million working-aged Americans with disabilities.

Mission: Expand the participation and contribution of America’s 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life.

Focus: Increase employment opportunity and economic self-sufficiency for the 33 million working-aged Americans with disabilities.

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NOD’s innovative approaches to disability employment are in five key areas

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Hiring managers are trained and hiring people with disabilities is business as usual

Candidates continuously sourced by service providers producing a pipeline of qualified talent

People with disabilities are readily considered for career advancement opportunities

Successful partnerships decrease the level of effort by employers (streamlining the hiring process)

Employers don’t identify people with disabilities as a ready source for talent

Those that do -- do not know where to find them

Employers find the public disability employment system daunting

Service providers do not speak the language of employers; and success metrics vary

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The current state of disability employment largely focuses on individuals with disabilities (the supply) rather than employment opportunities within companies committed to diversity hiring practices (the demand)

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OFCCP Proposed Regulations

Federal contractors and subcontractors with $50,000 or

more will be required to comply

7% of all staff (starting with new hires) should be

employees with disabilities

New Recruitment Efforts (document & report)

– List all job openings with the nearest Employment One-Stop Career

Center;

– Enter into a linkage agreements with 3 “providers”

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What’s Wrong With This Picture?

B.A Mathematics –June 2007 B.A Economics – June 2007 ( Honors) M.S Mathematics – January 2010 Work Experience

– Hamilton Lane Advisors –Summer Intern (May-August 2006

– Statman Analyst Research Intern – Feb,2010-June2010– Blackfeather Enterprises LLC (telecommute) July-August

2011– Skills- C++ Perl, Python, VBA, MATLAB, SPSS, AMOS,

SRATA,LATEX, LexisNexis, Access, SQL, MySQL, Power Point, Excel, ASP, Ajax PHP

– Certification – CMFS, Six Sigma Green Belt Lean/DFSS– Senior Class Treasurer

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WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

OVER PAST FIVE YEARS – TWO DEGREES– APPLIED FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED POSITIONS– 100 INTERVIEWS(HOURS OF APPLICATIONS WORK)– NOT A SINGLE JOB OFFER– BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENT

• Lack of exposure to disability• Lack of internal structure from businesses to

move candidates with disabilities beyond the initial interview.

• Outside placement groups unable to help.

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Key Issues

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“One of the great obstacles faced by

employers when diversifying their

workforce is the difficulty in sourcing

candidates with disabilities with the

required skill sets necessary to fill entry-

level to mid-level positions.”~ Todd Harbaugh, EVP and COO Sam’s Club North America

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“One of the greatest obstacles faced by

career services practitioners in providing

programming and services to students

with disabilities is the disconnect that

often exists between career services and

disability services.”  

~ Kara Leonard, RIT Career Services

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NOD’s Objective

To highlight a major issue identified from our work with over a dozen employers and offer recommendations based on lessons learned to: • Improve employment opportunities and outcomes for students with disabilities•Facilitate more collaborative and effective relationships between University Disability Offices and Career Offices and employers•Make recruiting efforts by employers more productive which will have a positive impact on both the employer’s and university’s bottom line.

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Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) – a best practice model

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Course offered on ways to navigate the job search process, with emphasis on soft skill development and how to effectively disclose a disability Jointly taughtOf 9 students who participated, 7 employed

Website resources developed for job seekers with disabilities and employers•Workplace accommodations, disclosure process

Training provided to all career services practitioners on specific needs of job seekers with disabilities – •Liaison between Career Office and Disability Office

Voluntary release form instituted in October, 2010• 300 students to date

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Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

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Team-approach model to support students in employment search•Career Services, Disability Services, Spectrum Support, Academic Advisors•Collaboration continues until employment

Outcome: In the past year this model has been used to assist seven students, and all seven successfully obtained employment

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Sodexo is one employer who has struggled to find talent with disabilities at the university level

• Sodexo Buffalo Financial Services Center - Difficulty sourcing candidates with disabilities for entry-level to mid-level positions – Accounting, IT

• Collaborate with University of Buffalo and Canisius College • Sodexo Talent Acquisition Group (TAG) developed e-card to

communicate job openings to the local universities’ Career Offices and Disability Offices

• The design allows for the e-card to be sent to all students and students with disabilities via listserv.

• E-card includes a link to a video created by Sodexo’s ERG – demonstrating commitment to and appreciation of hiring people with disabilities for their abilities.

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Please apply online and mention how you heard of the position

Sodexo Job Opportunities

No matter what position you start in here at Sodexo, the decision on where to go depends only on your determination to learn and grow. Through education, training, and rewarding best practices, you will find endless opportunities to soar in Food and Beverage Management, Facilities Management, Human Resources and more. Make an immediate impact while leading the teams that touch hundreds of thousands of lives every day.

Senior Accountant - Accounts Receivable Senior Accountant - Revenue Reporting Senior Accountant - Merchant Services

Staff Accountant - Balance Sheet Sodexo is committed to promoting and fostering equal opportunity for employees in all operations of our company. Please click on link below for more information.

Sodexo E-card

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD4pyKZPTkE

What Can Career & Disability Offices Do?

Appoint Career Services Liaison to Disability Office and Alumni Office and take a “team approach” towards student employment

Provide training for Career Office practitioners Institute a “Release Form” to allow students with disabilities to give

permission to share their names with the Career Office (e.g., RIT) Ensure University Career and Disability Office’s websites post job

openings and information on companies who are disability friendly Communicate job openings to all students through the Career Office

and Disability Office via listserv (e.g., Sodexo e-card) Develop/utilize database to capture & track pertinent contact

information on students with disabilities (with permission) in order to assist employers in recruitment and communicate post – grad

Offer a class (and jointly-teach) on the employment process, disclosing a disability and requesting accommodations.

Stay abreast of OFCCP regulations

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What Can Employers Do?

Establish relationship and collaborate with University Career Offices and Disability Offices

Enlist help of Employee Resource Group Ensure University Career and Disability Office’s websites post job

openings and information on companies who are disability friendly Communicate job openings to all students via the Career Office and

Disability Office listserv (e.g., Sodexo e-card) Have an on-campus presence at job fairs and workshops

– Use an identifier to indicate that you represent a disability- friendly employer (e.g., lapel ribbon used at UAK)

– Enlist members of Employee Resource Group (ERG) to attend on-campus job fairs, workshops

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Resources

NACE Spotlight Articles – February, 2012Helping Students With Disabilities Make Key Decisions --- www.naceweb.org/s02292012/students-with-disabilities/ --- College versionMaking Critical Connections to Students With Disabilities --- www.naceweb.org/s02292012/recruit-students-disability/ --- Employer versionBest Practices: Recruiting Students With Disabilities --- www.naceweb.org/s02292012/recruiting-disability/ --- Employer version

Websites:National Organization on Disability www.nod.orgNACE www.naceweb.orgAAAS Entry Point! www.entrypoint.org

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Contacts

Howard Green greenh@nod.org Marilyn Mackes mmackes@naceweb.org Veronica Porter v.porter@neu.edu Elizabeth Galliard efgaillard@yahoo.com Kara Leonard kmloce@rit.edu Anne Fitzsimmons fitzsimmonsa@nod.org

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National Association of Colleges and Employers

2012 AHEAD ConferenceNew Orleans

July 9-14

NACE: Who Are We?

Mission: NACE leads the community of professionals focused on the employment of the college educated by providing access to relevant knowledge, resources, insight and relationships.

Member Profile: 2000 Higher Education Institutions1000 Employer OrganizationsAn additional 5000 individual members

Student Reach: More than 1M per year through Career Services offices

Core Value: Foster and support individual and organizational diversity and inclusion in all facets of the organization.

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NACE: Attention to Disability and Employment

NACE Diversity & Inclusion Statement Member Competencies

NACE Content & Professional DevelopmentFor MembersAnnual Conference, Employer Roundtables,

Metro Member Events, WebinarsSpotlight Newsletter ArticlesJournal Articles (sample provided)

For StudentsJob Choices Magazine Articles

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Moving Forward: What Can We All Do Better?

1. Increase awareness among employers through strategic alliances and collaborations.

2. Create stronger ties and action plans between campus disability and career services offices.

3. Create tools and content to assist students with disabilities with the job search and interviewing process.

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Example of What NACE Provides Employers and Career Services Members

Disclosure of a Disability In a Job InterviewBy Betsy Johnsen, Esq.

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For more information:

Marilyn MackesNACE Executive Directormmackes@naceweb.org

Northeastern University

• History of the Disability Resource Center at NU.• Experiential Education/Co-op is an important

component of the curriculum.• Access to the Co-op program has been an

important reason why students choose NU.• Access to Career Services

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Wrap Around Experiential Education Model for Success – NUConnect*

* A Strategic Partnership between the Co-op Program, Disability and Career Services

N’ the Know Webinars, (COSD)

•Disclosure, Self Advocacy and Accommodations•Disclosure, Apparent/Non-Apparent Disabilities•Career Development of College Students with Disabilities•Experiential Education and Students with Disabilities•Career Development for Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

Workshops - External

Coaching Model

Holistic Systems Approach Characterized by:

• Collaboration• Advocacy• Knowledge and resources • Feedback

• Assemble your team: (DRC, Co-op, Career Services, external agencies, parents, academic advisors)

• Consult with the team members to share information and contribute their expertise

Collaboration

• Advocacy vs. Advising• Initiate a conversation about disclosing-

model self-advocacy• Create a database of external partners

including employers -(employer advisory group)• Add self-advocacy skills to your curriculum

(how to be a mentee)

Advocacy

Knowledge of Disabilities and Resources

• Increase your knowledge of and internal and external resources

• Include these resources on your team with the student’s permission.

• Aspergers Association of New England, Voc. Rehab, Mass office of Disability, Workforce Recruitment Program, COSD, AHEAD, AAAS-EntryPoint, for example.

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Feedback

• Schedule frequent meetings with students

• Follow up with employers

• Check in with team to create a best practices model of service

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Workshops - Internal

How to Work with Students with:– Aspergers Syndrome– Learning Disabilities/ADHD

Upcoming Workshops – Psychiatric Issues– Chronic illness and Mobility issues– Deaf, Hard of Hearing & Vision Impaired

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•Improve access to employment for students with disabilities.

Purpose:•Target employers in various industries to create mutually beneficial partnerships.

Goals:•Develop strategies to help students be better prepared for interviewing, working.•Share best practices.•Increase employment opportunities.

Employer Advisory Committee

• Established a LinkedIn group to share resources

• Employer-in residence at the Disability Resource Center

• Targeted promotion for specific positions

• Employer-led Panels and workshops

• Host a webinar at the company

• Invite students to employer site

• Disability mentoring Day such as done by Blue/Cross and Job Shadowing, i.e. Bridgewater State

• Employer panel at NE AHEAD to share ideas for creating environments that attract differently abled people and to reach out to other colleges more efficiently

• Informational Interviews with students with disabilities.

• Internship/Coop programs to recruit students for the future positions-long-term relationship building

Next Steps

Entry Point!

www.entrypoint.org

Project on Science, Technology, and DisabilityAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science

AHEAD/NODNew Orleans, LA

June, 2012

Entry Point!

www.entrypoint.org

Project on Science, Technology, and DisabilityAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science

AHEAD/NODNew Orleans, LA

June, 2012

What is Entry Point! ?

• Internship Program; typically 10-12 weeks, for college students with disabilities.

• An employer partnership program.

• A skills development and career mentoring program.

• A portal into a science or engineering career for talented students.

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How We Recruit

•College/University Disability & Career Services Professionals

•Diversity and disability advocacy groups

•Professional and scholarly associations

•Internet/Facebook

•Relationships that span 20+ years

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What We Require

• Minimum 3.0 GPA

• Majoring in Physical Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Life Sciences (Business)

• Full-time enrollment in 4 year as undergrad or grad; or 2 year with intent to transfer to 4 year program

• U.S. citizen or holding a valid work permit, international students if desired

• Willingness to relocate

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How Students Benefit

• Experience in a real work setting

• Paid assignments

• Travel stipend (fare to/from internship site)

• Assistance in finding housing and local transportation

• Using accommodations in a work environment

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Current Partners

NASA/ACCESS

IBM

NSF

NIH

Merck

Lockheed Martin

Ball Aerospace

Dow Chemical

USDA

L’Oreal

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What Partners Get

SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS

• Diverse workforce

• Unique approaches to business problems

• Perspectives and experiences that reflect customer base

• Individualized fit with current internship program

• Ongoing support; student, mentor, manager

• Help with securing accommodations

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Our Success Rate

• 650+ Placements

• 590+ Individuals

• 18 pursuing or have received Ph.D.

• 92 % of intern alumni are either still enrolled or currently employed in science or engineering related field

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Entry Point! Contacts

Ric Weibl, Sr. Project Director

rweibl@aaas.org

202-326-6674

Laureen Summers, Program Associate

lsummers@aaas.org

202-326-6649

Betty Gaillard, Recruiter

efgaillard@yahoo.com

214-763-6270

Jean Morrell, Recruiter

jeanlmorrell@aol.com

775-848-2550

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