When Kraig Paulsen announced plans to resign as Iowa House speaker and not seek re-election in 2016, he indicated he would continue to work as an in-house attorney for the trucking company CRST International Inc.

News broke last week that Paulsen has landed a high-paying position at Iowa State University’s College of Business. University officials waived a policy requiring such jobs to be advertised when they offered Paulsen the job, Vanessa Miller reported for the Cedar Rapids Gazette on November 6.

Iowa State University announced Paulsen’s new role in a November 5 press release. Excerpt:

Iowa State University’s College of Business will launch a Supply Chain Initiative to better engage corporate partners with research, experiential learning opportunities for students, and educational outreach opportunities for faculty and staff.

The initiative will be led by Kraig Paulsen, state representative from Hiawatha and outgoing speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, and an accomplished professional in supply chain operations and management. Paulsen will begin working to launch the initiative on a part-time basis, beginning January 4, 2016, and move to full-time work once the 2016 Iowa legislative session has ended.

“We’re extremely excited to have someone with Kraig’s expertise help to launch this initiative,” said College of Business Dean David Spalding. “He has developed strong relationships with corporate and government partners, both locally and nationally, and we look forward to leveraging his experience in supply chain management, business law, and leadership.”

Paulsen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Iowa State University; an MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; and a JD from the University of Iowa College of Law. He currently serves as corporate counsel for CRST International, Inc., one of the nation’s largest transportation companies. […]

Supply chain management – the coordination and movement of products from their creation to the customer – is the heart and soul of any business, and a signature program in Iowa State’s business college.

Miller did some digging into Paulsen’s new job. She found that his $135,000 annual salary “puts him in the university’s highest pay grade” and that the position was never advertised, despite an Iowa State policy that says “professional and scientific positions at the higher pay grade must be advertised nationally for at least 30 days.” ISU spokesman John McCarroll told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that it was “seen as appropriate” not to open the position to other applicants because Paulsen’s “skills and experiences are considered a perfect fit for the College of Business initiative. […] His hire resulted from mutual interest and conversations about what the college wants to accomplish.”

I don’t think one can know whether a hand-picked candidate is a “perfect fit” without giving other potentially qualified people a chance to apply for the job, but Iowa State officials had no doubts. More from Miller’s article:

Exceptions to the policy [on advertising such positions] can be granted by the president based on a prior written request that is endorsed by a vice president and reviewed by the director of equal opportunity. Typically, according to the policy, such requests are based on “documented evidence that qualified candidates are unlikely to be available through an open search, or that an extended search would risk negating an opportunity to hire a member of an underrepresented group.”

Rob Schweers, communications director for ISU’s Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost, said in an email that a vice presidential request to waive the advertising requirement did occur in Paulsen’s case. It was approved by the Division of Academic Affairs and the Equal Opportunity Office, according to Schweers, who cited a rationale that “even if we had conducted a search, we would not likely have found a more qualified candidate.”

“Through this role and his professional experiences, he has developed strong relationships with corporate partners across the state,” according to the rationale that was submitted to get around advertising the position. “Through an open recruitment process, we would not get anyone of the caliber as Kraig.”

No doubt Paulsen’s work in the Iowa House helped forge “strong relationships with corporate partners across the state.” Heaven knows he and his caucus often carried water for business interests.

Miller also noted that Iowa Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter “has been among Paulsen’s top 10 donors over the years, giving at least $85,000 to the ‘Paulsen for State House’ committee since 2012 — even when he was running unopposed.”

In addition, Rastetter has given hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2008 to the Team Iowa PAC, which has supported numerous Republican candidates for the legislature. A search on the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board website revealed that GOP candidates for Iowa Senate (still controlled by Democrats) received much more help from that PAC than did candidates for the House, where Paulsen’s caucus has been in the majority since 2011.