Friday, Oct6ber 10, 105

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

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Fridoy, October 10, 1975 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five


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Guidelines

of

firmative
Student

Action

Program

for

Graduate

ssistants

at

The

University

of

ichigan

PREPARED BY THE FAIR PRACTICES COMMITTEE OF THE GRADUATE

EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATION (GEO) SEPTEMBER,

1975

a


Introduction, Fair Practices Committee:
The following guidelines of an affirmative action program for Graduate
Student Assistants were presented to the University on Monday, October 6. A
union grievance was filed against the University on 5 September 1975 charging
it with o lack of good faith effort to have implemented by 1 September 1975 on
affirmative action program for GSA's pursuant to the provision in GEO's contract,
The proposed remedy for resolving the grievance was to present a program to the
University by 1 October 1975 and to have the University accept it by 15 October
1975. The grievance was denied.
Only days before the deadline for the scheduled implementation of the
program, Vice President for Academic Affairs Frank H. T. Rhodes announced the
formation of a Task Force to set goals for GSA's. The union's interpretation of
the Vice President's appointment of the Task Force and of his charge to it (a
reported in the U-Record) was that it represented a "blatant stalling tactic."That
Vice President Rhodes would characterize the task of preparing an affirmative
action program for GSA's as "complicated" seemed consistent with the Univer-
sity's well-recognized approach to affirmative action.
Several relevant auestions concerning the 'complication" of affirmative
action come to mind: How "complicated" was it. for example, for the executive
officers of the University to find a highly aualifed and respected block female to
serve as Director of Affirmative Action Programs for the University when it was
in their interest to do so? Or, again, how "complicated' was it to find three hiahly
aualified employees, all female to prepare a response to the latest Affirmative
Action Proaress Report? Or. finally, how "complicated" was it for the Vice Presi-
dent to find a highly gualiifed black male to serve as Chairman of the Task Force
he appointed?
The point is this: As long as the University hesitates to make every Good
faith effort to imolement affirmative action and instead approaches it as a problem
to be deliberated on rather than as an opportunity to end the centuries-old dis-
crimination aaoinst the degradation of minorities and women in employment, it
will continue to embroil itself in needless controversv and dissension.
GEO welcomes this opportunity to once again express its commitment to
affirmative action and to present to the University community its proposal for an
effective program for GSA's. While it is specifically designed for araduate em-
plovees, the procedures outlined here have a wide range of applicability in all
spheres of University employment.

Affirmative Action-Results

The most important measure of an affirmative action program is its
results.

Extensive efforts to develop procedures, analyses, data collection, re-
port forms, and fine written policy statements are meaningless unless the
end product will be MEASURABLE, TERM-BY-TERM IMPROVEMENT IN
THE HIRING OF MINORITIES AND WOMEN AS GRADUATE STUDENT
ASSISTANTS.
The only realistic basis for evaluating a program to incrase oppor-
tunity for minorities and women is its actual impact upon these persons.
The essence of the Affirmative Action Program for Graduate Student
Assistants should be:
a Establish strong University policy and commitment.
! Assign responsibility and authority to top University officer, i.e., the
Director of Affirmative Action Programs.
Analyze present work force to identify jobs, departments, and units
where minorities and women are underutilized.
Set specific, measurable, attainable hiring goals, with term-by-term
target dates, in each area of underutilization.
! Make every departmental or unit chairperson responsible and ac-
countable for helping to meet these goals.
a Re-evaluate job descriptions and hiring criteria to assure that they
reflect actual job needs.
" Find minorities and women who are appropriately qualified to fill
goals.
* Review and revise all employment procedures to assure that they do
not have discriminatory effect and that they help attain goals.
a Develop systems to monitor and measure progress regularly. If re-
sults are not satisfactory to meet goals, find out why, and make
necessary changes..
L Affirmation of Policy
The University of Michigan affirms its policy that discrimination on the
basis of race, color, religions, national orign, sex, ancestry, sexual prefer-
ence, handicap, or age will not be practiced in any of its activities. Further-
more, where past or present discrimination continues to have an adverse ef-
fect upon members of minority groups and women, the University will take
affirmative action to eliminate that effect.
In addition, the University must intensify its concern and devote its
professional competence to the elimination of conditions from which discrim-
ination springs. The University accepts a leadership responsibility in the
solving of problems that now impede the broad applications of the basic ideal
of equality in human relationships. The University will continuously search
for appropriate ways and means to make the most effective and the most en-
during contribution to the achievement of equality.
The University has a continuing commitment to these basic goals:
* The analysis of current practices and policies and the adoption of
new or revised practices and policies when necessary to insure the
establishment of equal opportunity and affirmative action in gradu-
ate student assistant employment.
* The elimination of any practice and the correction of any individual
inequity that perpetuates or results from discrimination against
minority groups or women.
* The utilization of women and minority group members as graduate
student assistants in all fields in proportion to their proportion in
the availability pool.
! Development of recruitment programs to increase the proportion of
minorities and women in graduate and professional programs in pro-
portion to their percentage in the population.
* Changing the University's image so that it becomes known as a place
that makes a special effort to hire minorities and women.
The University of Michigan acknowledges that its provision of equal oppor-
tunity in a general atmosphere of non-discrimination has not eliminated the
general under-representation of minority and female employees as graduate
assistants. The following affirmative action plan is basic outline of the posi-
tive steps to be undertaken in order to increase the number of minority and
female GSAs at the University and to insure effective implementation of the
University's policy and its commitments under Executive Orders no. 11246
and no. 11375.
11. Responsibility for Implenting the Program
The Director of Affirmative Action Pror#ms for the University will
be responsible for implementing University-wide the program for Graduate
Student Assistants outlined here. The specific responsibilities of the Director

Affirmative Action Rally
Coalition to Support GEO Affirmative Action
SPEAKERS -
EUNICE BURNS, Chairperson-Univ. Commission on
Women
NANCY CONKLIN, President,, GEO
BAZEL ALLEN, Co-Chairperson, GEO Fair Practices
Committee
DEBBIE GOODMAN, President,, SGC
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Chairperson, Commis. for Minorities
AUBREY VERDUN, Black Law Students' Alliance
JAMIE CHAIN, Chicano Social Work Students
SHIRLEY HATCHETT, Asso. of Black Sociology Students
ALFREDO CANELES,, Chicano and Boricas in Education
GAIL RESNICK, Women's Program Coordinator
PARKER WOO, East Wind
JOYCE DELANO, AFSCME ocal 1583
Today, Oct. 10-DIAG at Noon
should include the following:
" Publicizing the program.
" Directing the collection and analysis of data.
" Setting goals and timetables.
" Monitoring internal audit and reporting systems to measure program
effectiveness.
" Serving as liason between University, governmental regulatory agen-
cies, minority and women's organizations, and other community
groups concerned with the effective implementation of affirmative
action programs.
" Disseminating legal information affecting the status of the Affirma-
tive Action Program for Graduate Student Assistants to depart-
ments and units.
* Creating an Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, with member-
ship including minority and women Graduate Student Assistants, to
provide two-way communication and suggestions on various aspects
of the program.
" Recommending to appropriaite University authority sanctions to be
taken against those departments or units which fail to make good
faith efforts to implement the program.
Ill. Publicizing the Program
A. INTERNAL PUBLICIZING
All deans, departmental or unit chairpersons, and other individups in-
volved in the implementation of the Affirmative Action Program for Gradu-
ate Student Assistants should, be fully informed by the following:
" Written communication rom the President.
" Inclusion of the program and all policy statements related to its im-
plementation in all University operations manuals.
" Special meetings held regularly to discuss the program, and their in-
dividual responsibilities and to review progress..
All employees should be fully informed by the following:
" University policy statement on bulletin boards, especially in the
Graduate School, the Colleges, and departments or units.
" On all re-application forms for continuing employment.
* Publicity in University newsletters and publications.
" Notices in pay envelopes.
" Inclusion of policy in employee handbooks.
" Articles and pictures in University publications featuring minority
and women employees as Graduate Student Assistants.
" Meetings with minority and women employees to request their sug-
gestions in the continuous development of the program.
" Presentation and discussion of the program as part of employee ori-
entation sessions.
* Copies of the affirmative action policy statement and summary of
key program elements provided to employees.
B. EXTERNAL PUBLICIZING
All University brochures and advertisements used to recruit potential
Graduate Student Assistants should include a personal statement by the
President affirming the University's policy on equal employment opportunity
and affirmative action.
Special efforts should be made to see that all brochures and advertise-
ments are plentifully supplied to University offices and organizations specifi-
cally involved with minorities and women, e.g., the Affirmative Action Of-
fice, the Commission on Minorities, the Commission on Women, the Center
for the Continuing Education of Women, the Center for Afro-American and
African Studies, the Women's Studies Program, the Offices of the Chicano
Advocate, the Native American Advocate, the Black Advocate; and all or-
ganizations listed in the University's Office of Student Services publication
Minorities at Michigan.
All application forms from the Graduate School sent to prospective stu-
dents requesting an application for financial assistance, when such financial
assistance would normally include consideration of a prospective student for
a Graduate Student Assistantship, should contain the above-mentioned state-
ment by the President and a statement by the Dean of the Graduate School
on the commitment of the Graduate School to the Affirmative Action Pro-
gram for Graduate Student Assistants.
All appropriate application forms should include the following state-
ment:
"The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Ac-
tion employer. The University attempts to achieve its Affirmative Ac-
tion goals via all new hires and promotions."
IV. Survey and Analysis

A. GUIDELINES
Data shall be collected for Terms I, II, III, IIIA, and IIS. The data
shall indicate, by DEPARTMENT AND HIRING UNIT, the following infor-
mation:
* the number and percentage of graduate students in each availability,
by race, sex, citizenship/immigrant status.

" the number and percentage of graduate student assistants (GSAs)
by job title (RA, TA, SA), race, sex, and citizenship/immigrant
status.
* the number of FTEs and percentage of FTEs allocated to GSAs by
job title, race, sex, and citizenship/immigrant status.
" the appointment fractions of GSAs by job titles, race, sex, citizen-
ship/immigrant status.
" the salary range by job titles, appointment fractions, race, sex, cit-
izenship/immigrant status.
* the length of prior GSA appointments (cumulative) by job titles,
race, sex, citizenship/immigrant status.
" the number of GSAs by job title, course level, race, sex, citizenship/
immigrant status.
" the number of GSAs terminated by race, sex, citizenship/immigrant
status within job titles.
* the number of applicants by race, sex, citizenship/immigrant status
within job titles.
The racial or ethnic breakdown shall be consistent with the information re-
quested in the Graduate School Admissions form (1975), as follows:
" American Indian/Native American.
* Black/Afro-American.
" Chicano/Mexican American.
* Asian/Asian American.
" Puerto Rican/Boricua.
" Other Spanish Surnamed (please specify).
* White/Caucasian.
* Other (please specify).
Each department or unit shall keep adequate race and sex records of em-
ployees and graduate students in the availability pool. Race or ethnic data
are inadequate if they do not conform to the breakdowns specified above. In
addition, within each group, the data must show breakdown by sex.
Furthermore, each department or unit must keep adequate citizenship/
immigrant status records of employees and graduate students in the avail-
ability pool. Graduate student employees on temporary student visas must be
separated in the data from graduate students and employees holding U.S.
citizenship or permanent U.S. resident status (immigrant visa). University
records indicate that over a third of graduate student minorities are not U.S.
citizens.
To enable the adequate collection of such data, for affirmative'action
purposes, the University shall request of each graduate student in the avail-
ability pool and of each GSA, race, sex, and citizenship/immigrant status in-
formation. Such information should be requested of all current students, as
well as of newly admitted students.
The workforce data must be broken down by job title (GSTA, GSRA,
GSSA). The OFCC "Format for Development of an Affirmative Action Plan
by Institutions of Higher Education" (August, 1975) requires that research
and teaching assistant jobs be listed separately.
The data must be compiled and analyzed promptly each Term or Half-
Term, as the case may be, in time to affect hiring decisions for the following
Term or Half-Term.
All data must be retained on line file or magnetic tape for a period of
at least 3 years after compilation.
As more data becomes available, term by term, the University shall
compare current Term's data with data from past terms, as well as make
projections of-future availability and workforce levels. This comparison and
projections should be reported to departments or hiring units (see Section
V.A.).
The OFCC August 1975 "Format" suggests that "for faculty positions
not requiring a Ph.D., surveys of female and minority college graduates,
with and/or without advanced degrees should be reviewed." The University,
therefore, shall collect and monitor national data on baccalaureates entering
graduate schools in order to allow analysis of the supply of graduate
students.
The University shall maintain an Applicant Flow Record, at the depart-
ment or unit level. See Section VI.B.
B. DETERMINATION OF UNDER-UTILIZATION
Under-utilization is defined as having fewer minorities or women in a
particular job category than would reasonably be expected by their presence
in the relevant labor market. It also means employing persons in jobs that
do not make adequate use of their skills and training.
The following are examples of underutilization.
" When the proportion of women or of a minority group in the avail-
ability pool exceeds the proportion of women or of that minority
group hired as GSAs in a department or unit.
" When the proportion of women or of a minority group among teach-
ing assistants in a department or unit exceeds the proportion of
women or of a minority group among research assistants from the
same hiring or academic department.
" When the proportion of women or of a minority group who are
hired to teach/staff lower division courses exceeds the proportion
of women or of a minority group who are hired to teach/staff upper
division courses in a department or unit.
Other examples of under-utilization include, but are not liimted to,
situations where minorities and/or women hold on the average smaller ap-
pointment fractions than non-minority males or where minorities and women
are given proportionately fewer resources (FTEs) than non-minority males
in a department or unit.
Where one minority group is under-utilized, under-utilization cannot be
overcome through the hiring of minority persons not of that minority group.
V. Goals and Timetables
A. DISSEMINATION OF DATA
Each departmental or unit chairperson and the chairperson of the
committee in charge of hiring decisions (for example, financial aid com-
mittees) will be notified immedately of the results of the term's data collec-
tions, as will the union. The committee in charge of hiring, wih the help of
the departmental chairperson and the admissions committee, will formulate
long-term goals and immediate goals.

The data for the department and statements of long-term and immedi-
ae goals will be publicized within the department. If changes in depart-
mental employment practices are necessary because under-utilization exists,
then required changes will also be publicized. This statement should be
accompanied by a statement by the department or unit chairperson and
the chairperson of the hiring committee of commitment to reaching goals
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