Office earns LGBT career center certification
KALAMAZOO—Career and Student Employment Services at Western Michigan University has received gold-level certification for 2013 from Out for Work as a place where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students can find career resources.
Out for Work began its Career Center Certification Program in 2009 in part to help academic institutions improve the quality of the support they provide to LGBT students. It is a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating, preparing and empowering LGBT college students as they transition from academia to the workplace.
Lynn Kelly-Albertson, executive director of Career and Student Employment Services, says her office recently completed the certification program and earned the second highest rating possible.
"With this certification, WMU will have access to additional resources to help students search for jobs, network and navigate coming out in the workplace," Kelly-Albertson says.
"In addition to our staff participating in professional development activities, they'll be able to consult with Out for Work staff who can help identify inclusive companies that offer same-sex domestic partner benefits and have nondiscrimination policies that include sexual identity."
Career Center Certification Program
The Career Center Certification Program annually assesses the quality, quantity and availability of career resource materials for LGBT students. Based on their responses to the assessment, participating institutions receive an A+ gold, gold, silver or bronze ranking and have access to various tools, resources and materials they can use to improve their support of LGBT students.
Among the many reasons WMU received a gold rating is the Diversity Career Fair it debuted this past fall semester in collaboration with the University's Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Student Services office.
Several companies attended the fair, including Prudential Inc., which has been nationally recognized for its diversity initiatives and provided part of the financial support needed for WMU to complete the certification program.
For more information about WMU's LGBT certification or hiring WMU students, contact Lynn Kelly-Albertson at lynn.kelly-albertson@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2745.