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Affirmative Action PLan
December 2005
Policy Statement
Washington County Community College has a responsibility to all
citizens in Eastern Maine to set an example and to assume a
leadership role in providing non-discriminatory policies and
practices for its personnel and students. No discrimination,
overt or otherwise, on the grounds of race, color, religion,
disability, sex, age, marital status or national origin will
exist in any area of the College.
The College has made great strides in ensuring equal opportunity for
the populations we serve. Women now comprise approximately 50 percent
of the student body, a significant increase from a few short years ago.
Native American population is the highest of Maine’s Community Colleges
and represents 10-20 percent of our enrollment each year. While we can
be proud of the progress we have made, there is still work to be done.
Despite our efforts, the College has not experienced enough success in
attracting people into programs considered nontraditional for their
gender. In order to encourage diversity, WCCC will continue to focus
on efforts in this area and provide opportunities for other
special populations to access programming and services.
The Affirmative Action Committee of WCCC has
been assigned the responsibility for monitoring compliance with the
College’s Affirmative Action Plan. The Committee will have access to
all recruiting, selection, employment, training and promotion information,
as well as student recruitment and selection information. The Affirmative
Action officer will also maintain records to ensure that the Affirmative
Action plan is implemented.
As President of WCCC, I am personally committed to the goals of equal
employment and educational opportunity for all populations that we serve.
Please join with me in supporting the College’s Affirmative Action plan and
goals.
William H. Cassidy
President
Nondiscrimination Statement
Washington County Community College does not discriminate on the basis of
race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and
activities. Inquiries about the College’s compliance with and policies that
prohibit discrimination on, these bases may be directed to:
Joseph Cassidy, Affirmative Action Officer
Washington County Community College
One College Drive
Calais, ME 04619
Ph: (207) 454-144
Fax: (207) 454-1026
Ph: (207) 454-1076
Fax: (207) 454-1017
bbarrett@wccc.me.edu
United States Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
33 Arch Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02110
Ph: (617) 289-0111
Fax: (617) 289-0150
TTY/TDD: (617) 289-0063
OCR.Boston@ed.gov
www.ed.gov
Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC)
51 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0051
Ph: (207) 624-6050
Fax: (207) 624-6063
TTY/TDD: (207) 624-6064
www.state.me.us
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
475 Government Center
Boston, MA 02203
Toll-Free: 1-800-669-4000
Ph: (617) 565-3200
Fax: (617) 565-3196
TTY: (617) 565-3204 or 1.800.669.6820
www.eeoc.gov
Washington County Community College does not discriminate on the basis of
sexual preference or marital, parental, or veterans
status. Inquiries about the College’s policies
that prohibit discrimination on these bases may
be directed to the Affirmative Action Officer
or MHRC identified above.
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Statement of Intent
The intent of this plan is equality of treatment for all
in employment and educational opportunities, thus
increasing materially the utilization of women
and minority group persons at all levels and in
all segments of the WCCC work force and student
body.
ARTICLE I. Kinds of Discrimination Prohibited
A. Policies affecting Primary Terms of Employment
- 1. There shall be no disparity of treatment or effect
in employment, job placement, or promotion, or other benefits on the basis
of race, creed, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital
status, disability or veteran status.
B. WCCC will maintain applicant flow data, which shall
include the name of the applicant, the job applied for, the date of the
application, sex, race and application.
- 1. Recruitment of Faculty and Administration Personnel:
a. It is the policy of WCCC to encourage promotion and transfer within the
organization. All Community College employees will be notified of vacancies
in advance of outside recruitment.
b. Notification of professional vacancies should be sent to the following:
- 1. Maine Department of Human Resources, Augusta, ME
- 2. Maine Employment Security Commission, Calais, ME
- 3. Lay Press: Bangor Daily News, Portland Sunday Telegram, Calais Advertiser, Quoddy Tides, Machias Valley News
- 4. University of Maine placement offices and private colleges, where applicable
- 5. Association of University of Women, University of Maine, Presque Isle.
- 6. NAACP, Central Maine Branch, 283 Court St., Lewiston, ME
- 7. Passamaquoddy Tribal Government, Pleasant Point and Indian Township
- 8. Penobscot Tribal Government, Indian Island
- 9. Maliseet Tribal Government, Houlton
- 10. Mi’kmaq Tribal Government, Presque Isle
- 2. Nepotism—The following is the Maine Community College System Policy:
a. No member(s) of the immediate family of any administrator or department
head of the Maine Community College System shall be hired for employment
under his/her administration at said institutions, except upon
recommendation of the MCCS.
- 1. Candidates shall not be prohibited from
appointment on the basis of their relationship with current
employees of the MCCS. However, no employee of the MCCS may
supervise or participate in employment, grievance, retention,
promotion, salary, leave or other personnel decisions concerning
members of his or her immediate family.
Reference: MCCS Personnel Policies and Employee
Relations, Section 410.
b. Immediate family is defined as: spouse, siblings, parents, sisters,
brothers, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews,
cousins and in-laws.
- 3. Fringe Benefits
a. WCCC will provide for all employees the fringe benefits of the Maine
Community College System without discrimination.
b. WCCC will grant maternity leaves in accordance with the following MCCS
policy for classified employees.
- 1. Employees may utilize their allowance of sick
leave on the basis of application therefore and approval by their
appointing authorities, or may be granted sick leave without pay.
c. WCCC will grant maternity leaves in accordance with the following MCCS
policy for unclassified employees:
- 1. Maternity leave shall be granted without pay
unless the individual elects to utilize accrued sick leave for this
purpose.
d. Policies Affecting Other Areas of Concern:
- 1. There shall be no disparity of treatment
or effect in all other matters concerning the College community on
the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, marital status or
national origin.
- 2. Admission procedures and practices shall be reviewed annually
by the Dean of Students to ensure non-discriminatory treatment of
applicants and to encourage enrollment of women and minority persons.
- 3. Students of the other sex shall be encouraged to enter studies
traditionally dominated by one sex.
- 4. The College will continue to develop programs
for disadvantaged students and to provide financial aid to all such
students.
- 5. There shall be no discrimination in matters of
job counseling, placement or recruitment.
- 6. WCCC literature shall be regularly examined
for the purpose of eliminating bias in accordance with WCCC
publication guidelines.
- 7. The bylaws of WCCC student decision-making
groups will be examined regularly for the purpose of eliminating bias.
- 8. There shall be no limitation of access to
residence or to participation in educational, athletic, social,
cultural or other activities of the College because of race, color,
religion, disability, age, sex, parental, marital status or
national origin. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons
with disability conditions.
- 9. There shall be no harassment based on race,
color, religion, age, sex, marital status, disability or national
origin.
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ARTICLE II. Affirmative Action Committee
A. The Affirmative Action Committee (hereafter called AAC) shall include
at least (3) males and (3) female employees. The Affirmative Action
Officer shall chair the committee.
B. The duties and procedures of the AAC are as follows:
- 1. The AAC shall conduct annual reviews of the
operations of the WCCC campus and shall identify policies, practices,
patterns of behavior, or individual acts which may reflect discrimination
as defined in this document, and report it to President.
- 2. The AAC, after appropriately notifying the President, may review the
operations of the College to identify policies or practices, which may
reflect discrimination. Upon formal written request, the AAC will have
access to any and all records necessary for carrying out such reviews.
To the maximum extent, consistent with the purposes of this procedure,
the confidentiality of personal records and the principle of privileged
communicator shall be respected by the AAC and all privileged personnel.
- 3. The AAC may refer complaints to appropriate outside agencies for
investigation. The AAC shall maintain a public record of such referrals
and actions taken by the agencies to which referred.
- 4. A complaint may be filed with any member of the AAC or other employee
of the college, who shall refer it without delay to the Affirmative
Action Officer.
- 5. If policies, practices, patterns of behavior, or individual acts which
the AAC has ruled to be discriminatory are not corrected without delay,
the AAC shall initiate action through the President to the appropriate
State body.
C. The formal WCCC Grievance Procedure is as follows:
- 1.Within ten working days of alleged violation,
a verbal grievance may be filed with the party or with the supervisor
of the party to the alleged violation.
- 2. If still unsatisfied, the grievant may file a verbal grievance with
Affirmative Action Officer.
- 3. If still unsatisfied, the grievant may, within ten working days, file a
written grievance with the AAC. The AAC will initiate an investigation
and submit its findings to the President or his/her designee. The President
has five working days to act.
- 4. If still unsatisfied, the grievant may request the AAC to refer
him/her to appropriate outside agency.
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ARTICLE III. Compliance and Implementation
A. The President of WCCC bears the primary responsibility for Affirmative
Action.
B. The AAC, who will be responsible directly to the President, will be
assigned the responsibility for implementing and monitoring compliance
with the campus Affirmative Action Plan. The chairperson of the AAC will
also serve as campus Title IX coordinator.
C. Provisions shall be made for continued monitoring, reporting and
enforcing these policies and procedures.
D. To facilitate review procedures by the AAC and ensure continued
compliance with the Affirmative Action Plan, complete and uniform
records will be kept.
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ARTICLE IV. Compliance and Implementation
A. All present employees and new employees when hired will be provided
with a copy of the Affirmative Action Plan for WCCC.
B. All employees have the right to review the Plan at any time and
discuss any problems with the AAC.
C. Students will be made aware WCCC has an Affirmative Action Plan
through the Student Handbook and through the student orientation program.
D. A copy of the Affirmative Action Plan will be provided to the Dorm
Council and Student Senate.
E. It shall be the responsibility of any WCCC employee to promptly report
any violation of this policy to the Affirmative Action Committee.
Educational Opportunities
Males and females are encouraged to apply for all programs at WCCC. Particular
emphasis is placed on recruiting females for traditionally male courses of
study. Administration and faculty use a variety of recruiting techniques
to encourage the above. Some visitation is made to high schools and career
nights in selected regions of the state. Oral presentations have been made to
students to emphasize opportunities for males and females since 1978. The
WCCC recruiting publications have promoted participation in nontraditional
programs through visual description.
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