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Employer Policy: Handshake Employer and Position Approval

Augustana College provides Handshake, an online career platform, as an exclusive service to students and recent alumni, as well as employers seeking to hire Augustana students and recent graduates for career-related jobs or internships in addition to part-time, on-campus student employment, and volunteer positions.

Employers who have been granted access to Handshake at Augustana College have the ability to:

  • Post career-related jobs, internships, part-time, on-campus student employment, and volunteer positions
  • Post career-related events
  • Request and manage on campus interviews
  • Connect directly to qualified Augustana students and recent alumni within five years of graduation
  • Access and manage employer account information

The following guidelines have been developed to further a mutually beneficial relationship for employers and for Augustana College students and recent alumni.

Employer guidelines for use

Augustana College adheres to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Principles for Professional Practice as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines. By creating an account on Handshake, the employer agrees to abide by NACE and EEOC standards as well as the guidelines set forth by Augustana College. Failure to abide by these standards and guidelines may result in discontinuation of access to Handshake.

Augustana College adheres to these guidelines in order to ensure the quality of our services and reserves the right to modify these guidelines at any time. All decisions regarding services provided via Handshake are made at the sole discretion of the college, and Augustana College reserves the right to remove any accounts and/or postings from Handshake at any time.

Employers must be in good standing with Augustana College. Complaints received by Augustana College at any time regarding unethical work practices or treatment of students and/or recent alumni by an employer will be investigated and may result in discontinuation of access.

Employers must include sufficient information in their account or on their website for Augustana College to determine if the types of roles that will be posted by the organization are in line with the posting guidelines.

Employers may contact students for recruiting/employment purposes only.  The selling or soliciting of goods and/or services to students via Handshake or via information found on Handshake is not allowed.  Student contact that is deemed unprofessional by Augustana College will not be tolerated and the offending employer may be permanently blocked from usage. 

Furthermore, employers who indiscriminately post numerous jobs in the system with no consideration for Augustana College’s posting guidelines may be deactivated.

To be eligible for approval, employer accounts and position postings must be complete.

All employer accounts must include:

  • Verifiable contact information with at least one point of contact within the organization
  • A clear and complete company description
  • An email address that matches the domain of the organization’s website
  • An active website
  • A verifiable physical address

Posting requirements for career-related jobs must:

  • Target majors, programs, and interests of Augustana College students
  • Include a clear and complete job description
  • Include the location of the position

Posting requirements for internships must:

  • Target majors, programs, and interests of Augustana College students
  • Include a clear and complete job description
  • Include the location of the position
  • If unpaid, meet the criteria from the Department of Labor’s Test for Unpaid Interns and Students

Posting requirements for part-time jobs must:

  • Offer hours, schedule, and a location suitable for an Augustana College student
  • Include a clear and complete job description
  • Include the location of the position
  • Be a paid position

Posting requirements for volunteer positions must:

  • Offer hours, schedule, and a location suitable for an Augustana College student
  • Include a clear and complete job description
  • Include the location of the position

Employer accounts and position postings not eligible for approval include:

  • Employers offering services in direct conflict with Augustana College’s mission
  • Employer profiles that contain spelling or grammatical errors or are otherwise unprofessional
  • Organizations that charge fees for participation or placement including out-of-pocket financial expenses and test taking, etc.
  • Organizations offering opportunities to participate in research studies or contests
  • Commission-based positions that do not clearly note the compensation arrangement in the job posting.
  • Multi-level marketing (MLM) organizations (also called pyramid selling, network marketing, and referral marketing organizations) where the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products/services, while the earnings of the participants is derived from a pyramid-shaped commission system.
  • Third-party recruiters/staffing agencies that do not comply with the below conditions:
    • All staff associated with the Handshake account must self-disclose their status as a third-party recruiter.
    • Include the identity of the employer being represented and the nature of the relationship between the agency and the employer in the job posting, and permit Career Development to verify this information by contacting the named client.
    • Charge no fees to the candidate.
    • In accord with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), release candidate information provided by the university exclusively and only to the identified employer. Re-disclosure of candidate information is not permitted.
    • Comply with all federal and state Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws (Title VI and IX, and ADA) and all other Augustana College policies.
  • Organizations that primarily offer positions that are not in line with posting guidelines, including but not limited to:
    • Graduate and professional school programs
    • Teaching English abroad programs
    • Any personal service-oriented jobs for individuals rather than organizations such as baby-sitting and nanny/au pair Agencies, pet-sitting/dog walking, house-sitting, etc.
    • Acting or modeling agencies
  • Employer accounts eligible on a case-by-case basis:
    • Camps not affiliated with the Lutheran Church
    • Tutoring firms
    • Personal assistant
    • Third-party recruiting firms/temp agencies

Right of refusal

Augustana College reserves the right to terminate from or refuse the participation of any organization in one or all recruiting activities. Reasons may include misrepresentation, complaints by students/recent alumni or violation of Augustana College’s recruiting policies. Furthermore, we reserve the right to deny organizations access to one or all recruiting activities that are in direct conflict with Augustana College’s mission. All decisions concerning registration of companies and organizations are made in the college’s sole discretion.