The topics listed below are provided as a stimulus to Extension County Directors to fulfill the responsibility to provide orientation and training to faculty and staff in the area of civil rights.

The Extension County Director has responsibility to assist new faculty and staff to become aware of the organizations commitment and expectations relative to civil rights. Additionally, the Extension County Director is expected to help new employees become acquainted with the population groups to be served. Some topics to address in the initial weeks of employment include:

• County demographics and protected class group structure
• Civil rights section of Administrative Handbook
• Protected classes: What are they?
• Public notification requirements
• Documentation of effort

  • Meeting rosters
  • Mailing lists
  • WEMIS contact data
  • Program promotion strategy plans
  • News release copy
  • Camp enrollments
  • Organizations' verification of compliance

The Extension County Director is responsible for giving leadership to planning and conducting training for all faculty and staff in the county. Some topics may be appropriately taught by others. All faculty and staff should have the opportunity to give leadership for selected topics. Community or university resource persons may also be called upon to present information and teach skills. Some topics which can assist faculty and staff to be effective include:

* Established and emerging leadership among protected classes
* Changing demography and implications for civil rights compliance
* Advisory committee representation: How to assure participation
* Building and maintaining mailing lists of protected class groups
* Social structure or communication modes of a specific protected class group
* Getting acquainted with protected class neighborhoods, media, and organizations

Note: All of the orientation topics are appropriate to be addressed periodically with faculty and staff though they may have been resident to the county for some time.

All WSU Extension faculty and staff have a responsibility to comply with the letter and spirit of civil rights laws, regulations, and procedures.

The Extension County Director has very specific responsibility for providing leadership to equal opportunity and affirmative action in both employment and programs.

The Extension County Director is expected to carry out tasks in three basic areas.

I. Program Development

A. Model for and stimulate among faculty and staff affirming attitudes and behaviors toward protected classes. Encourage and reward efforts made to carry out programming with audiences targeted in the county civil rights plan.

B. Assure appropriate minority representation on all county advisory committees and task forces. Provide orientation to all committee members to assure awareness of civil rights compliance requirements and familiarity with assigned tasks necessary to succeed in the appointed position.

C. If selected for civil rights review, serve as internal review team leader. Involve all faculty and staff in the preparation of requested information and coordinate with the external review team leader for on-site visitation. Involve all faculty and staff in preparing a plan to implement the recommendations for improvement.

II. Counseling/Training

A. Provide orientation and training to each employee to assure understanding of the organizational commitment and procedures to assure compliance to civil rights requirements. This training should take place within the first two months of employment and periodically thereafter. Issues related to the full implementation of civil rights should be raised regularly and frequently at staff meetings. Assist faculty to set affirmative action performance goals as part of the annual appraisal process.

B. Monitor the demographic characteristics and social structure of the county and alert faculty and staff to ethnic/racial populations and the leadership therein. Introduce new faculty to key leadership among minority populations.

C. Advise faculty and staff that inappropriate remarks and behaviors are not acceptable if and when they occur. If such actions persist after counsel, report the problem to the district director or the affirmative action coordinator.

D. When faculty, staff, volunteers, or clients are participating in screening and interviewing activities, provide instruction about allowed/disallowed preemployment inquiries (See Section 5.5).

III. Accountability

A. Develop and keep current a plan to assure compliance. All faculty should be involved in the development and implementation of the plan. County advisory committees should contribute to and review the operative county plan.

B. Establish and maintain a central file which includes policy and procedure documents, county plans and reports, meeting rosters, mailing lists, enrollment records, and other documentation of efforts and impacts and compliance verification. This file should be situated in the office complex so it is easily accessible to all faculty and staff. All faculty and staff should be made aware of the location and contents of the file. Faculty should be advised what documents should be submitted to the central file.

C. Annually prepare a county civil rights accomplishment report for submission to the director's office. Secure county faculty inputs for the reports for specific program areas. The final report should be reviewed by the county advisory committee and discussed with county commissioners/executives and the county faculty and staff.

Civil Rights are the freedoms and rights that a person may have as a member of a community, state, or nation. Civil rights include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. The right to receive fair and equal treatment from government, another person, and private groups. The United States Constitution, state constitutions and many laws protect the civil rights of individuals and groups.

The strongest law enacted to protect civil rights of individuals and groups is the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans discrimination because of a person's color, race, national origin, religion, or sex. The act primarily protects the rights of minorities and women. The Civil Rights Act also forbids discrimination by any program that receives money from the federal government.

Civil rights laws generally set forth specific procedures for assuring inclusion. To protect the rights of groups that suffered discrimination in the past, e.g., minorities and women, the federal government enacted laws designed to assure rights for these groups. For example, federal contractors are required by regulations to develop employment plans that identify steps to prevent future discrimination and correct past and current inequities. Regulations also generally call for identification of and access to evidence documenting that required steps were completed.

Who Are The Protected Classes?

All persons are afforded equal protection under the laws of the nation and state. Discrimination by public and private entities is prohibited against certain categories such as race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability. Some civil rights regulations may afford certain affected classes, groups that have suffered from past discrimination, specific safeguards under civil rights laws and regulations. These safeguards are typically known as federal affirmative action programs. Affirmative action provides for specific programs to be developed to counteract past discrimination by giving particularized help to affected groups. Typical programs included aggressive outreach and recruiting and special training programs.

Federal and state legislation and some state executive orders prohibit discrimination against:

• Women
• Racial/ethnic minorities
• Persons age 40 and above
• Disabled persons
• Veterans
• Vietnam-era veterans
• Disabled veterans
• Religion
• Marital status
• Sexual orientation

In both employment and programs, special efforts (affirmative action) must be taken to include these groups.