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School has top five library science graduate degree program
The University of Michigan says it cannot find a qualified American to work as an assistant librarian and so it must hire a foreigner.
The taxpayer-funded university in Ann Arbor filed a Department of Labor application for a role that began this summer. The job runs through May 2029.
This position, as listed on the university human resources website, requires the basic responsibilities of “cataloging, searching, referencing, circulating, and acquisition” as well as some other duties.
A master’s degree in library science and prior experience in library work are listed as desirable qualifications, but are not requirements.
According to the Department of Labor, the purpose of the H-1B program is to help employers who “cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce” through permitting “temporary employment of qualified individuals.”
The College Fix reached out via email and phone calls to University of Michigan staffers, including the listed “immigration adviser” contact, Ugo Buzzi. None responded in the past month. The media relations team also did not respond to requests for comment about why the school could not fill the job with American workers and what steps, if any, it took to find a citizen.
The University of Michigan’s graduate program in library sciences is ranked fifth overall according to U.S. News & World Report.
An expert with the Cato Institute said the hiring of an assistant librarian fits with the purpose of the H-1B program.
David Bier said that “a librarian position would certainly qualify for an H-1B visa,” noting that “H-1B workers may be employed in jobs typically requiring a bachelor’s degree or above.”
He also said that these companies are seeking foreign hires “because they want to hire the most qualified person they find, and that will be an immigrant in many cases.”
But a former foreign service officer who has processed visa applications say this posting does not fit with the purpose of the program.
Mahvash Siddiqui said “an employer has to do their due diligence and advertise the position for a lengthy period of time in order to prove that they were not able to find an assistant librarian in the market.”
She now works for the Center for Immigration Studies but had an extensive career with the State Department.
She does not believe that the university had done their due diligence, since there are plenty of Americans “that are being pumped out of universities with Library Science majors.”
Siddiqui said this practice “is actually illegal and a violation of the labor laws.”
Concerning the wider issue of companies hiring foreign workers instead of Americans, she said that it’s “problematic” and that “we should be orienting ourselves toward America first.”
These universities could be hiring from within their systems, and she noted how they “receive a lot of federal funding and for them to not be soliciting these job openings to Americans first is problematic.”
The University of Michigan is not the only university to use the foreign worker visa program to hire for non-STEM jobs.
Purdue University filed an application to hire an assistant tennis coach under the same program, while the University of Notre Dame sought to hire an English professor.
MORE: Indiana U. fills 7 of 8 internal medicine slots with foreigners
