Administrators reject independent office
By Colleen Pohlig
Emerald Associate Editor
University administrators rejected a pro
posal last week for an autonomous office
that would investigate and decide discipli
nary actions in cases of discrimination
' ASM) President Bobby I.ee informally pro
posed that an office, separate from the Uni
versity's Office of Affirmative Action, be
established to conduct investigations because
a "conflict of interest" exists in the current
structure of the affirmative action office.
Currently, the office handles investiga
tions and data collecting on compliance for
federal purposes and maintains affirmative
action plans. Lee said although the office
deals with discrimination cases from stu
dents and others, it must also protect the
"reputation or liability of the institution."
Leo said he wants the Office of Affirmative
Action to continue its current duties How
ever. the new office would conduct investi
gations instead of the affirmative action office
An office that is separate from the Univer
sity and is not under the adiuoiisti atioa \
control isn't likely to he biased. Lee said.
l he proposal was triggered by hist Decem
ber's findings In a federal auditor of deti
ciencies in the University's affirmative
action programs. Lee said
The auditor found eight areas of noncom
pliance with federal low and recently
entered into a conciliation agreement with
the University to begin working on the areas
lit addition to the separate office. Lee said
the ASUO wants affirmative action respon
sibilities recentralised so students and the
University can make the most of those
trained specifically in the areas of affirma
tive action.
Last year. Brand decentralized the Office
of Affirmative Action, doling out affirmative
action responsibilities to vice presidents,
deans and department heads
One of the benefits of decentralizing the
office. Brand said, is affirmative action
responsibilities are spread out among the
institution.
"If affirmative action is centralized, them's
a tendency for people to say. It's not tn\
problem.’ and treat it ns a side issue. Brand
said. "The goal is to have as many people
as possible responsible for it We want our
deans and department heads to be response
hie for hiring as well "
The idea of centralizing affirmative a< tion
duties is an outdated one. Brand said, and
this is the reason why Lee's proposal was
denied
This is an old model that is outdated lor
»|vj. Ijnit'nrcijv^ r*M() l! (ifJVS!) *! \VOfk," ilriiOfi
said. "We need to stop talking about pro< ess
and start talking about progress ”
Judging bv the eight deficient areas the
federal auditor found, l.ee said he ImiLevies
the University's affirmative action programs
aren't working bet ouse the responsibilities
are spread among people who don’t have the
training or the tune to be efficient
Alison Baker, Brand's executive assistant,
said the lac k of training of the two vie e pres
idents who decide and make the discipli
nary decisions in discrimination cases is
irrelevant
Baker said the two vice presidents, Dan
Williams and Norm Wessells. have had "fa< •>
to-face advice" from the affirmative action
office staff and have had legal counsel.
"(The vice presidents) know, as well as
any sensible administrator, what sexual
harassment and other forms of discrimina
tion are." Baker said "One doesn’t have to
ro< eive training — one reads and listens
Formal complaints involving discriminn
tion cases, which are filed w ith the Of fit e
of Affirmative At tion. proceed through an
extensive investigation
The investigative findings then go to ihe
Affirmative Action Adininislrntion ('.oiiiu.il.
whii h consists of sis t Jniversilv off'ii nils
The council reviews the findings and
makes recommendations to the two vice
presidents, who then decide if It is indeed .1
disc rmiination v ml.ition II .1 \ iolation vvas
found, the appropriate vice president will
then iiei ide on disi ipimary a« tion
Lee said he won’t he satisfied until the
nffii e is rei entralized to > over sui li things as
data collet ting and training and until there
is a separate offn e formed to handle investi
gations and disi iplnntrv decisions
We'll never he aide to complv and pro
vide a tan- grievante prot edure to students
until we have a neutral body that enforces
investigations and due pro< ess. ' I
VIOLATIONS
Continued from Page 1
we will do. and we'll be in com
pliance."
The internal procedures that
need to be improved include
better data collection of affirma
tive action plans, the implemen
tation of the internal audit and
reporting system, and measuring
the effectiveness of the total pro
gram.
Also, the University must
establish policies that give the
diverse campus groups and indi
viduals a structured procedure
to access affirmative action sup
port and activities.
In a mandatory departmental
work force analysis given to the
OFCCP prior to the audit, the
University lumped all teaching
faculty into one group The
OF( O’ told the University that
the procedure, which was used
in the 1981 analysis prior to the
first audit, was a violation.
The grouping of loat hing fat -
ulty in one group prevents any
meaningful analysis of distribu
tion by rank, according to the
conciliation agreement.
Lee, whose ret ent proposal for
restructuring the affirmative
action office was refused by the
administration, said the failure
to designate between the various
jot> titles was intentional.
"The work force analysis was
manipulated by the University
to show everything was fair and
balanced," Lee sai,d "That is a
sign of lack of integrity, and I
question the University's i otn
mitment to the spirit of affirmu
tlve a! lion equal opportunity "
Affirmative action Director
Kverett Wells, who was not at
the University a year ago when
the analysis was written, denied
that it was intentional He said
the people responsible for
preparing the analysis probably
didn't realize they should avoid
aggregating the Job groups
Another violation said the
University failed to adequately
communicate to departmental
supervisors its obligations
The agreement says that with
in 45 days, the University must
submit specific action programs
tiiat will he implemented to
ensure equal opportunity to
those applii iiuts and employees
with disabilities,
As part of the < (mediation
agreement, a mentor program
through the provost's office is in
the works that would support
and counsel women with
respect to tenure. Brand said
The University must sub
mit a results-oriented program
plan designed to promote
women faculty.
The conciliation agreement is
not an admission by the Univer
sity of any of the violations.
Wells said
"If we admitted (the viola
tions), we'd lie in court forever."
Wells said, "We're not admitting
these things, but to get it under
way, we entered into the com il
lation agreement.”
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