Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides:
No person in the United States shall, on
the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Sex, age and disability have since been added to the list of protected
classes.
The kinds of discrimination prohibited by WSU policy are those which
occur on the basis of race, sex, religion, age, color, creed, national
or ethnic origin; physical, mental or sensory disability; marital
status, sexual orientation, and status as a Vietnam-era or disabled
veteran.
All paid and volunteer employees are expected to make all reasonable
efforts to encourage protected classes to seek employment in Extension
and to participate in programs. This includes participation in 4-H
clubs, volunteer efforts and advisory committees. The minimum reasonable
effort includes ALL items listed as follows:
Creating
Awareness - Use of available mass media, including radio, newspaper,
and television, to inform potential recipients of extension programs
and of opportunity to participate; personal letters and circulars
addressed to defined potential recipients inviting them to participate,
including dates and places of meetings or other planned activities;
and personal visits by county extension staff to a representative
number of defined potential recipients in the geographically defined
area to encourage participation.
Assuring
Access - Appropriate selection of time and location for events;
making reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities;
preventing inappropriate pre-employment inquiries.
Providing
Utility - Offering programs and responsibilities of interest to
the targeted audience; using only bona fide occupational qualifications
to evaluate candidates.
Extension assistance
may be discontinued to those clubs which remain all one race, unless
it is established that all reasonable efforts have been made to
recruit individuals of racial groups present in the community but
not represented. In any such case, a record of efforts is required
to be retained for audit purposes.
Participation rosters, meeting notices and minutes, and documentation
of other efforts to encourage the participation of protected groups
should be kept on file for the three most recent years.
