The Affirmative Action office serves all students, staff, and faculty at the University.

No. We are available to consult on issues of concern or just to listen. Contacts with our office are handled in a confidential manner.

The University, as a large institution with more than 4,000 employees and more than 12,000 students, does receive numerous reports each year alleging unfair treatment based on race, gender, disability, national origin, and other protected class membership. An individual alleging illegal discrimination has the responsibility to report the behavior and to provide sufficient evidence of illegal conduct to sustain a complaint of discrimination under either Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (employees), or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (students). The Affirmative Action office takes all complaints seriously and will conduct an independent fact finding investigation to determine if the complaint has merit.

A hostile work environment is one in which certain behaviors may be occurring that interfere with an individual's ability to work effectively. The behaviors may be verbal, physical or non-verbal, and may be hurtful to someone on the basis of gender, national origin, religion, race, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation. All employees have the right to work in an environment free from harassment. All supervisors and managers have the responsibility to ensure that work environments are free from harassment, and must take all complaints seriously.

As an employer, the University has an affirmative responsibility to ensure that all employees are made aware of their right to work in an environment free from harassment and recognize their responsibility to avoid engaging in verbal, non-verbal and physical behaviors that may constitute sexual harassment. In addition, the U.S. supreme Court has ruled that an employer may be held strictly liable in cases in which a supervisor did not properly respond to a report of possible harassment, or when a supervisor or individual in a position of power or authority over an employee or student has engaged in prohibited conduct. Sexual harassment illegal and prohibited conduct under NSHE and University policy.

Sexual harassment workshops are offered at least monthly in group settings. Department workshops may be scheduled for groups. The workshop schedule appears here on our web site and is distributed to all vice presidents, deans, directors, and department chairs. Call 1547 from a campus phone to register for a workshop.

The ADA is a federal law that is designed to assist individuals with disabilities obtain and retain employment. An employer must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Most accommodations are easily arranged and are not expensive to provide.

As a federal contractor, defined as any institution that receives more than $50,000 per year and has more than 50 employees, the University is required to comply with all regulations implementing equal opportunity and affirmative action in the University's hiring practices. This requires conducting good faith professional searches and classified employee recruitments to ensure that all qualified individuals are afforded equal opportunity to be considered for employment at the University.

No. Equal opportunity requires that all hiring practice be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner. Affirmative action, under Executive Order #11246 (1965) and other federal laws, requires that adequate outreach and recruitment efforts be made to attract qualified individuals in order to have a diverse applicant pool. Affirmative action also means ensuring that women and minority employees are afforded equal treatment in the workplace, including access to training and promotion opportunities.

• Receiving and processing complaints of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex/gender, age, disability, veteran status, and sexual orientation.
• Conducting campus-wide training programs on sexual harassment.
• Serving as a resource office in resolving employee-management conflict and information on University policies and procedures.
• Serving as liaison for the University with state and federal administrative agencies charged with responsibility for enforcing equal opportunity, affirmative action, and non-discrimination.