THE CHALLENGE
As a world-class higher education institution, Bucknell University fosters a culture of opportunity and innovation to ensure a rich learning experience. At its heart lies a strong ethos: inspiring people to thrive and take bold steps in learning.
With faculty playing a prominent role in fuelling the minds of students, the HR services team at Bucknell University needed a robust recruitment management system to support the highly complex nature of faculty hiring. Recruitment consultants, Kelly Dinan and Brandy Bloom, along with Director of HR Services, Marcia Cooney, led the project to source and implement a fit-for-purpose recruitment system.
THE FOCUS
Applying for a faculty position at a university is a lengthy process. During the application stage, candidates must submit several specialisedspecialized documents: including a resume, cover letter, research statement, teaching statement and confidential letters of recommendation. Depending on the type of faculty position, a teaching portfolio, sample curriculum, writing samples, research statement, a statement of teaching philosophy and other relevant documents may also be required.
The applicant tracking system that Bucknell University previously used wasn’t equipped to meet the demands of faculty recruitment. The HR services team found themselves tasked with two challenges – finding a system to streamline and optimiseoptimize recruitment for all, and getting stakeholder buy-in from key players. “We had to have some faculty buy-in for our initiatives to be successful,” says Cooney.
The team was impressed by the functionality of PageUp Recruitment. They held mini introductory demonstration sessions with key faculty members from each of Bucknell’s three colleges and the Provost’s Office to get initial stakeholder buy-in. “We started with a core group of individuals that we thought would be potential supporters,” explains Cooney. “We brought them in and showed them some of the things PageUp could do – and how we anticipated that it could help them with faculty recruiting.”
A key feature of its previous applicant tracking system was the ability to support the management of faculty documents, especially confidential letters of recommendation. The team were tasked with convincing internal stakeholders that implementing PageUp would help streamline faculty processes. “The concept was that it was going to be a lot easier for search committees because they would only have to learn one system for staff and faculty recruiting. Evaluating and communicating with candidates directly in the system would be easier, as well as the ability to efficiently manage and send documents to others involved in the search process,” says Cooney.
Having the support of faculty leaders made the PageUp selection and implementation process a smooth one. “Ultimately the PageUp system was an easy sell,” says Cooney.
THE SOLUTION
PageUp enabled the HR team at Bucknell University to streamline recruitment – including the complexities of faculty recruitment. They have received positive feedback from internal stakeholders. “The faculty are happy. They can access everything easily,” says Dinan.
“The faculty are happy. They can access everything easily.”
– Kelly Dinan, Recruitment Consultant, Bucknell University
Dinan’s role involves getting faculty departments and search committees up to speed with the functionalities of PageUp. “I work with academic assistants using the events schedule and interviews, which has streamlined their work. If you can sell it to the support staff, or those who are managing the applications, that’s a huge talking point in terms of the robust features you can use,” she says.
An important part of the process for the Bucknell HR team was highlighting the ongoing support with PageUp. “We have layers of support in PageUp that we didn’t have before,” says Cooney.
“We have layers of support in PageUp that we didn’t have before.”
– Marcia Cooney, Director HR Services, Bucknell University
Bucknell University’s next step is to start using PageUp for the faculty offer process. The HR Services team expects additional benefits and efficiencies as a result of this next phase.
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