Name That Section - Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts

ii. Implementation While it is advisable to incorporate a definitions section, districts should do so with care. Districts are “free to define other terms not listed in Title 5. 190 However, districts should choose carefully what additional terms to define in the context of their EEO Plans for several reasons:

 Amending district EEO Plans requires a process that includes notice to the State Chancellor. A streamlined plan will be easier to implement and update.  Adding definitions that are tangentially related to successful recruitment or retention will make the EEO Plan overly cumbersome. We recommend that districts limit the definitions section to terms necessary for the interpretation and implementation of the EEO Plan.  Including definitions that are tangentially related could also inadvertently create bargaining rights. Generally, hiring plans and procedures are not matters subject to bargaining. However, by incorporating subjects that are covered in collective bargaining agreements or impact the terms and conditions of employment (e.g. disciplinary consequences for violating the plan, academic freedom, etc.), districts could overly complicate their plans, and create bargaining rights in the process.

Finally, in drafting definitions of the terms that are found in Title 5, districts should track the Title 5 definitions, and not rely on definitions that districts are already utilizing in other policies or procedures. 191 First, other district policies may be outdated or otherwise not conform to the definitions in the Title 5 regulations pertaining to discrimination or EEO Plans. Second, to the extent definitions in district policies are broader than those found in Title 5, they should not be used. As noted in footnote 2 of the Model Plan , only those groups identified in the regulations are entitled to the right to appeal or seek review by the State Chancellor. In particular, districts whose anti-discrimination policies include groups not identified in the regulations may include them in their EEO Plan Policy Statement (discussed below), but should not include them in their definition of “monitored groups.” The Model Plan correctly identifies “monitored groups” as those groups, identified in Title 5 for which monitoring and reporting is required 192 By using a more expansive definition of “monitored groups,” districts will improperly identify groups for which it will not actually engage in monitoring activities.

c. Plan Component 3: Policy Statement

i. Legal Requirements The Title 5 regulations do not require district EEO Plans to have a policy statement.

Name that Section: Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts ©2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 64