PIO Resource Manual: Civil Rights Compliance Visit Guidance

Office of Civil Rights Compliance Visits

Two campus visits (system-wide) are conducted each year. The selection of visit sites is determined by:

  • last time the college received a visit
  • campus request
  • State Board staff recommendation
  • confidential complaint
  • enrollment and completion data for:
    • minorities
    • people with disabilities
    • non-traditional careers based on gender

Publication Inclusion of Non-discrimination Statements

Non-discrimination statements are to be used when the publication includes the college logo/college name and is picked up or viewed by the public. A non-discrimination statement would not be required on internal documents, such as an add/drop form. However, application forms do need a non-discrimination statement.

The PIO Resource Manual's example of a continuous the non-discrimination statement must be published in college’s catalog and class schedules, student/staff handbooks and on college website. These do not excuse a college from following any additional state regulations.

Be consistent across campus. If you have multiple versions of a non-discrimination statement, determine which one is the official one that has been adopted by the college.

View the U.S. Department of Education information on non-discrimination statements.

Compliance Areas for PIOs

Annual Notice of Non-Discrimination In Vocational Education Programs

The U.S. Department of Education requires colleges publish an Annual Notice of Nondiscrimination statement, in English, prior to the beginning of the school year (before the fall quarter).

Publication may include local newspapers, school catalogs and newsletters mailed to members of the community, bulletins, memoranda, and the college website.

Colleges must advise students, parents, employees, and the general public that all vocational opportunities will be offered without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, or disability. Keep evidence that the notification was made and method of distribution was sufficient to reach students, employees and members of the public as that will be required for a review.

The annual notice must include a brief summary of the program offerings and admission criteria, and the names, title, address, and phone number of person(s) designated to coordinate compliance under Title IX and section 504.

The college should perform a study of the service area to determine if it contains a “community of national origin minority persons with limited English language skills”.

If a college's service area contains a community of national origin minority persons with limited English language skills, notification materials must be disseminated to that community in its language and must state that colleges will take steps to assure that the lack of English language skills will not be a barrier to admission and participation in vocational education programs.

Colleges should ask the following questions as guidelines in determining if such a community exists:

  • Are non-English language communities being served by the media?
  • Specifically, are there television or radio stations within the area that broadcast in a language other than English?
  • Are there service groups that provide assistance directed to populations with limited English language skills within the service area?
  • Do college departments conduct outreach to any specific language groups other than English?

If the college can answer "yes" to one or more of these questions, then there is probably a community with limited English language skills and the college must also provide the annual notice in a language or languages commensurate with its service area. Publicizing the statement on the college's website, in most cases, will satisfy the distribution requirement.

Read the PIO Resource Manual for additional guidance and example annual non-discrimination statement.

Other guidelines

  • Non-discrimination notice available in alternate formats if requested: Braille; international languages.
  • Print the full non-discrimination statement with contacts in each of these publications:
    • class schedule
    • catalog
    • student/staff handbooks
    • college website
    • disability services materials
    • athletic program handbooks
  • Print the grievance procedure in student and employee handbooks, college website, and college catalog.
  • Print the non-discrimination statement on the college application. Don’t ask questions that identify a person’s protected status.
  • Posters for musical/theatrical performances are not required to include the non-discrimination statement. However, if accommodations are available to the audience, it is helpful to print contact information for these services.
  • Posters providing campus information for services (tutoring/advising/rooms/times etc.) do not require a non-discrimination statement.

Funding Statements

Publications

If a product is printed in whole or in part with Perkins funds, it must include a funding statement:

The contents of this publication were developed with funds from the Carl D. Perkins Act.

Perkins funding comes in the form of the Perkins basic grant, Tech Prep and Perkins Leadership funds (Best Practices innovations/replications, Industry Based Professional Development, Student Leadership, Non-Traditional and some special projects).

Films, Reports, Video Clips

The contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the Department of Education (Carl D. Perkins Act). However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education.