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

Taking these steps will also provide a sound platform for building the key component of EEO Plans prepared in conformance with the revised regulations. Namely, as discussed below, district accountability for developing effective EEO Plans is now measured primarily by the conduct of districts, rather than statistics. Districts must develop—in part through their EEO and hiring plans— indicators of institutional commitment to diversity. Establishing clear and proactive roles for various stakeholders in the hiring process is one such indicator. We also recommend that similar attention be given to how the district retains professional experts, temporary employees, and outside contractors. Frequently, individuals are selected to fill these positions because they possess a unique skill set required to fill a particular need. In other instances, these positions are used (and over used) as a convenient stop-gap. In both instances, there is rarely anyone delegated to monitor the diversity among professional experts, temporary employees, and contractors; or monitor the impact on workforce diversity of utilizing these positions in lieu of regular hiring. Therefore, we also recommend that districts utilize Component 4 as an opportunity to explore and delineate:

 Who is responsible to “vet” the proposed engagement of professional experts, independent contractors and temporary employees to ensure that they are being retained for permitted purposes;  What procedures will be implemented to ensure that college- and district- based administrators will utilize this vetting process;  Who will monitor and analyze the impact on workforce diversity of utilizing temporary employees, professional experts, and outside contractors;  Who will track all permanent positions staffed by temporary employees to ensure that the recruitment and hiring process for a permanent hire is moving forward. Too often, once the temporary employee is employed, the hiring process gets stalled.

e. Plan Component 5: Advisory Committee

i. Legal Requirements Title 5 requires each district to establish an Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee to assist the district in developing and implementing the Plan. 200 It further requires that advisory committees “include a diverse membership whenever possible.” 201 However, the regulations do not direct how to compose the committee, nor how the committee must provide assistance. Interestingly, while advisory committees are charged with assisting with EEO Plan development and implementation, the regulations do not require that the Advisory Committee, itself, be addressed in the EEO Plan. Nevertheless, the Model Plan recommends that district EEO Plans describe the role of the Advisory Committee, and its manner of selection. In particular, the Model Plan suggests that district Advisory Committees should reach out to all constituency groups, to ensure broad-based support for the district’s EEO Plan, and that in establishing the committee and selecting its members, the principles of governance should be respected. 202 Please note that we use the term “participatory governance” throughout this guide.

Name that Section: Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts ©2020 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 67