“Affirmative Action or Diversity Inclusion: Does My
University Know the Difference?”
Sponsored by Higher Education
Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
Introductions
Moderator:
Megan Strachan, SoCal HERC
Coordinator
Presenter:
Eddie Freeman, Executive Director
Employment & Equal Opportunity
Services, University of Texas at Arlington
and North Texas HERC Director
What is Affirmative Action?
Affirmative action is the good faith obligation all federal
contractors have to abide by equal opportunity policy.
Affirmative Action requires organizations to actively
promote equal opportunity and eliminate discrimination.
What is Affirmative Action?
The purpose of affirmative action is to establish fair access
to employment opportunities and to create a work
community that is an accurate reflection of the
demographics of the qualified workforce.
Affirmative action does not mandate “quotas” or extending
preferences to any individual based on race, color, religion,
gender, or national origin.
What is Affirmative Action?
What is sought in the idea of affirmative action is
essentially the revision of standards and practices to
ensure that institutions are in fact drawing from the
largest marketplace of human resources in staffing
their faculties and a critical review of appointment
and advancement criteria to ensure that they do not
inadvertently foreclose consideration of the bestqualified persons by untested presuppositions which
operate to exclude women and minorities.
Isn’t diversity just a new form of
EEO and affirmative action?
EEO and Affirmative Action are legally mandated requirements
to address the representation of minorities and women.
Managing diversity focuses on maximizing opportunities for all
employees to contribute to business success.
What is Diversity ?
 Diversity is about all of the differences each of
us bring to the university or colleges that we
serve.
 It refers to race, gender, language, culture and
also mean differences in thinking styles,
perspective, sexual orientation, religion and
more.
Why Diversity is Important
 A diverse faculty helps universities
recruit top minority students
 Provides students with mentors and
role models
 Provides different perspectives and
experiences
What Does Most Universities
Think
Many colleges and universities share a
common belief, born of experience, that
diversity in their student bodies, faculties,
and staff is important for them to fulfill
their primary mission: providing a quality
education.
What Does the Corporate
World Think
Studies consistently show that diversity drives
innovation and fosters creativity. In a Forbes
survey, 85 percent of respondents said
diversity is crucial for their businesses, and
approximately 75 percent indicated that their
companies will put more focus during the next
three years to leverage diversity to achieve
their business goals.
What is Inclusion?
The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with
diversity—in people, in the curriculum, in the cocurriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social,
cultural, geographical) with which individuals might
connect—in ways that increase one’s awareness, content
knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic
understanding of the complex ways individuals interact
within systems and institutions” (AAC&U, 2009, ¶ 3).
When I hear someone say Diversity and
Inclusion do they mean Affirmative Action?
No, Affirmative Action as the law and Diversity & Inclusion as
strategic—getting the best talent from wherever it may be and
ensuring it is diverse, representing the talent pool and the
marketplace and our communities…
Have we moved away from affirmative action into
diversity and inclusion because of political
correctness and majority offense?
AA as the law and Diversity & Inclusion as strategic—getting
the best talent from wherever it may be and ensuring it is
diverse, representing the talent pool and the marketplace and
our communities…
Internal messaging is important. I talk about facts—diversity
is a fact in the world. Are we tapping into it? Are we creating
the leaders we need to make us successful now and lead us
into the future?
Have we moved away from affirmative action into
diversity and inclusion because of political
correctness and majority offense?
Diversity examines human and organizational similarities and
differences. I don't think one replaces the other. I do believe
that if an organization truly understands what diversity is and
develops and executes a strategy to drive diversity and hold
leaders accountable, Affirmative Action is not needed to
enforce diversity.
How does knowing the difference
help my University?
It changes your approach in recruiting and
retaining a diverse student, faculty, and staff
while also intentionally and actively creating a
specific set of opportunities to use this diversity
to enhance learning and performance for the
entire campus community.
What is an Affirmative Action Plan?
The Affirmative Action Plan is designed to identify areas of
under-representation by minority groups so the underrepresentation can be remedied.
Contains statistical and narrative information that helps
the University:
Analyze workforce
Access possible underutilization
Develop a plan of action to eliminate underutilization
Make good faith effort to execute plan
Key Elements of the AAP
INSPECTION OF THIS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
PLAN
PERSONS COVERED BY THIS AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION PLAN
INVITATION TO SELF-IDENTIFY
POLICY STATEMENT
INTERNAL DISSEMINATION OF POLICY
EXTERNAL DISSEMINATION OF POLICY,
OUTREACH AND POSITIVE RECRUITMENT
RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION
TRAINING OF PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN
SELECTION
REVIEW OF PERSONNEL
PROCESSES
PROPER CONSIDERATION OF
QUALIFICATIONS
REVIEW OF PHYSICAL AND
MENTAL QUALIFICATIONS
REASONABLE
ACCOMMODATIONS
HARASSMENT
MANDATORY JOB LISTING
AUDIT AND REPORTING SYSTEM
OTHER MATTERS
How does creating an Affirmative
Action plan help or hurt?
How does creating an Affirmative
Action plan help or hurt?
 It is one way to monitor your progress in hiring
and retaining a diverse faculty, and staff
 It allows you to target areas that are deficient
or that don’t meet expectations
 Identify barriers to achieving goals
What is my University/College’s
role in implementing the plan?
Ensure a Diverse Workforce
Recruitment and Retention
Compliance Responsibility
Internal Operation
Ensure Equal Treatment
Disciplinary Action
Selection Procedure
Questions?