Embracing Equal Employment
and Affirmative Action

The Maricopa County Community College District is committed to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. Throughout its history, the District has advanced many programs that seek to integrate equal employment, affirmative action and nondiscrimination concepts with procedures that affect its
applicants, employees and students.

The District's equal employment and affirmative action policies are published annually in the MCCCD Affirmative Action Plan. And, to keep apprised of the most recent laws and developments in the areas of equal employment and affirmative action, the District belongs to the American Association for Affirmative Action and the Arizona Affirmative Action Association.

Every college and center supports District efforts to hire minorities, women, persons with disabilities and Vietnam-era veterans with targeted advertising in appropriate publications. Diverse selection committees and vacancy announcements sent to community organizations are a sampling of affirmative action and equal employment efforts.

To fully develop employee potential, the District's colleges support faculty and staff participation in a variety of District- and college-sponsored programs on topics such as diversity, career development and skill enhancement. Cross-training is also advocated, as is participation in special activities related to networking, mentoring and upward mobility.

Employee participation in organizations such as the Maricopa Council on Black American Affairs, the Arizona Association of Chicanos for Higher Education and the Part-Time Faculty Association is also supported, and representatives from each college serve on the Districtwide Diversity Task Force.

A variety of programs and initiatives for students are in place as well. Several colleges have set up special departments or committees to increase minority enrollment. Financial-aid programs and scholarships are actively advertised to minority populations.

To facilitate enrollment, application and registration procedures have been streamlined. Classrooms at many of the colleges have auxiliary aids to accommodate persons with disabilities.

Orientations for adult reentry students are provided, as are counseling, job- and career-placement services, child-development centers (which offer preschool and day-care services) and learning-assistance programs (which provide tutoring, seminars and study groups).

Ethnic and cultural diversity is showcased through a variety of annual programs such as celebrations for Cinco de Mayo, Native American Heritage, Black History Month, Multicultural and Intercultural Festivals, and Hispanic and Men of Color Conferences. To create a better understanding of our social diversity, the colleges offer a variety of workshops on topics such as sexual harassment, ADA compliance and AIDS awareness.

A number of student clubs--the Stars II Black Student Union, MEChA, the Vietnam Students Club and International Students Club--provide a home base for current students and actively serve to recruit minority students.

Moreover, every District college and center puts forth its own initiatives to further the EEO/AA goals set by the District:

Chandler-Gilbert Community College cosponsors the Gilbert Elementary School's Hands Across the Border program which works with groups such as the Hispanic Student Organization to raise scholarship dollars for minority students.

Estrella Mountain Community College faculty and staff are accountable for their hiring decisions and for sensitivity to affirmative action guidelines, and the gender/ethnic balance among faculty and administrators has increased in proportionally equal numbers over the past four years.

To measure the degree employees perceive that the college is fulfilling its commitment to diversity, EMCC conducted a Workplace Diversity Climate Survey in 1996. The survey identified a strong perception of diversity, and survey information is to be used as a baseline to measure future improvement. The college plans to conduct the study annually.

GateWay Community College has a long-standing practice that encourages supervisory employees to identify students with good potential and place them in meaningful jobs on a temporary basis. This valuable experience, coupled with classroom training, allows students to then compete favorably for regular, full-time positions.

To make its environment as positive as possible for students and employees, Glendale Community College is forming a Commission on Diversity composed of students, faculty, staff and community members. The college will seriously evaluate all Commission recommendations.

The Maricopa Skill Centers actively recruit minorities to participate in Open-Entry, Open-Exit entry level vocational training. Presently, more than 50% of the students are members of ethnic minorities. The Centers also actively recruit and hire minorities for job openings and maintain active partnerships with the Veterans Administration, Arizona Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and other community-based organizations that provide recruitment services for minority clients.

Mesa Community College has the largest GED-testing site in Arizona, and many of the students who test for GED go on to become students at MCC. The Assessment Center offers GED tests in Spanish, French, large-print, Braille, and audio-cassette. In addition, the college has scholarships available for the economically disadvantaged, including underrepresented groups, which pay the GED fee.

Paradise Valley Community College's Learning Assistance Center provides a nationally certified training program for tutors and staff that covers topics such as tutoring techniques, communication skills, learning styles, study strategies and student diversity.

Phoenix College is continuing its successful Adelante Project, which is a partnership among the college and three local high schools (Camelback, Carl Hayden and North). The project eases the transfer of graduating ESL-honor students into the Phoenix College Honors Program and seeks to increase retention of these students.

To prepare for the challenges and benefits of a more diverse employee and student population, Rio Salado Community College has made a commitment to diversity. To ensure that the college is fully able to respond to a diverse population, a Diversity Team, composed of employees, was formed to help determine the direction of the college's existing programs and create new programs and services.

Scottsdale Community College has a long history of developing and implementing programs on behalf of employees and students from special populations, especially minorities, women and individuals with disabilities. Four departments at the college are designed specifically to encourage, guide and facilitate the education of students from target populations: Adult Reentry, Senior Adult, Disabled Students and American Indian Programs.

South Mountain Community College has been successful in obtaining grant funding to support programs for minorities and students with disabilities. The grants fund programs for recruiting minority high-school students for science and mathematics studies, and the ACE Program which provides support for minority high-school students to begin taking college courses before graduation.

Published in the Special EEO Edition 1997 of In Brief