U of Iowa Honors DMPS With Career Impact Award

The University of Iowa has named Des Moines Public Schools as one of this year’s recipients of their Career Impact Award  as a highly engaged employer. The honor recognizes the work by DMPS to support Iowa students and graduates, including internship and career opportunities. A special congratulations to Theron Hobbs, our recruitment and retention coordinator, for leading the district’s work with the University of Iowa. Below is the press release about the award from the university.

The Pomerantz Career Center at the University of Iowa recognizes the importance of engagement with students through our valuable partners working in external organizations as well as in academic departments and programs on campus. Career planning, goal discussions, employer engagement, and referrals to the Career Center are important pieces that contribute to our college students’ career success. Informed by data to assess rates of engagement, the Career Center has selected top employers, academic departments, programs, and other campus partners to recognize at a new annual event, the Career Impact Awards. During this private celebration held on May 2, 2023, guests and honorees will gather at the Levitt Center for UI Advancement beginning at 3:00 p.m. Opening remarks will begin at 3:30, shortly followed by the keynote address provided by Associate Head Coach, Jan Jensen of the University of Iowa Women’s Basketball Program. Awards will then be given to our honorees, and we will conclude at 5:00 p.m. Members of the media are welcomed to attend to cover the event.

Recipients of the Highly Engaged Academic Department Award have a higher percentage of engaged students who are making appointments with career coaches, attending career fairs, and employer networking events, and are using Handshake to seek jobs and internships at a higher rate when compared to students in most other academic disciplines. Additionally, recognized departments routinely collaborate with Pomerantz Career Center team members to embed career development in their units and courses.

Out of the 700 organizations recruiting on-campus at the University of Iowa each year, the Career Center has identified a small group of employers to receive the Highly Engaged Employer Award. This award recognizes their efforts to go above and beyond to invest in our students’ career success at Iowa by providing engagement opportunities at career fairs and recruiting events, hosting mock interviews, and by providing more job and internship opportunities compared to other employers using Handshake, the University of Iowa’s main career opportunity portal.

This award ceremony not only celebrates employers and academic departments, but it will also recognize award winning UI student employees and student supervisors, course instructors, as well as other important key collaborators, such as the College of Liberal Science Advising Network, (CLASAN) who will receiving the Highly Engaged Campus Partner Award.

A full list of recipients and honorees can be found by visiting:  https://careers.uiowa.edu/career-impact-awards