I. Equal Opportunity

It is the policy of Dickinson College to provide equal employment opportunity to all interested persons on a non-discriminatory basis. All decisions with respect to hiring, promotion, advancement, suspension, and termination will be based upon the foregoing statement and will apply to all facets of the Dickinson community in which the College exercises employment responsibility.  This policy of equal opportunity is based on, conforms to the terms of, and does not exceed the requirements of all applicable federal and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania statutes. It applies to all members of the Dickinson community, in every respect of employment policies and practices, and in all physical locations where the College exercises employment responsibility.

Dickinson College will provide for the prompt and impartial consideration of complaints through its Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Grievance Procedures. Copies of these procedures may be obtained from the office of the President of the College, HR Services , and the Affirmative Action Officer.

II. Affirmative Action

A. Definition and Purpose. Consistent with its policies of equal opportunity, Dickinson College has voluntarily adopted an Affirmative Action program designed to increase the representation of women and minorities among its professional and support service staff. Dickinson's Affirmative Action program does not conflict with its commitment to equal opportunity. Affirmative Action is understood as a systematic effort to increase the pool of job candidates by encouraging women and minorities to apply for positions at the College (or, in the case of people already at Dickinson, for promotions and reclassifications.) The choice of which candidate to hire, promote, or reassign will continue to be based upon merit and qualifications and will fall upon individuals regardless of race, gender, ethnic background or any other irrelevant consideration.

Dickinson believes that Affirmative Action strengthens the College as a place of learning. It enriches the variety of the academic and residential community, enlivens the character of the conversation among students and teachers and staff, and better prepares students for the realities of the society in which they will spend their professional lives.

B. Goals. The goal of  Dickinson's Affirmative Action policy is to increase the representation of women and minorities in various applicant pools up to levels consistent with their numbers in potential applicant populations.

1. In the case of faculty and academic professionals, the College wants to draw its new appointees from a field of applicants that reflects the presence of women and minorities in the national pool of persons qualified to assume appropriate positions at Dickinson.
2. Administrators will be drawn to the College from both national and local pools depending upon the character of their position and responsibilities. Applicants for Dickinson positions should mirror the demographic features of the qualified national or local population.
3. Support staff will be hired from the local population.  The College will seek to attract female and minority applicants equiproportional to their representation in the local work force.

C. Hiring Procedures.

1. Faculty and Academic Professionals. Routine procedures for conducting searches for faculty and academic professionals are described in the document, "Guidelines for Interviewing Candidates," which is distributed by the Dean of the College to the chairpersons of all search committees. Of special concern to the College's Affirmative Action program are the following:

a. A national search is obligatory for all full-time appointments of more than one year in duration. Temporary, full-time appointments lasting not more than one year may be filled after a local search. Where the press of time does not permit a formal search process, temporary appointments may occasionally be completed without searches.  The temporary appointee must be accorded no special advantage in the competition for the permanent position which, again, can be filled only after a national search.

b. The Affirmative Action Officer may consult with search committees and recommend to them strategies for attracting the applications of women and minorities.  These strategies could include the following:

• Advertising in publications designed for target groups (such as Black Issues in Higher Education);
• Soliciting applications from potential candidates listed in the minority faculty registers;
• Making telephone inquiries to graduate deans and department chairs who might know of appropriate candidates; if women or minority candidates are identified in this fashion, they should be called and encouraged to apply;
• Contacting any women's or minority caucus within the discipline that may steer the search committee toward qualified women and minority candidates;
• Inviting additionally a woman or minority candidate to campus for an interview if none is represented among the 2-3 candidates identified by the search committee for its short list.

c. The Affirmative Action Officer will monitor search processes to see that committees give full, equal, and fair attention to the applications of women and minorities.  If women or minorities have applied for a position, the Affirmative Action Officer may require explanation for a search committee's decision not to include them in a list of candidates to be invited to campus for interviews.

d. All position advertisements must be scrutinized and approved by the Affirmative Action Officer before distribution; these advertisements will note that Dickinson College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

e. The chairpersons of search committees must keep a record of applications received from women and minorities.  If women and minority candidates are dropped from the list of applicants under consideration, the record must show why this was done.  At the end of a search process, a statistical summary of the hiring process including the information on the exclusion of women and minority candidates from consideration will be submitted to the Affirmative Action Officer on forms supplied by the committee.

2. Administrators

a. Searches will be undertaken to fill full-time administrative positions in accordance with practices established within each division of the College.  The search may be either national or local depending upon the nature of the position to be filled. At the discretion of the President, administrative appointments may be made through the transfer or promotion of a current College employee without a national search.

b. As with searches for faculty and academic professionals, the Affirmative Action Officer may consult with search committees and recommend to them strategies for attracting the applications of women and minorities.

c. The Affirmative Action Officer will monitor search processes to see that committees give full, equal, and fair attention to the applications of women and minorities. If women and minorities have applied for a position, the Affirmative Action Officer may require explanation for a search committee's decision not to include them in a short list of candidates to be invited to campus for interviews.

d. All administrative position announcements will be scrutinized and approved by the Affirmative Action Officer before distribution.  These advertisements will note that Dickinson College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

e. The Chairpersons of search committees must keep a record of applications received from women and minorities. If women and minority candidates are dropped from a list of applicants under consideration, the record must show why this was done. At the end of the search process, a statistical summary of the hiring process including information on the elimination of women and minority candidates from consideration will be submitted to the Affirmative Action Officer on forms supplied by the committee.

3. Support Staff. Procedures for hiring support staff are described in the document "Service Support Employment Procedures" distributed by HR Services to guide the departments seeking new employees. Of special concern to the Affirmative Action effort are the following provisions:

a. HR Services and the department head will share responsibility for developing strategies that attract female and minority applicants. They will ensure that when advertising for traditionally male-dominated positions they explicitly invite females to apply. All advertisements for position openings will note that Dickinson College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

b. HR Services will monitor staff support hiring processes to see that full and fair consideration is given female and minority applicants. If female or minority applicants have applied for a position in which these people are significantly under-represented, their exclusion from a short list of final candidates may require explanation.

c. A statistical summary of the hiring process will be maintained by HR Services and submitted to the Affirmative Action Officer.

III. College Contractors and Suppliers.

Dickinson will establish procedures to assure that major contractors and suppliers submit written evidence of their own commitment to equal employment practices.

IV. Grievance Procedures.

The College has established grievance procedures designed specifically to address complaints of discrimination.  Dickinson employees may seek recourse to these procedures without fear of penalty or retaliation. Copies of the procedures are available from the office of the President, HR Services, and the Affirmative Action Officer.

V. Responsibility for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.

The responsibility for assuring the Affirmative Action Plan's implementation rests with the President who delegates day-to-day operations to the Affirmative Action Officer.  The Affirmative Action Officer is assisted by an Affirmative Action Committee with members appointed by the President. The Affirmative Action Committee is responsible for disseminating the Affirmative Action Plan, for monitoring its effectiveness, for recommending changes in the plan, and for suggesting to the President methods for improving College employment practices and policies.

VI. Dissemination of Policies.

Copies of this policy will be distributed to all current employees upon its adoption. New employees will be provided a copy of the policy when hired. Additional copies may be obtained from the office of the President of the College, HR Services, and the Affirmative Action Officer.

Copies of this policy will be posted in locations frequented by College employees. It will also appear in the various handbooks describing conditions of employment for faculty/academic professionals, administrators, and support staff.