According to Tamryn Hennessy, vice president of career services and public benefit initiatives, Rasmussen began working toward a PBC status in 2013, in part to expand the College’s commitment to serve communities and students through career-focused education and volunteer efforts.
“Giving back to the communities the College serves has always been core to our mission,” explained Hennessy. “Becoming a PBC allowed us to take that commitment to the next level by formalizing it and putting a clear and measurable plan in place.”
Along with the HLC, Rasmussen understood that adopting the PBC status would have multiple benefits:
1. Recruiting students: Hennessy noted that according to an Ivey Business Journal study, 70 percent of Millennials say that giving back and being civically engaged are their highest priorities. The new PBC status gives students more opportunities to give back to the community through service opportunities, and students are encouraged to join the new National Community Service Student Organization developed thanks to the status.
2. Retaining students: Rasmussen, through its community services and enhanced partnerships with local and regional businesses, will provide students with even more opportunities to follow skills pathways toward their degrees, provide degrees necessary to enter the workforce immediately, and allow students to find local and regional internships and jobs within the community.
3. Recruiting and retaining campus faculty and staff: Hennessy explained that recent research also shows that corporate responsibility programs and the opportunity to give back is cited as the “third most important driver in employee satisfaction,” and the PBC status allows staff to participate in the annual Community Service Day drive, as well as increased opportunities to volunteer at nonprofit organizations during the workday for up to eight paid hours a week.
4. Better campus collaboration and communication: If there’s one hot-button issue making the think-tank and college president rounds of late, it’s the discussion around better inter-departmental communication and collaboration, and the PBC status is helping Rasmussen develop these networks through a cross-departmental task force that plans and leads all PBC initiatives.
5. Better relationships with local and regional businesses and boards: According to Hennessy, the PBC status will foster a better relationship with state and federal regulators because it offers a “formal, legal basis to make decisions that help our community prosper,” as well as enabling more support from the Board of Directors. The status also helps the community by offering free meeting spaces for organizations, opening career opportunities, hosting free community career fairs, bringing workforce training to nonprofits, and helping the community complete projects faster through staff volunteering. “At one Twin Cities area organization, Rasmussen College volunteers were able to complete a six-week project in just a few hours,” said Hennessy.
Because of these potential benefits, Rasmussen developed a full Communications and HR plan for the PBC work prior to adoption, and identified leadership across the College to be a part of the PBC task force.
(Next page: Year-one initiatives; infographic)
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