AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAM
ACTION ORIENTED PROGRAMS
EFFECTIVE DATES: March 1, 2010 – February 28, 2011
ADOPTED BY: President James Gaudino and President’s Cabinet
AUTHORITY: 41 CFR § 60-2.17 (b)
Central Washington University (CWU) remains committed to reaching its affirmative action
goals, and it continues to use a variety of action oriented programs designed to achieve these
goals. Consultations regarding affirmative action goals and strategies occur regularly among the
president’s cabinet, Office for Equal Opportunity, Department of Human Resources, deans,
directors, and search committees.
The university shows its commitment for affirmative action in the broadest sense through goal
VI in the 2006-2011 CWU Strategic Plan: Build inclusive and diverse campus communities that
promote intellectual inquiry and encourage civility, mutual respect, and cooperation. Each
division of the university (academic affairs, business and financial affairs, university relations,
student affairs and enrollment management, and the president’s office) supports this strategic
goal through divisional goals and strategies.
INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES
Inclusiveness Initiative: President Gaudino has initiated the CWU Inclusiveness Initiative (II).
Describing Central Washington University as a “diverse, student-centered school where we
pride ourselves on building the lives of our students...,” the President’s goal is to ensure that
students get the best education possible education while having a truly remarkable college
experience. To do this, CWU must “make students our priority, never losing sight of their reason
for being here” and “providing a university experience which produces well-rounded, educated,
and capable graduates.” Dr. Gaudino has asked the university community to be “collectively
and individually committed to creating a university which treasures differences and provides
opportunities for all of us to learn from these differences.” The first step, a short survey
designed to assess perceptions of the general experience at CWU has been completed and is
being analyzed. A task force has been established. Strategies for further data collection and to
address issues identified in the survey will be identified and implemented over the next year.
Advisory Groups: The president is evaluating the effectiveness of CWU’s three advisory bodies
related to inclusiveness: The President’s External Diversity Council, the CWU (internal) Diversity
Council and the Native American Advisory Council. The Inclusiveness Task Force, the results of
the initial II survey, further data collection, and conversations with interested individuals and
groups will help to shape these groups in the future.
President Gaudino is committed to maintaining and enhancing the university’s relationships
with Native American tribes. He visited the Yakama Tribe in October 2009, the Colvilles in
February 2010, and has plans to visit the Umatilla in the spring of 2010.
Education and communication: Education and communication are integral to the success of our
affirmative action program. The Human Resources Department provides advice and counsel to
Central Washington University
Page 1
appointing authorities and search committees on a variety of topics, including: how to ensure
equal opportunity in reorganizations and promotions, how to formulate position qualifications
that will attract large and diverse applicant pools, and how to identify effective recruitment
resources. The director of the Office for Equal Opportunity meets annually with division heads,
deans, department chairs, and directors to share affirmative action goals and, together with the
AVPHR/designee, discusses methods for recruiting and hiring diverse pools of applicants. These
dialogues educate appointing authorities and search committees on the implications their
decisions have on our equal opportunity/affirmative action commitments.
Because of the current Washington State and the national economic situation, it is anticipated
that minimal recruitment and hiring activity will occur during the 2010-2011 affirmative action
plan reporting period. The success of the recruitment and hiring processes that are conducted
will be critical to the success of our affirmative action program.
Recruitment and Hiring Policies and Procedures: In early 2009, President Gaudino established
an ad hoc committee to review current hiring policies and procedures, solicit input from the
university community about the adequacy and fairness of the search and hiring processes, and
review any concerns that are raised in relation to our written policies and procedures. Revisions
were recommended by the President’s Advisory Council on January 6, 2010. Future work
includes consideration of policies and procedures related to non-tenure track faculty.
Data Collection and Analysis: CWU will continue to work on data collection and analysis
including personnel actions (especially terminations and promotions), and, compensation data.
By December 31, 2010, the following will be accomplished through collaboration between the
Office for Equal Opportunity and the Human Resources Department:
• Assess data collection procedures and identify modifications needed in order to provide:
o Annual promotion analysis; and,
o Annual retention analysis.
• Establish a system to produce quarterly reports of personnel actions for the president,
vice presidents, and hiring managers that includes:
o workforce profiles and utilization analysis,
o adverse impact analysis, and,
o summary data on hiring and termination activity (dashboard schematics).
RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES AND APPLICANT POOLS
Creating qualified and diverse applicant pools is the responsibility of all employees at Central
Washington University. Appointing authorities, members of search committees, and other
employees have an impact on the people who apply for and accept positions.
Anticipated tight economic times in the foreseeable future will reduce the number of searches
for vacant positions. Other organizations and institutions will be in the same position. Those
organizations that attract larger pools of qualified applicants will be able to be more selective in
their hiring decisions and will increase the quality of their workforce, both generally and in
comparison to other institutions. Only through broad-based recruitment using a variety of
recruitment methods can CWU ensure large, qualified pools of applicants. Qualified pools are
essential to achieving a diversified workforce.
Central Washington University
Page 2
Recruitment activities are employed to attract a large pool of qualified applicants. Recruitment
activities can be used to encourage applicants for specific positions or to increase the general
image that potential applicants have about an organization. CWU hopes to attract applicants
through job postings and brochures about CWU and the Kittitas Valley that provide detailed
information and describe the university’s attributes. Recruitment tools must be crafted to
address both active and passive job seekers.
A review of recruitment practices and applicant pools in 2008-2009 revealed that in 17.11%
(13/76) of searches, there were no applicants for affected groups where a goal existed.
Additionally, in 32.89% of the searches, applicants from affected groups were
underrepresented. To remedy the situation, the university will continue to develop and adopt
strategies to increase the number of applications from members of affected groups.
Action oriented programs to address underrepresentation of affected group members in
applicant pools include (administrative responsibility in parentheses):

Applicant Flow Information:
o Review applicant flow data to determine whether applicant pools contain sufficient
numbers of affected group members in relation to their availability. Departments
and appointing authorities may discontinue searches or expand recruitment efforts
when searches do not produce sufficient numbers of female and/or minority
applicants (president, vice presidents, appointing authorities, and search
committees).

Position Descriptions:
o Analyze position descriptions to ensure that they accurately reflect position
functions and qualifications (supervisor, appointing authority, and Human Resources
Department).
o Review position descriptions to insure that all qualifications are job related
(appointing authorities, search committees, and Human Resources Department).
o Explore alternative inclusive language, particularly for faculty positions. For
example, rather than “women and minorities are encouraged to apply,” some
institutions use the following: “The search committee/appointing authority is
especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their
research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic
community.”

Recruitment measures:
o
Initiate aggressive measures at the recruitment stage to produce adequate numbers
of underrepresented groups in the applicant pool (search committees and
appointing authorities). Use a variety of mechanisms to increase numbers of
affected group applicants:

Contact referral organizations and conduct community outreach (appointing
authorities and search committees);

Network with other diversity recruiters (Office for Equal Opportunity and
Human Resources Department);
Central Washington University
Page 3


Announce position openings at jobs.cwu.edu, campus intranet and in the
Central/Today! (Human Resources Department);

Encourage employees who are affected group members to refer applicants
(search committees);

Send job announcements to agencies and/or institutions that may elicit
affected group applicants (search committees);

Post announcements on various websites and list serves (search committees
and Human Resources Department);

Utilize professional publications and organizations whose readership or
membership is diverse (appointing authorities and search committees).
Job applicants from Yakima and Kittitas Counties:
o
Enhance efforts to attract job applicants from Yakima and Kittitas Counties. There
has been a decline in the number of applicants for positions within the clerical,
general maintenance, custodial, and food services job groups. Efforts will be
focused on Yakima County where the population is significantly more diverse than
the general Ellensburg area. Strategies might include creating links with minority
groups, exploring increased and different modes of recruitment, and utilizing
current minority employees to gain information and connect with their represented
group. The university will also consider taking steps to increase the number of
internal applicants by identifying internal candidates, meeting them to encourage
interest, identifying promotional requirements, determining and supporting
employees in meeting these requirements, and monitoring and encouraging their
progress.
PRELIMINARY SCREENING STAGE
The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures define adverse impact as a
“substantially different rate of selection in hiring . . . which works to the disadvantage of
members of a race, sex, or ethnic group.” Adverse impact looks at the consequences of hiring
practices, rather than intent.
An adverse impact analysis for hiring activity at Central Washington University during the
reporting period suggested that adverse impact may have been present in less than six percent
of the cases.
CWU has a strong record of ensuring that position descriptions are crafted to reflect job
responsibilities. The Human Resources Department works with hiring managers and
search committees on a search-by-search basis. The following action programs are used
to address adverse impact at the preliminary screening stage (effective parties in
parentheses):
1) Analyze position descriptions to ensure that they accurately reflect position functions
(supervisor, appointing authority, and Human Resources Department).
Central Washington University
Page 4
2) Ensure that position qualifications do not constitute inadvertent discrimination (supervisor,
appointing authority, and Human Resources Department).
3) Train search committees in nondiscriminatory screening and selection practices (Human
Resources Department).
4) Review screening tools and selection criteria for faculty, exempt, and civil service searches
to ensure that they are not discriminatory and/or that they will not have an adverse impact
(Human Resources Department).
Determining which applicants are invited for interview involves both objective and subjective
selection criteria. Good ground work in the development of position descriptions, including
required and preferred qualifications, assures the institution that successful applicants are able
to perform position responsibilities. Making decisions about interviews often involves group
process and subjective analysis.
An adverse impact analysis has suggested that adverse impact may be present in more than 50%
of searches for affected group members at the interview stage.
INTERVIEW STAGE
Central Washington University has implemented several strategies to ensure that decisions
about applicants to be interviewed are made for defensible and non-discriminatory reasons
(effective authorities in parentheses):



Initiate aggressive measures at the recruitment stage to produce adequate numbers of
affected groups in the applicant pool, thereby increasing chances for a diverse group of
interviewees (search committees and appointing authorities).
Review rationales provided by search committees or appointing authorities when
interviewees are selected from among semi-finalists (Human Resources Department) to
ensure that the decisions are job-related and non-discriminatory.
Enhance interview climate for affected group members by requiring female and
minority representation on search committees (appointing authorities).
HIRING STAGE
The ultimate goal of any recruitment process is to hire qualified people that enhance the
university’s ability to complete its mission of educating students. Appointing authority and/or
search committee must examine the cumulative record for each interviewee to determine the
best candidate for hire. Search documentation is vital to this stage of the process.
An adverse impact analysis has suggested that adverse impact may be present in more than 50%
of searches for affected group members at the hiring stage.
Central Washington University employs the following strategies to address the possibilities of
adverse impact at the hiring stage (effective authorities in parentheses):
Central Washington University
Page 5



Require rationales from appointing authorities for all those interviewed but not hired
prior to the extension of an employment offer. Review rationales to determine whether
hiring decisions are job-related and non-discriminatory (Human Resources Department).
Ensure that search committee recommendations are not in rank order. This preserves
the accountability of the appointing authority, preserves a qualified slate of applicants
for the longest possible period, and allows for a range of candidate abilities and
directions for the appointment (president, vice presidents, appointing authorities,
search committees).
Evaluate administrators and appointing authorities on their affirmative action and equal
opportunity efforts (president, vice presidents and chief planning officer).
Central Washington University
Page 6