This procedure has been developed to support Binghamton University's commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action and to ensure compliance with State and Federal requirements.

General Recruitment Policy:

1.       Every administrative/academic officer and search committee must make an active and thorough effort to recruit for each faculty and professional employee position, whether full or part-time and regardless of source of funding, members of minority groups, women, and people with disabilities.  Exceptions to this general philosophy must be approved by the Office of Affirmative Action on campus.

2.       This effort will be viewed as an important factor in determining the acceptability of a position recommendation.  Affirmative Action efforts augment, rather than replace, previous recruiting procedures.  The recommendation and the appointment are to be made on the basis of qualifications for the position, and it is considered proper to redefine eligibility criteria to broaden the base of the talent pool to include special experience, training, and education not normally considered when such factors are important characteristics of eligibility for the position.  Such consideration must be applied equally to all candidates for a position.

3.       Special attention to the identification, recruitment, and selection of minority group members, women, and individuals with disabilities is consistent with state and federal law, orders and regulations, and the policy adopted by the State University of New York Board of Trustees.  No person is to be accepted or rejected solely on the basis of sex, minority group membership, disability, or sexual orientation.

Prior to Recruitment Season:

1.       Each hiring unit is responsible for contacting the Affirmative Action Officer who may advise the unit in developing general procedures that will ensure the most efficient distribution of information about available positions to minority groups, women, and disabled persons, in order to encourage applications from these sources.

2.       Position qualifications should be reviewed carefully to assure that the description does not in itself discriminate against the selection of minority, women, and disabled applicants.

3.       Upon completion of recruitment plans, Part I of the Affirmative Action Report should be completed and sent through channels for search plans. It is important to remember to assure that lines are available and funded prior to initiating any searches - this can be confirmed with your department or through the Human Resources department.

4.       Whenever possible, minority group members, women, and disabled individuals should be included on search committees even if it is necessary to go outside the hiring unit or division to ensure the participation of such individuals. 

5.       Affirmative Action Report forms are available in the Human Resources Office or the Affirmative Action Office.

Recruitment Plans

1.       All correspondence and advertising are to include the abbreviated affirmative action statement: "Binghamton University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer".  All recruiting sources are to be informed of Binghamton's adherence to Affirmative Action policies by the person who initiates the contact.

2.       A list of specific sources of minority group, disabled, and women candidates should be compiled by the individual unit offices with the assistance of the Affirmative Action Office.  Some forums to be considered are national organizations that have been formed to establish talent pools of minority groups and women, professional organizations specialized employment agencies, women's colleges, colleges with high minority enrollments, minority and women scholars in other institutions, and newspaper with high readership by members of minority groups and women, and professional websites.

3.       The group of applicants considered should include qualified minorities and women, unless evidence is documented that extraordinary efforts to recruit them have been made and have failed.

4.       There are limited conditions under which a person may be recommended for a position without widespread recruitment efforts:

a.       Under the Internal Promotion procedure for Professional UUP Employees, the University will give initial consideration in promotion to its professional employees for vacancies in titles as designated.  In other tiers, other eligible BU employees will also be considered for promotional opportunities. The Office of Human Resources has full information about this Plan and a copy can be viewed from the Human Resources Department website.  It should be noted that requests to waive conditions of the internal promotion plan or external searches will normally not be granted by the Affirmative Action Office for professional positions within the unit represented by UUP unless a substantive case can be made for this action.

b.       Other cases for less widespread recruitment efforts may be justified when in the spirit of workforce succession programs, a qualified individual may be promoted from within the organization, when time is of the essence, when campus operations would suffer as the result of an interim appointment, or when a person is available who is uniquely qualified for the position.  By their very nature, such cases are rare, and their acceptability is measured not only against the urgency of that particular appointment, but also against overall efforts to use members of minority groups and women in the unit which has recommended the appointment.  Documentation of the special circumstances must be made, and, as in all other cases, the Affirmative Action Officer must approve the Affirmative Action Report form attached to such documentation.

5. Part II of the Affirmative Action form series must be filed and approved by the Affirmative Action Office prior to any interviewing.     

6. The final filing of the Affirmative Action Report form, Part III, must be completed and approved by the Affirmative Action Office prior to any hiring offer being extended to a candidate. The Affirmative Action Office will keep a copy as well as the department responsible for the search. 

Contact Person:

Affirmative Action Officer, 7-4775