Contact Information

Tennille Haynes
Assistant Director of Student Activities

 

Diversity @ UC

 

 

Glossary of Diversity Terms

 

PLease note that this glossary does not directly represent the views and values of Utica College or the Diversity Committee at Utica College. UC Multicultural Retreat - 2006

 
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:  Specific actions in recruitment, hiring, upgrading and other areas designed and taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination, or to prevent discrimination.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN:  The written document through which management assures that all persons have equal opportunities in recruitment, selection, appointment, promotion, training, discipline and related employment areas.  The plan is tailored to the employer's work force and the skills available in the labor force.  It prescribes specific actions, goals, timetables, responsibilities and describes resources to meet identified needs.  The plan is a comprehensive results oriented program designed to achieve equal employment opportunity rather than merely to assure nondiscrimination.
AFFIRMATIVE RECRUITMENT:  Special recruitment efforts undertaken to assure that qualified protected class members are well represented in the applicant pools for positions from or in which they have been excluded or substantially underutilized.  Such efforts may include contacting organizations and media with known protected class constituencies.  Open job posting and advertising and "equal opportunity employer" statements necessary in many situations are matters of nondiscrimination rather than measures of affirmative recruitment.
AMERICAN INDIAN (NATIVE AMERICAN) OR ALASKAN NATIVE:  A person having origin in any of the original peoples of North America and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
ASIAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER:  A person having origin in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.  This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands and Samoa.
BLACK:  A person, not of Hispanic origin, who has origin in any of the black racial groups of the original peoples of Africa. 
CIVIL RIGHTS:  Personal rights guaranteed and protected by the Constitution, i.e., freedom of speech, press, freedom from discrimination.
DIFFERENTIAL VALIDATION:  Validation of test at different score levels for different classes of people.  This is not tantamount to "lowering standards" for one or more groups to favor them over others.  Differential validation occurs only where lower test scores by one class actually do predict a level of job performance equivalent to that predicted by the higher scores of another class.
DISABLED INDIVIDUAL:  Any person who:
has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
has a record of such impairment; or
is regarded as having such an impairment.
The following are general definitions as to the meaning of disability: Physical or Mental Impairment means:  1) any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems:  neurological, musculo-skeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genito-urinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, and endocrine, or 2) any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.  The term 'physical or mental impairment' includes, but is not limited to, such diseases and conditions as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction and alcoholism.
Major Life Activities means functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.
Has a Record of Such Impairment means has a history of a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities.
Is Regarded as Having an Impairment means; 1) has a physical or mental impairment that does not substantially limit major life activities but that is treated by an agency as constituting such a limitation; 2) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities only as a result of the attitudes of others toward such impairment; or 3) has none of the impairments defined above but is treated by an agency as having such an impairment.
Substantially Limits means the degree the impairment affects employability.  A handicapped individual who is likely to experience difficulty in securing, retaining or advancing in employment will be considered substantially limited.

DISCRIMINATION:  An intentional or unintentional act which adversely affects employment opportunities because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, marital status, or national origin, or other factors such as age (under particular laws.) See Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. 

Diversity: all of the ways in which people differ, including innate characteristics (such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, mental and physical abilities, and sexual orientation) and acquired characteristics (such as education, income, religion, work experience, language skills, geographic location, and family status).
Diversity Management: A process intended to create and maintain a positive work environment where the similarities and differences of individuals are valued, so that all can reach their potential and maximize their contributions to an organization's strategic goals and objectives.
DIVISION OF HUMAN RIGHTS:  The New York State agency established to receive, investigate and pass upon complaints alleging violations of the Human Rights Law.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY:  Where all personnel activities are conducted so as to assure equal access in all phases of the employment process.  Employment decisions are based solely on the individual merit and fitness of applicants and employees related to specific jobs, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, handicapping conditions, marital status or criminal record.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC):  The federal government agency mandated to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.  The Commission has five members, each appointed to a five year term by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of Congress.  The Federal Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity has the power to bring suits, subpoena witnesses, issue guidelines which have the force of law, render decisions, provide legal assistance to complainants, etc., in regard to fair employment.
EQUAL PAY:  To provide equal pay for men and women performing the same or substantially similar jobs in the same establishment, (as required by the Equal Pay Act of 1963 for employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act) (e.g., in a department store a female salesperson in the ladies shoe department must receive pay equal to that of a male salesperson in the men's shoe department.)
ETHNIC GROUP:  A group identified on the basis of religion, color or national origin.

F

FEORP: Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program published by OPM is a report to Congress on recuiting initiatives designed to eliminate under representation of minorities and women in the Federal workforce.
HANDICAP:  (See Disabled Individual.)
HISPANIC:  A person, regardless of race, who is of Spanish culture or origin.  This includes, for example, persons from Mexico, Central or South America, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
HUMAN RIGHTS DISPENSATION:  N.Y.S.  Executive Law, Article l5 Section 296, 12 provides that an employer may make extraordinary efforts to increase the employment members of those minority group members which have a disproportionately high unemployment rate.  Implementation of this provision is subject to approval by the Division of Human Rights.

I

Inclusion:Configuring opportunity, interaction, communication, information, and decision-making to utilize the potential of employee diversity. Fully and respectfully involving all employees in the activities and life of the organization.
MINORITY:  For EEO official reporting purposes, and for purposes of the work force analysis required in Revised Executive Order No. 4, the term "minority" includes Blacks, Hispanics, Alaskan Natives or American Indians, and Asian or Pacific Islanders.
 
Person with a Disability: A person who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities, (2) has a record of such impairment, or  (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.
PROTECTED CLASSES:  Groups identified in Executive Order 6 (minorities, women, disabled persons and Vietnam Era Veterans) that are specifically protected against employment discrimination. 
QUOTAS:  In employment law, court ordered or approved hiring and/or promoting of specified numbers or ratios of minorities or women in positions from which a court has found they have been excluded as a result of unlawful discrimination.  Quotas are not the same as goals and timetables. 
Racial/Ethnic Groups:  The four racial/ethnic groups protected by Federal equal employment opportunity laws are Blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Pacific Islanders, and American Indians or Alaskan Natives.  Racial/ethnic groups are defined by the Federal Government as follows:
       White (not of Hispanic origin): Persons having origins in any of the original peoples
       of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.
       Black (not of Hispanic origin): Persons having origins in any of the Black racial
       groups of Africa.
       Hispanic: Persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or
       other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
       Asian or Pacific Islander: Persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the
       Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.  This area
       includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa.
       American Indian or Alaskan Native: Persons having origins in any of the original
       peoples of North America and who maintain cultural identification through tribal
       affiliation or community recognition. 
SEXUAL HARASSMENT:  Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:
Submission to the conduct is either an explicit or implicit term or condition of employment;
Submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as a bases for an employment affecting the person rejecting or submitting to the conduct; or
The conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an affected person's work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION:  A private preference of an individual protected by Executive Order No. 28 for heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality; or a history of such a preference; or an identification with having such a preference.
SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION:  A pattern of discrimination throughout a place of employment (or program) that is a result of pervasive, interrelated actions, policies or procedures.

T

Targeted Disability: Disabilities (deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, mental retardation, mental illness, and distortion of limbs and/or spine) targeted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for special emphasis in the affirmative action program.
UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS:  An independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 1957 and directed to:
(a)  Investigate complaints alleging that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices.
(b)  Study and collect information concerning legal developments constituting discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin, or in the administration of justice.
(c)  Appraise Federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin, or in the administration of justice.
(d)  Serve as a national clearinghouse for information in respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin.
(e)  Submit reports, findings and recommendations to the President and Congress.
 
W

Workforce Diversity: Refers to ways in which people in a workforce are similar and different from one another. In addition to the characteristics protected by law, other similarities and differences commonly cited include background, education, language skills, personality, sexual orientation, and work role.
Workforce Profile: An organizational "snap shot" illustrating the dispersion of race, national origin, gender, and/or disability groups within specified employment categories


*Glossaries are taken from the Office of Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, and Diversity, University of Rhode Island and United States Department of Veterans Affairs