New system cuts hiring time.WHEN IT COMES TO HIRING new faculty and staff, the process can be time-consuming and expensive--especially if the perfect candidate gets hired elsewhere while you're still going through the paperwork. At Drexel University's College of Medicine (Pa.), the typical faculty recruitment process includes rigorous background checks for credentials, education and training, practice history, board certifications board certification n. The process by which a person is tested and approved to practice in a specialty field, especially medicine, after successfully completing the requirements of a board of specialists in that field. , licensure, hospital affiliations, and insurance claims. It's a process that involves multiple departments across the campus, such as human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. , faculty affairs, legal counsel, and risk management. With 40 to 50 new hires each fiscal year, the potential for hiring gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. is great. But now, the College of Medicine thinks it has a way to dramatically reduce the time involved. Partnering with Alliance Consulting, the school developed a new tracking system that ultimately transforms this paper-intense, manual process into a secured, paperless, electronic workflow. The system was built around a beta version A pre-shipping release of hardware or software that has gone through alpha test. A beta version of software is supposed to be very close to the final product, but, in practice, it is more a way of getting users to test the software in the first place under real conditions. of Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation The workflow subsystem in Windows Vista. Part of the .NET Framework 3.0 programming interface (API), Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) enables tasks to be automated. Workflows are described using .NET programming languages or the Extensible Application Markup Language (see XAML). , which combines a workflow engine Workflow engine is a software application meant to manage and execute modeled business processes. It is a key component in workflow technology. It will typically make use of a database server. , programming model, and developers' tools and is slated for public release this year. "Since the system was implemented, we have experienced a considerable reduction in the time required to complete the examination of key medical personnel, giving us a significant competitive advantage within the marketplace," says Richard Homan, dean of the College of Medicine. The system has been operational since last September and improvement has already been noted. "Before the implementation of the system, the hiring process took six months or greater as an average," says Rachel Sparrow, Media and Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most manager. "With the new system, the target time frame is 60 days, depending on how quickly we get the necessary information from the candidate. We are still evaluating an average timeframe." The College of Medicine will be sharing its experience in using this system with the broader Drexel community to see whether other academic units might benefit, Sparrow says. |
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