William Penn Partners with Iowa Workforce Development
William Penn Partners with Iowa Workforce Development (photo submitted)
Oskaloosa, Iowa – William Penn University (WPU) is teaming up with the Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) to give Iowans a resource for job search assistance. This innovative notion originated with William Penn Career Services Coordinator, Debbie Stevens, who made a connection with Iowa Workforce Development Spokeswoman Kerry Koonce when she learned of the potential Oskaloosa IWD office closure. Stevens then presented the William Penn campus as an alternative location.
In previous professional encounters, Stevens had joined forces with both the regional and state levels of the IWD. Her experience with them and with William Penn led her to the conclusion that collaboration between WPU and the IWD would benefit community members in addition to William Penn students as both entities would have further access to job search tools.
Stevens then shared her thought with WPU President Ann Fields as well as IWD Director, Teresa Wahlert. Both Fields and Wahlert recognized the merit in Stevens’ idea right away. President Fields presented the idea at a spring 2011 meeting of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (IAICU). She was met with a consensus of enthusiastic approval from other university presidents in the IAICU. Fields then met with Governor Branstad to share with him this idea of positive collaboration.
This partnership was approved and encouraged by the state, IWD, and WPU. Currently, William Penn is finalizing plans to become a Virtual Access Point scheduled to be fully operational in October. There will be two Virtual Desktop locations on the Oskaloosa campus: a designated computer in the Career Services Office in Penn Hall, Room 220 will be available starting the first week of October and another located in the basement of the Wilcox Library will be available later in the year.
Both of these locations are ideal for job searchers, including all interested community members, WPU students and College for Working Adults students. The extensive hours of the Wilcox Library allow job seekers ample time to utilize the resources. The library’s normal hours are Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. to midnight, Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to midnight. The computer in the Career Services office offers one-on-one assistance from the Career Services staff during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. To schedule an appointment or to inquire for a meeting time outside the normal business hours, email Debbie Stevens at stevensde@wmpenn.edu.
The Virtual Desktop gives users access to several avenues of assistance including a typing training program, a skills assessment, and an interview preparation checklist. There are also links to provide users with community information, all regional IowaWORKS websites, phone listings, and job listing websites. The programs on the Virtual Desktop can help users with continuing education information and career planning. Users can set up an email account to aid in their job search communications and chat with a Virtual Desktop representative who can walk them through problems step-by-step. There is also extensive resume and cover letter building and refining software available.
Though job seekers can always go online from any computer and create an IWD account on their website, www.iowaworkforce.org, the extended assistance program only comes through the Virtual Desktop.
William Penn University is excited to become a Virtual Access Point for the Iowa Workforce Development. To learn more about the partnership between William Penn and the IWD, please call the WPU Career Services Office at 641-673-2173 or email careerservices@wmpenn.edu.
