Introduction/Background
Contractor |
DOE Office |
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Date of last assessment: October 2000
The Affirmative Action Office's
functional area received an overall good rating in the performance measure area
currently agreed upon between SLAC and DOE/OAK in the FY 1999 Annual Appraisal.
We had no 'marginal' areas in our last Assessment.
This report represents the
results of the Affirmative Action Office's functional area self-assessment,
which was conducted from October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001, with a
two-month period just prior to end of self assessment period for analyzing data,
implementing projects, and report writing.
The Affirmative Action Office's
functional area self-assessment is based on and measured against performance
measures agreed upon between SLAC and DOE/OAK in order to address progress and
contract compliance. The specific performance measure is the effective
internal controls used to insure SLAC's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
Program is in accordance with all federal civil rights statutes and regulations.
Discussion of Individual
Performance Objectives
Performance
Measure: Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.
Maintain effective internal
program to ensure SLAC's Equal Opportunity Program is in accordance with all
Federal Civil Rights Statutes and the Affirmative Action Program is in
accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations 41-CFR 60-2.
Performance Measure:
Compliance Standing and Operational Awareness. Development, maintenance,
and existence of control systems which would enable the standing of the EEO/AA
program to be assessed quickly and efficiently. Assess and evaluate the
strategic plan contained in the Annual Affirmative Action Plan.
Process used to meet
objective/measure: The annual Affirmative Action Plan is the formal document
to measure progress. The quarterly employment report is utilized to evaluate
interim progress. The periodic compliance audits by the Department of Labor also
serve to highlight our successes and failures and formally measure our
"good faith efforts".
Assumptions made pertaining
to performance measure: For the purpose of this self-assessment, the
Affirmative Action Office's functional area elements include demonstrating the
ability of the laboratory to successfully pass a Department of Labor audit
regarding its performance in the area of equal employment and affirmative action
as mandated by federal regulations.
Documentation: Annual
Affirmative Action Plan and Quarter Reports between the Period October 1,
2000-September 30, 2001 (upon request).
Scope
of Review:
1.
Maintain effective internal program controls
Internal program controls for
the EEO and AA are excellent with hiring, promotion, separation, and
compensation actions being monitored on an ongoing basis (i.e., daily, monthly,
and quarterly). For example, the Affirmative Action Office signs off
on all job requisitions and reviews and concurs on all job hires prior to an
official offer being made. Additionally, the Affirmative Action Officer is
a member of the Salary Review Committee where annual salaries are set for exempt
and non-exempt staff and where policy and procedures about SLAC's salary program
are initiated, reviewed, and implemented. The Affirmative Action Officer
reports directly to the Director of the Laboratory and is responsible for the
day-to-day activities associated with affirmative action and equal opportunity
and has the authority to initiate whatever activities/actions are necessary to
resolve issues under the Officer's charge. The level of authority provided
to the Affirmative Action Office creates a strong and active control system,
which enhances and furthers EEO and AA objectives (See SLAC's AA Plan FY 2001
Plan).
2.
Program Development and Maintenance
SLAC has developed and is
maintaining an Equal Employment and Affirmative Action Program, which is in
compliance with the Department of Labor's criteria and meets the Department of
Energy's EEO contractual requirements. The annual Affirmative Action Plan
reflects a continual review of the EEO and AA program for relevancy, current
applicability, and assessment of goal attainment.
3.
Compliance Standing and Operational Awareness
We have developed a series of
control systems which enable SLAC to assess quickly and efficiently its EEO/AA
standing at all times and especially during a full scale Department of Labor
compliance review. The Department of Labor last reviewed SLAC's EEO/AA
program in its entirety during the period April-August 1996 for compliance with
federal statutes and regulations and determined on December 12, 1996 that SLAC
is in full compliance.
4.
Program and Plan
The EEO/AA Program is current
and formalized through its annual affirmative action plan, which identifies
areas of underutilization and assesses its progress in reaching full utilization
of minorities and women in accordance with regulatory guidelines.
Contained within this annual plan, with the concurrence of DOE/OAK, is a
strategic plan, which will identify occupational areas of high priority.
The strategic plan for FY 2001 and results subsequent to the implementation of
this plan are as follows:
a. Focus
Two occupational areas were
targeted with respect to minorities and women. These two areas were
selected based upon the degree of underutilization, realistic projections for
achievement in their specific occupational areas, and the number of
opportunities projected in the upcoming year. For minorities, we focused
on the mechanical engineering positions, and for women, we focused on the
electronic technician area. Based on degree of underutilization, these areas
will continue to be occupational areas of focus, but we will also add the
occupational areas of environmental and health physics, and computer science to
the strategy plan. It should be noted, however, that although this effort
will contribute to the overall representation of minorities and women at the
Laboratory, these occupational areas are not currently underutilized with
respect to minorities and women.
b. Strategic Plan by Occupation
1. Mechanical Engineers
We will continue to utilize the
National Consortium Program (see Section VII.C. for description) as a primary
pipeline for minorities into mechanical engineering positions at SLAC.
Mechanical engineering graduates that interned at SLAC will be automatically
considered for positions in mechanical engineering at SLAC.
We had one new mechanical
engineering intern, an African-American male, from the National Consortium
Program. He will start his first year of graduate school in the fall of 2001 and
is expected to complete his studies in the summer of 2003, thereby making him a
potential applicant for vacancies at SLAC.
SLAC'S budgetary situation
remains a challenge and this has impacted our ability to recruit and hire
recently graduated, mechanical engineers. What opportunities are available are
still being filled first and foremost by highly experienced and technically
specialized applicants. The trend to fill engineering positions with
"extensively" experienced applicants as opposed to recent graduates
with limited experience will not subside until our financial situation becomes
predictable and reliable.
We continue to maintain our
relationship with the national women-engineering program, Women in Engineering
Program Advocates Network (WEPAN), a non-profit educational organization whose
primary objective is to effect positive change in the engineering
infrastructure, for the purpose of recruiting more women into the engineering
field.
We will also maintain our
relationship with the National Association of Minority Engineering Program
Administrators (NAMEPA), which represents a network of educators and
representatives from industry, government and non-profit organizations who are
committed to the recruitment and retention of African Americans, Hispanics and
American Indians earning degrees in engineering, and we hope to join their
efforts to help retain and increase the enrollment of minorities in the field of
engineering, which will ultimately increase the applicant pool for engineering
positions.
We are hopeful that our funding
situation will improve and enable us to more actively recruit and to do outreach
in order to improve diversity among mechanical engineers.
2. Electronic Technicians
We have set goals for women in
the electronic technician area this past year, but we had fewer applicants than
in years past as more women opt for other technical fields like computer science
and environmental science. Competition for women technicians is fierce in the
"Silicon Valley" and the benefits associated with work in the
corporate environmental are often beyond our ability to compete.
Opportunities permitting, we will continue to try to diversify the applicant
pool in this occupational area in order to increase the probability of having
more female electronic technicians.
Recruiting women technicians is
further complicated by the fact that educational institutions are reporting a
sharp decline of student enrollment in the sciences and in technical fields
generally and this is particularly true of female students pursuing scientific
and technical fields.
3. Environmental Engineers
Although we are not
underutilized in this area, we will set goals for women in the environmental
engineering field and utilize the National Consortium Program as a primary
pipeline for women into these engineering positions at SLAC. We offered a
position to one of our interns, an African-American female, from the National
Consortium Program, but she chose to accept another employment offer. We have
excellent women scientists already in this field and they would be outstanding
role models and mentors for up and coming female scientists in this field.
4. Health Physicists
We will set goals for both
minorities and women in the field of Health Physics, as there are more minority
and female students pursuing this area of physics than other areas of that
discipline. There appear to be more opportunities for contributing to the
national labor pool in this area through the National Consortium Program and a
better opportunity to select interns in this field who ultimately could be
encouraged to select SLAC as a possible future employer.
5. Computer-Related Job Titles
We are setting goals also for
minority computer scientists as there are many more opportunities in this area
of study and occupation than in other occupational areas, and we can make some
significant contributions to the national labor pool in this area while
increasing general diversity within the Laboratory. The National Consortium for
Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering has included Computer Science as
one of the areas of engineering to which they are attempting to bring more
diversity, and we will attempt to recruit more interns from this program into
this occupational area as well. Experimentally, we currently have an
African-American intern for six months in this field. Hopefully, we will be able
to place him permanently in the workforce.
3. General Efforts to
Increase Diversity and Meet Goals, and Educate Staff Regarding Diversity
a. Recruitment
SLAC has attended and will
continue to attend job fairs where minorities and women are likely to attend
(e.g., UC/Berkeley Minority Job Fair, Westech in San Jose, BrassRing, a leading
Internet Job Board with access to a substantial Resume Data base, Stanford
University School of Engineering Job Fair, etc.). We have advertised positions
in predominantly minority and female mediums (e.g., radio, newspapers, etc.).
SLAC will combine its efforts with Stanford University's employment and
recruitment activities and will work to incorporate recruitment activities into
on-line computer services and networks serving minorities and women. It
should be noted that preferential recruiting along gender and racial lines is
becoming increasingly challenging legally due to post-Proposition 209 awareness
and prohibitions against ethnic recruitment.
b. Retention
SLAC has conducted annual
studies of termination and turnover rates for minorities and women. Reasons for
their departure are routinely examined and it is noted that their departures are
not due to discriminatory reasons, but rather to non-discriminatory
considerations such as relocation, career change, or higher compensation. Formal
exit interviews are done by the Human Resources Department and, if EEO/AA
problems are cited by exiting employees, they are referred to the Affirmative
Action Office for action as appropriate.
c. Upward Mobility
The reclassification system and
employment system have been reviewed to determine whether minority and female
employees are represented proportionately to their population in the work force.
The Affirmative Action Office has a specific mechanism to review all
reclassification actions prior to implementation, especially where protected
class members are being denied reclassification.
d. Diversity Training
The Stanford Continuing Studies
Program and Training Opportunities at SLAC have been evaluated as possible
vehicles for offering classes in diversity training for all supervisors.
Courses, which would help employees, bridge the communication barriers created
by gender differences will be identified and recommended to the managerial staff
this year. A specific proposal to rotate all supervisors through a course
in diversity to improve their understanding of equal employment opportunity,
affirmative action, and their management of a diverse work force will be
considered again this next year contingent on funds and managers being made
available for such a purpose. Due to our layoffs in recent years, most
funds and managers have been devoted to maintaining the integrity of the
research program.
In April 2000, we ran an EEO
Diversity Training Program for the entire laboratory along with the DOE Racial
Profiling Stand Down Program. Included in this training program was information
about diversity, discrimination, stereotyping and maintaining a
discrimination-free working environment which employees and managers would find
useful and helpful during their career at SLAC. Out of 1154 regular employees,
1070 (or 92.7% of the total employees) participated in this training. Among the
334 minority employees, 320 (95.8% of the total) participated. Among the
264 women, 253 (95.8% of the total) women participated in this Diversity
Training.
e. Open Employment Policy and Support for Skill Attainment
We continue to have open job
postings, job-training opportunities for staff, and a tuition refund program,
all of which encourage career development and enable all employees equal access
to all jobs within SLAC. The Personnel Department is available to all employees
to discuss career options within SLAC.
4. Other Supportive Activities
The various service areas are outlined below. Although maintaining effective internal program controls is our primary performance measure, these activities assure our controls are working properly and are current and applicable.
Monitoring the consistency between the Laboratory's and the University's EEO and AA programs.
Monitoring all employment actions affecting protected class members.
Self-auditing and reporting on procedures and systems in areas for which the Office is responsible for monitoring (e.g., promotions, terminations, reclassifications, employment, salary setting, etc.).
Meeting the extensive technical standards outlined by the Department of Labor/OFCCP annually and per formal audit.
Counseling and training
protected class members, supervisors, and employees regarding EEO and AA
programs and issues.
Finding: The Affirmative
Action Office's internal controls were found to be effective in monitoring the
activities which made possible the achievement of the goals of the SLAC Equal
Employment and Affirmative Action Program and the requirements of both the
Department of Energy and the Department of Labor with respect to these programs.
Discussions: Many
activities in the Affirmative Action Office's functional area are controlled on
a formal basis rather than on an informal basis. There continues to be a
tremendous amount of documentation that comes through the Affirmative Action
Office's operation including the management of central data for the Laboratory
on AA and EEO reporting requirements (e.g., historical workers file, archive
information on EEO-related complaints, etc.). There are two Employee Relations
personnel, two Compensation personnel, and one Employment person, all of whom
generate paperwork or issues, which require the formal attention of the
Affirmative Action Officer (of which there is only one). Over the last two
decades there have been a number of reviews, including one by an independent
consultant, to evaluate the process and to make it more streamlined and
efficient. The current process is about as compact as we can make it without
jeopardizing essential elements necessary to our review.
Under leadership of the
Affirmative Action Officer, a great deal of reliance is placed on the
Administrative Service Manager and Administrative Associate to maintain and
manage the data within the Affirmative Action Office and to do all the
statistical analysis associated with its efforts. The statistical analysis is at
the core of determining whether we are making progress towards our availability
percentages and if not, what systems in the laboratory are contributing to our
failure to achieve success. There is no substitute for the development and
management of data, nor for the basic social science research, which is
necessary to support conclusions and subsequent recommendations.
As has been the historical case,
the degree to which we can make significant progress with regard to the
diversity picture depends in large part on the turnover within the laboratory,
the opportunities available (which are driven by budgetary considerations), and
the educational and labor market trends. For example, low turnover, budgetary
constraints or reductions, and decreases in educational and labor market trends
in the field of science and engineering have a profound effect on our ability to
make significant progress towards our availability percentages. The combined
efforts of all three of the Affirmative Action staff members are necessary in
order to achieve all of the multiple tasks and responsibilities and to meet the
demands of the Laboratory population for service and guidance on EEO and AA
matters.
As already mentioned, the
responsibility for diversity recruitment remains in the Human Resources
Department and can be evaluated as part of the Human Resource component of the
assessment.
Proposed action: The
Affirmative Action Office's functional area should continue to monitor
performance and establish strategies for continued improvement. We will continue
to lend support to the Human Resources Department's effort to get more resources
and funds for the purpose of diversifying the applicant pool.
Problem
Analysis
Root-Cause
Analysis
In order to
make significant progress in the area of affirmative action, there must be a
sufficient pool of minorities and women in the labor market from which to hire.
It is also essential to note the correlation between the demographics among
science major graduates coming out of the educational institutions and the
subsequent labor market figures.
Barrier(s)
to Improvement
Our salaries and fringe benefits are not as competitive as private industry when it comes to keeping or attracting minority and female scientists and engineers. Both minority and female scientists are premium assets to any employer and we are at a distinct disadvantage in the competitive market, especially here in the Silicon Valley where technical personnel are at a premium. However, SLAC is actively pursuing alternative ways in which to make the working environment more attractive to our staff by exploring things like: remote commuting, flexible work schedules, increase educational benefits (e.g., pay for Master's degree), bonus programs, etc.; all of which could make a difference to those we are trying to recruit.
There is a continuing decline in
minority and female college enrollment generally, and in the sciences
specifically, over the last decade. There is no indication, given the cutbacks
in minority and female support services and funds, that this trend will be
reversed any time soon. As student loans and scholarships decrease, so will the
number of minorities and women enrolling in colleges. This will further erode
the minority and female college pool and in particular the scientific labor
pool. In the field of physics generally, and high energy physics specifically,
the picture is even more bleak. A reversal of this trend may be possible
if more governmental programs could be initiated at the college enrollment level
to encourage minorities and women to pursue advance degrees (e.g., student
loans, tax credits, etc.)
Improvement
Action Plan/Goals
Recognized
areas of improvement
The Affirmative Action Office's functional area activities have been carried out very formally with tangible performance measurement tools developed by the Department of Energy, Department of Labor, and SLAC's Affirmative Action Office.
Objective/Goals for FY 2002
Our focus in the coming
year will be to:
Continue to improve our statistical tools and established models for monitoring purposes. Improvements can be made in the management of data so it can be more efficiently stored and retrieved. Statistical tools will be evaluated and modified for changing sociological trends. Do more correlative studies regarding reasons why employees stay or leave SLAC. Explore incentives, which could make a difference in attracting minorities and women to SLAC or initiate policies, which would mitigate conditions which make diversity more difficult (e.g., commute challenges, housing, etc.
Addressing and monitoring diversity recruitment with the Human Resources Department, especially within the Employment Unit, as opportunities become available.
Continuing to explore retention strategies in occupational areas where there is a high termination turnover rate, if any. Retention strategies are designed to keep talented minorities and women on our payroll.
Implementing the strategic
plan and continue to retain and recruit minorities and women in the
mechanical engineering and electronic technician occupations, while pursuing
minorities and women in other engineering fields like Computer Science,
Environmental Engineering, and Health Physics.
For Questions or comments, Please contact Ziba Mahdavi, Last Updated 10/24/00