USM Diversity Plan: 2003

Division of Human Resources

The Division of Human Resources prides itself on being an active and enthusiastic participant in USM's diversity initiatives. We see this as part of our mission as we endeavor to provide opportunities for all our employees to achieve their full potential in a climate that is both welcoming, and perhaps more importantly, sustaining of each person's unique contributions. We want to reflect these values in all aspects of our work, which includes general Human Resources administration, Benefits, Employee Education and Development, Employment Services, Labor Relations, and Payroll Services. We support the various services, programs and activities which enable USM to offer a quality work environment and to be an employer of choice.

GOAL I: Climate

USM continuously strives to make the climate a welcoming climate inclusive in its understanding and integration across multiple dimensions of diversity, including but not limited to, diversity based on race and ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, gender expression and identity, religion and class.

We will continue to foster an environment which ensures that every employee has access to human resources information and services and is made to feel welcome when meeting or speaking with staff in any of the Human Resources areas. We will continue to provide assistance to employees with disabilities or special needs such as interpretation services for the hearing impaired. We will continue to work closely with the ADA Coordinator to ensure that appropriate accommodations are provided to allow access to all our services.

For new employees whose first language in not English, we will make every effort to find interpreters for their Benefits orientation and for Welcome Matters

We will continue to reinforce our commitment to diversity by including USM's Non-Discrimination notice in our new employee benefits packets, in our Welcome Matters packets, as well as in brochures, newsletters, etc.

We have strengthened our Exit Interview process so that we may be informed if any employees are leaving because of perceived lack of support, insensitivity to diversity issues, or climate issues. If we learn this is the case, we contact and counsel appropriate supervisors to be sure they develop strategies to deal with these types of issues so they do not occur in the future.

We will contact the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity to work collaboratively with them to design training for departments that are losing employees due to perceived unequal treatment.

All of our programs will continue to provide educational, informational, and support services in an environment that actively values and respects differences.

We will continue to assure that all of our brochures, memos and oral presentations contain language that is welcoming. We periodically review all of our written materials as well as our oral presentations to ensure that they are current and contain no language that is biased or offensive.

All of our websites will be continually reviewed to ensure they are accessible to all individuals who utilize them.

All of our offices will continue to be a safe place for all employees, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, class, gender, disability, age, racial or ethnic background.

We will continue to assist employees in addressing issues of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This includes but is not limited to: counseling and providing resources for employees who feel that they are being discriminated against and/or harassed; facilitating communication when cultural and other differences are creating a barrier to effective work relationships and productivity; mediating conflicts between employees; assisting supervisors in implementing accommodations, and providing education about individual differences.

Each employee in the Division of Human Resources will be asked to attend Safe Zone training.

Employee Education and Development will continue to serve as the department to plan, develop and deliver various educational programs to inform our employees in various areas of diversity awareness.

We will continue to highlight issues of diversity in Welcome Matters, our new employee orientation program, including sexual harassment, diversity and multiculturalism, presented by the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity.

We will continually assess the campus climate to ensure that any issues emerging around diversity will be highlighted for discussion at Welcome Matters.

We will continue to work closely with the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity to develop and deliver new trainings, such as "Having Difficult Conversations," highlighting work with employees of diverse backgrounds and needs.

Two of the modules in the Supervisor Training Institute (STI) are dedicated to ensuring our supervisors offer a welcoming climate within their work groups. These modules include "Legal and Policy Issues I" and "Stereotyping and How it Impacts Communication in the Workplace." Part of that training includes case studies as well as role plays taken from actual incidents in our workplace.

We will continue to review our curriculum in our STI to ensure that our modules help prepare supervisors to recruit, hire, and retain employees of diverse backgrounds.

We will continue to work closely with various offices and Divisions in promotion and co-sponsorship of various programs/initiatives which strengthen and expand upon our diversity initiatives.

In our semi-annual employee newsletter, we will continue to promote programs sponsored by the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity.

We will continue to strongly reinforce the importance of supervisors engaging in Performance Management with their employees to ensure that all employees are aware of the importance of diversity, and that employees are engaged in a dialogue with their supervisors to discuss not only personal and departmental goals, but also USM's mission and overall goals of which diversity is such an integral part.

GOAL III: Student Recruitment and Retention

USM strives to increase the diversity of its student body through active outreach and recruitment. USM increasingly works to develop structures and mechanisms that support the retention of all students, particularly students of color and other underrepresented populations.

While the primary activities of this unit do not directly impact student recruitment and retention, we support and enhance the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty and staff. They contribute to a high quality, desirable workplace which in turn results in an enriched, highly rewarding learning environment for students.

GOAL IV: Faculty and Staff Recruitment and Retention

USM strives to increase the diversity of faculty and staff, particularly faculty and staff of color, but inclusive of other underrepresented populations as defined in Goal I.

Our various departments work in close cooperation with the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity in fulfilling the spirit and intent of the Diversity Plan, especially in the areas of recruitment, hiring, and retention.

We support the curriculum and academic experience through our work with our diverse faculty and staff, especially those international faculty and staff who need assistance in order to navigate the state, federal and international processes enabling them to live and teach in this country.

We will continue to place appropriate affirmative action statements on campus employment bulletin boards, in all position advertisements, and ensure they are prominently displayed on our jobs web site.

We will continue to ensure that whenever a new job description is developed or when a position is reclassified, language requiring diversity awareness is incorporated.

We will continue to limit search waivers so that all searches include maximum competitiveness.

We will continue to mandate that search committees consult with the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity at the earliest stage of search planning to discuss affirmative recruiting strategies.

We will continue to mandate that when one or more qualified protected-class candidates are known to be in the candidate pool, the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity will work with the search committee to provide added review.

We will continue to provide guidelines to search committees regarding inappropriate and potentially discriminatory interview questions which may not be posed to candidates.

We will continue to closely monitor proposed disciplinary actions to ensure there are no potentially discriminating bases for the action, and we will continue to refer to the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity any grievances alleging discrimination.

We will continually review search processes to ensure the most broadly based outreach possible and to ensure effective strategies to increase the diversity in our candidate pools.

We will through our efforts, and by continuing to work in close collaboration with the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity, increase the diversity of our workforce by increasing the numbers of employees in protected classes by 10% by 2006.

In order to assess employee satisfaction with the campus climate and employment conditions, an assessment instrument will be developed, disseminated, and tallied in cooperation with several other Divisions. The results will be used in planning for future programming and training initiatives.

We will develop a method to arrive at employee yearly retention rates to be used as one measure of success of the multiple efforts of all our departments in working with our employees.

Through all of these various strategies, the Division of Human Resources will continue to move forward in strengthening our current initiatives, and developing new ones as appropriate. We continue to work in a close partnership with the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity to ensure that all voices are heard, and that our employee group continues to grow more diverse. Further, it is one of our strongest imperatives that we not only hire staff reflecting greater diversity, but once a member of our USM community, that we help to provide a campus climate that supports and encourages their membership. This is a challenge that continues to be in the forefront of planning for both our short and long range goals.