The terminology, “Civil Rights” has encompassed and been used extensively to justify and explain our internal and external efforts toward building a diverse and inclusive organization. These efforts, in effect, have evolved from the need to be in compliance with federal and state laws as a recipient of both state and federal funding to how we live up to our mission and carry out our purpose as a public entity. Activities pertaining to Civil Rights began as a need to meet compliance measures and serve as evidence of non-discrimination to groups protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over time these and other efforts have evolved to systematically and intentionally guide us toward increasing access and participation of diverse, underserved and non-traditional audiences in all our organization’s educational programs and for recruitment and staff retention. This has included and is not limited to efforts to reach those audiences protected by the Civil Rights Laws of 1964. Our efforts have expanded to increase and deliver culturally relevant programming, staff diversity, multicultural awareness and to build cultural confidence and competency in our staff, along with creating an organization that is inclusive to and respectful of cultural differences and identities.
These efforts must become embedded into our organizational mission so that they are internally driven. The need to be in compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Titles VI and VII has not gone away. We desire to exceed the compliance measures. We will use the USDA-NIFA required civil rights compliance activities as a means of organizing and structuring our efforts and for how we share our impacts and accomplishments for expanding access.
So it is with this in mind that it has been recommended and accepted that the use of “Civil Rights”, to reflect all expectations of intentional efforts for meeting and achieving diversity and inclusion in University of Wisconsin – Madison, Cooperative Extension become, “Expanding Access and Inclusion.” This change will shift some of the nomenclature to reflect:
Expanding Access – Intentional efforts to increase access to programming and employment to diverse and underserved audiences, including those protected by Civil Rights Act of 1964
Inclusion – All intentional efforts toward creating a respectful and safe workplace that is built on trust and the appreciation and recognition for the contributions of all employees. This is evidence in how we approach our internal and external relationships.
Civil Rights “Expanding Access” Days – Focus on the “all reasonable efforts” and required actions for expanding access to categorically protected, underserved and underrepresented audiences carried out by county office staff and program area staff in all aspects of extension programming, including: identifying needs, setting priorities, allocating resources, selecting and assigning staff, conducting programs and getting feedback.
Civil Rights Assessment – An annual self-assessment completed by a county office staff member that measures specific criteria found in the USDA Cooperative Extension Civil Rights Guidelines pertaining to the application and use of accommodations, nondiscrimination posters, language accessibility, non-discrimination statements, and outreach materials for reaching and serving those protected by Civil Rights Act of 1964. This assessment will also document professional development. An annual checklist is completed with a personal plan for action toward expanding access and is kept in the county office civil rights files.
Civil Rights Files – records and documents that provide evidence to support the all reasonable efforts being done to expand access in extension programs at the county and program area levels. At a minimum these will need to include meeting agendas, examples of needs assessments, decisions on resource allocations and priorities, staff assignments, how programs were conducted and feedback obtained to support increasing access to categorically protected and underserved/underrepresented populations along with examples of non-discrimination statements used on program marketing materials and brochures, copies of partnership agreements/letters, partner lists and advisory groups with race, ethnicity and gender (REG) indicated, etc.
