Equal Employment Opportunity

Effective Date: 06/01/95
Revised: 3/1/99, 2/2000
 
Purpose:
To establish and define the College policy concerning fair employment practices and to ensure equal employment opportunity to all College employees and applicants for employment.
 
Policy:
Centenary College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, age, marital status, disability, or sexual orientation, in the administration of its educational policies, recruitment or admission of students, scholarship, grant or loan programs, athletic or other College-administered programs, employment procedures, training programs, promotion policies or other related personnel practices.
 
Recruitment for regular staff positions shall be based on an open and public search process. Appropriate efforts shall be made to encourage the candidacy of members of racial and ethnic minorities, women, and members of other groups which are underrepresented in the College staff. A search committee representing a diversity of campus participants shall be appointed to review applications and nominations for positions and make recommendations to the hiring officer. The Finance & Administration Office shall be responsible for ensuring that these guidelines are followed.
 
The College prohibits any retaliatory action against an employee for opposing a practice which he/she believes to be discriminatory, including the filing of an internal grievance or a charge with a state or federal civil rights enforcement agency.
 
Last updated 19 July 2000
 

Sexual Harassment

Effective Date: 06/01/95
Revised: 10/1/99, 2/2000
 
Purpose:
To establish and define Centenary College's policy concerning sexual harassment and to ensure an environment which prohibits such practice.
 
Policy:
Centenary College seeks to cultivate a spirit of community in which each individual may participate without fear of intimidation. The College does not tolerate capricious discrimination in any form.* All employees and students are urged to avoid any action or conduct, which might be construed as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as follows:
 
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a requirement of employment or participation in an academic program or activity, (2) submission or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment or academic decisions affecting such individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working, academic or campus environment.
 
Any behavior deemed to be sexual harassment by a member of the staff or faculty shall be reported directly to the aggrieved party's supervisor (immediate or higher, or in cases where the supervisor is the alleged harasser, to the Dean of the College or College President); a student shall report to the Dean of Students or the Assistant Dean of Students. (Hereafter, the individual who receives the information from the complainant will be referred to as the facilitator.) After consultation with the facilitator, the matter of alleged harassment shall be pursued further following the sequence outlined below. A fair process shall be observed in which the rights of both the complainant and the accused are respected. The investigation of the complaint will proceed as follows:
 
1. To encourage that the issue be resolved informally, a meeting of the facilitator, the complainant, the complainant's advocate (if so desired by the complainant), the accused and the accused's advocate (if so desired) shall be called by the facilitator and shall encourage open discussion, in which both parties involved in the complaint may hear a description of the situation from the other's point of view in an effort to resolve the complaint. This meeting shall remain confidential without documentation.
2. Should the complaint not be resolved informally, the complainant may formalize the complaint; a written and signed complaint must be filed with the Office of the President within one (1) calendar year.
3. If the accused is a student, the Report of Suspected Student Misconduct shall be filed with the Dean of Student Life, who shall, in turn, refer the case to the Judicial Referral Board for review. The Judicial Referral Board is responsible for the referral of cases of alleged student misconduct and will process the case in accordance with policies and procedures established in the current Centenary College Student Handbook.
4. If the accused is a faculty member, then a complaint shall be filed with the Dean of the College, who shall forward the complaint to the Promotion, Evaluation and Tenure Committee. This committee is charged with making a recommendation of remedial action to the Dean of the College.
5. If the accused is a staff member, then a complaint shall be filed with his or her immediate (or higher) supervisor, who shall request that the administration appoint an ad-hoc committee comprising no less than three (3) members of the staff to hear the accusation. The committee is charged with making a recommendation of remedial action to the appropriate senior officer or to the President of the College.
6. If the accused is a member of the senior administration, then the complaint shall be filed with either the Provost or the President of the College, who shall set up an ad-hoc committee comprising no less than three (3) members of the administration to hear the complaint. The committee is charged with making a recommendation of remedial action to the President.
7. A recommendation of remedial action may include, but is not limited to, the following: no action taken, a warning, documentation in the individual's permanent personnel record, or dismissal of the student or employee. All paperwork associated with investigation of the complaint shall be maintained in a confidential file in the Office of the President.
 
Unless specifically addressed in this document, this policy does not supersede any existing provisions of the Faculty Handbook or administrative policies of Centenary College.
 
*Harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Section 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
 
Last updated 19 July 2000
 
Notice of Nondiscriminatory Policy The institution does not discriminate in its educational and employment policies against any person on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, or on any other basis proscribed by federal, state, or local law.