Clinton will advise department officials and search committees on how to secure diverse pools of candidates, write job advertisements and measure candidates' success potential. She also will maintain contacts with groups and universities that could yield leads on diverse pools of applicants, especially graduates of predominantly minority colleges and universities. Affirmative Action can be used as a positive management tool. Among Clinton's first efforts will be setting up a Web page offering hiring guidelines and hints, Espinoza said. Workplace complaints Another person to contact early is Evie Myers, who has been appointed fact finder and mediator for student and employee complaints.
Complaints run the gamut from workplace violence to sexual harassment to discrimination.
Myers will be responsible for early intervention, and dispute and complaint resolution, Espinoza said. She added that early intervention often can keep an informal complaint from escalating into a formal complaint. This year, the Affirmative Action Office has received 14 informal complaints and seven formal complaints, Espinoza said. In informal complaints, the affected parties try to negotiate a resolution. Formal complaints are handled in a very structured manner and involve a fact-finding process, she added.