RUSO COMPLIANCE REMINDER
DESIGNATION AND CONTACT INFORMATION
of
PERSONNEL RESPONSIBLE FOR
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION and HARASSMENT COMPLIANCE
Issue Date: April 19, 2011
Name of Laws: Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Oklahoma Personnel Act, as well as other legislation dealing with discrimination and harassment for categorically protected students and personnel.
Synopsis: University handbooks, including student, employee, and faculty must include a statement of non-discrimination and the identification by name or title, work address and work telephone number of personnel responsible for handling discrimination and retaliation complaints.
University policies regarding discrimination/harassment and the procedures thereby for negating discrimination/harassment, should also include the relevant information for current contact information.
Policy/Assurances: Federal and State policy in this area are aimed toward assuring citizens that through proscribed procedures, employees, students, or others who are affected by entities that receive federal funds will be protected from prohibited discrimination/harassment. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to provide clear, updated contact information of the employee(s) charged with fulfilling the procedures.
Required Reports: N/A
Record-keeping Requirements: N/A
Compliance: The Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education (OCR) enforces several Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance from the Department of Education:
Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin;
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination;
Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability;
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of age.
Areas impacted may include but are not limited to admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student treatment and services, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, recreation, physical education, athletics, housing and employment.
The OCR recognizes that there are
variations among the regulations governing notice requirements and understands
that universities may wish to use one statement to comply with all requirements
of the regulations. OCR encourages one combined notice for the regulations.
A combined non-discrimination notice should contain two basic elements: (1) a statement of non-discrimination that specifies the basis for non-discrimination; and (2) identification by name or title, work address, and work telephone number of the employee or employees responsible for coordinating the compliance efforts.
The regulations do not require that a university identify the pertinent regulations by title in the notice.
Although the Section 504 and Title IX regulations state that schools and colleges, where appropriate, shall specify non-discrimination in the areas of admission and employment, a general statement indicating non-discrimination in all programs is acceptable.
Sample Notice of Non-discrimination
The following sample notice of non-discrimination meets the minimum requirements of the regulations enforced by OCR:
The (Name of University) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, genetic information, or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:
Name and/or Title
Work Address
Work Telephone Number
Notifications: A public notification of nondiscriminatory hiring practices should be published annually. Beyond this, employees, students and faculty should be notified of policy changes, including, but not limited to, change in contact information for compliance officers (or the term used by the university) at the earliest possible convenience. Handbooks that do not currently identify this information should be amended and posted as soon as possible.
Designate Employee: Employee or employees responsible for receiving discrimination and harassment complaints should be designated by the university in university policy and their contact information (including name or title, work address, and work telephone number) should be included in all pertinent publications.