The Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) is a non-profit coalition of colleges, universities, hospitals, research labs, government agencies, and related non- and for-profit organizations, committed to diversifying the pipeline of faculty, staff and executives in academia. HERC supports member institutions in recruiting and retaining outstanding and diverse employees.

• All faculty and staff at VU are able to create a HERC login to the HERConnect community
• The Southeastern HERC is run out of Vanderbilt and is focused on academic and staff careers in the higher ed space
• Our HERC currently has members in TN and AL, with expansion plans that may extend our region into Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia over the next 18 months
• The HERC has a two-part focus/mission – dual career couples in the higher ed space and diversity/inclusion in the space
• With our membership, we have access to an array of resources:
  • Job Board Resources: As a HERC member, you may post openings on our jobs board and review the resumes/CVs of candidates who are actively seeking equitable, inclusive workplaces in higher education. Nearly 100,000 jobseekers are registered on hercjobs.org, and HERC sends out over 30 million alerts for member institutions’ job openings annually.
  • Diversity Outreach: Sharpen your recruitment skills with our resource library and reach qualified candidates you may otherwise miss. Enhance your recruitment process from start to finish: Create inclusive job descriptions, reach out to partners which serve diverse constituents, and minimize bias in the hiring process.
  • OFCCP Compliance: HERC’s diversity outreach efforts can help your institution fulfill affirmative action requirements from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
  • Jobseeker Outreach: Our advertising campaigns geared towards jobseekers, as well as HERC staff presence at academic conferences and professional networking events, benefit HERC members. In 2017-18, HERC invested over $130,000 in paid and in-kind advertising. In addition to general and disciplinary advertising, we targeted veterans, professionals with disabilities, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and women. In 2017-18, HERC also reached 15,250 jobseekers through in-person outreach at conferences throughout the country.
  • Selection Process Resources: Create a level playing field for all qualified candidates with a conscientious selection committee. Learn to build your committee to minimize unconscious bias.
  • Dual Career Resources: A significant part of HERC’s mission is to support colleges and universities in their dual career hiring, as dual career supports are critical to advancing women in academia.
  • Dual Career Community: Are you interested in reaching candidates whose partners are also considering a job change? Network with other HERC members and discover best practices on our dual career community.
  • Dual Career Job Search:  Through our Dual Career Job Search tool, your job openings will be listed alongside nearby HERC member institutions' job openings.

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Vanderbilt University is a founding member of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. As part of this Action Collaborative, Vanderbilt will partner with other higher education institutions and research and training organizations to address and prevent all forms of sexual harassment in higher education. The Action Collaborative, which embraces collective action as its framework for change, aims to achieve four primary goals through efforts in partnership with sponsoring institutions over the next four years:

• Raise awareness about sexual harassment and how it occurs, the consequences of sexual harassment, and the organizational characteristics and recommended approaches that can prevent it.
• Share and elevate evidence-based institutional policies and strategies to reduce and prevent sexual harassment.
• Contribute to setting the research agenda and gather and apply research results across institutions.
• Develop a standard for measuring progress toward reducing and preventing sexual harassment in higher education.

The Office of Faculty Affairs offers webinars through its membership with the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). NCFDD resources are broadly applicable across academic disciplines and include a range of topics such as time management, overcoming academic perfectionism, how to develop a daily writing plan, how to write grant proposals and more. Archived webinars are also available on-demand online. You can activate your Vanderbilt-sponsored membership by going to the NCFDD website, selecting the “Join NCFDD” button, and choosing Vanderbilt University from the menu​.