I had the pleasure of speaking with Robert Sternberg, the Dean of Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences this morning. Lured from Yale University he is chartered with - among other things - assisting the Tufts admissions team with the enhancement of the existing admissions process.

In 2007 those who apply for admission to Tufts will be introduced to an application process that includes assessing the candidate´s creativity and practical skills. Arguing that current college admissions tests are too narrow, the intent of the new assessment tests he says, "is to find the best students and send a message that these things really matter." The things are valuable yet are not - but should be - weighted in the admissions process according to Dean Sternberg.

Based on the success of a similar initiative at Yale University- and soon to be presented in the journal Intelligence - "...assessing creativity and practical skills can improve the prediction of freshman performance." This type of assessment helps uncover those applicants with unique skills that have been proven to be essential for success in the everyday world. Furthermore, this new approach presents colleges with a new pool of highly qualified applicants.

And how does this relate to workforce acquisition? Diversity in the workplace (cognitive, social, gender, ethnic, etc.) is well documented as a primary contributor to corporate success. Assessment initiatives should look to inclusion as an objective as much as they look to exclusion.

There is a large pool of freshman (aka job seekers) that would love to contribute to your firm´s success. Whom will you include today?

Tomorrow´s blog: Words of wisdom from a VP of HR