Staff Handbook

(Adopted by the Campus Council, 1983; amended, 1991. University of Arkansas Affirmative Action Plan and various state and federal laws and executive orders; Governor's Policy Directive #8; AHRMS Policy Manual 125, 132, 140, 200-1.6, Act 653 of 2003)

The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and to a program of affirmative action, in compliance with state and federal laws and executive orders prohibiting discrimination in employment and in the provision of educational programs and activities. In 1983, the Campus Council adopted a statement about discrimination which was amended in 1991:

The Campus Council of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, does not condone discriminatory treatment of students or staff on the basis of age, disability, ethnic origin, marital status, race, religious commitment, sex, or sexual orientation in any of the activities conducted upon this campus. Members of the faculty are requested to be sensitive to this issue when, for example, presenting lecture material, assigning seating within the classroom, selecting groups for laboratory experiments, and assigning student work. The University faculty, administration, and staff are committed to providing an equal educational opportunity to all students.

The University's Affirmative Action Plan includes the following policy statement:

It is the policy of the University of Arkansas to provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, veteran's status, or disability, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program of affirmative action.

This policy will be followed in recruiting, hiring, determination of pay, promotions, University-sponsored training programs, transfers, layoffs, returns from layoff, demotions, terminations, social and recreational programs, use of University facilities, fringe benefits, and treatment as individuals. It is to be implemented throughout the campus and is the responsibility of all departments and all personnel, supervisory and non-supervisory. Compliance with this policy shall be monitored by the Office of Affirmative Action.

In the vocabulary of equal employment opportunity, affirmative action signifies a positive, continuing, result-oriented program developed by an employer to assure meaningful employment opportunities to all segments of the community and more specifically to minority group members, women, and others who have been discriminated against in the past. It contrasts with simple non-discrimination which implies a more passive observance of equal opportunity. The concept of affirmative action assumes that discrimination in employment is likely to be a structural problem built into policies and practices which on the surface do not appear to be discriminatory, but which in fact have created barriers to employment and promotion for women and minority groups. The Affirmative Action Plan sets forth specific result-oriented procedures to which the University commits itself in order to overcome such institutional barriers to equal employment opportunity. It also establishes an organizational structure for developing future goals and procedures and for assuring that all efforts are made to meet these goals on an on-going basis.

The University commits itself to a policy of equal employment opportunity and to a program of affirmative action not solely because of legal requirements, but because it believes that such practices are basic to human dignity.

Further information about the University's affirmative action programs and about state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination is available in the Office of Affirmative Action.