Name that Section - Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts

C. T HE D IVERSITY C OMMITMENT P OST -P ROPOSITION 209

1. T HE S TATUTORY R ESPONSE TO P ROPOSITION 209 Despite the invalidation of traditional district affirmative action programs by Proposition 209, promoting diversity in the workplace remains a legal obligation for community colleges. As noted above, the California legislature has long held that community colleges must strive to employ a highly diverse staff, and Title 5 regulations continue to require Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) Plans and hiring and recruiting procedures designed to increase diversity. 2. T HE R EGULATORY R ESPONSE TO P ROPOSITION 209 Sweeping revisions to Title 5 regulations controlling hiring were adopted to bring the regulations into alignment with Proposition 209. However, they still required districts to implement strategies to prevent and correct adverse impacts against what were called “minorities” or “historically underrepresented groups” in the pre-Proposition 209 era, and were re-labeled “monitored groups” in the post-Proposition 209 regulations. Subsequently, starting in approximately 2010, a group of community college leaders and Liebert Cassidy Whitmore initiated a dialogue with the State Chancellor’s Office regarding our concerns that the regulations were both outdated and in potential conflict with Proposition 209. This led to a collaborative effort between HR professionals in the field and the State Chancellor’s office to revise and modernize the Title 5 EEO plan and hiring regulations. With the participation of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, the Chancellor’s newly-formed Title 5 Task Force rewrote the regulations, which were unanimously approved by the Board of Governors and ultimately approved by the Department of Finance in September of 2013. The “new face” of permissive and mandated hiring strategies aimed at achieving diversity are contained primarily in two regulatory schemes:

 The provisions that require the development of an EEO Plan; and

 The provisions that require specific recruitment and hiring practices.

a. EEO Plan Regulations While a primary function of the EEO Plan is to establish processes for monitoring hiring, district recruitment and hiring procedures are not a required component of the EEO Plan itself. Section 53003 provides the minimum legal requirements for a district’s Equal Employment Opportunity Plan. Specifically:

The governing board of each community college district shall develop and adopt a district-wide written equal employment opportunity plan to implement its equal employment opportunity program. Such plans and revisions shall be submitted to the Chancellor's Office. The Chancellor’s Office retains the authority to review district plans on a case-by-case basis.

Each district shall review its EEO Plan. Such plans shall be reviewed at least once every three years and, if necessary,

Name that Section: Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts ©2018 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 57