Student Handbook 2010-2011 - Holyoke Community College

persons at least 40 years of age, known as the “protectedgroup.” Affirmative Action will include those with veteranstatus when such status is considered part of the“protected group.”Community colleges truly committed to equal employmentopportunity and Affirmative Action can go beyonddeveloping policies and practices that prohibit employmentdiscrimination on the basis of race, color, age,gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, ordisability. They can take meaningful steps to recruit, hire,transfer, promote, and train women and minorities toenhance their representation.Affirmative Action requires the college to do more thanensure employment and education neutrality. As thephrase implies, Affirmative Action requires the collegeto make positive efforts to educate, recruit, employ, andpromote qualified members of the protected group whomay have been excluded, even if that exclusion cannot betraced to particular discriminatory actions on the part ofthe college. The premise of the Affirmative Action conceptis that unless positive action is undertaken to overcomethe effects of systemic institutional forms of exclusionand discrimination, a benign neutrality in employmentand education practices will tend to perpetuate thestatus quo ante indefinitely.The following specific policies are established:1. Affirmative Action and equal opportunity shall applyto all segments of the college; full- and part-timeemployment; day, evening and online; the curriculumand offerings of the college.2. Equal opportunity and Affirmative Action shall beapplied to the recruitment process for employmentand/or access to education.3. Students will have access to the college, programsof study, activities, and other resources intended toserve them, according to the policies of the individualcolleges.4. Affirmative Action and equal employment opportunitywill be realized in all personnel employment,including recruitment, application for employment,hiring, compensation, training, promotion, and termination.5. All policies, procedures, privileges, and conditions ofthe college will follow and incorporate applicableAffirmative Action and equal opportunity rules andregulations.The above stated policies are intended to be broad onbehalf of the protected group and the goal of promotingdiversity in community colleges. The community collegespledge to apply all policies consistently, fairly, and vigorously.Attempts to subvert or abuse these policies will notbe tolerated. Appropriate action will be taken in the case ofinfraction. All policies are made in compliance with applicablelaws and executive orders promulgated by the federaland state governments and other appropriate agencies andauthorities.Social Media GuidelinesIntroductionSocial media offers HCC a tremendous opportunity to connectwith and better serve its community. These guidelineswere drafted in an effort to address use of blogs, Facebook,Twitter, and social networking sites and tools by HolyokeCommunity College and its employees. Employees usingthese college resources shall have no expectation of privacyover such use. This is a living document and will bereviewed and updated as needed.In developing these guidelines, the marketing and communicationsstaff drew upon the excellent resources made availableby the University of Kansas, DePaul University, IBM,and the Social Media Business Council, in their DisclosureBest Practices Toolkit. These and other social mediaresources can be found at: http://brandresources.depaul.edu/vendor_guidelines/g_socialmedia.aspx , http://www.socialmedia.org/disclosure/,and http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.htmlGeneral questions regarding the use of social media or theseguidelines should be referred to JoAnne Rome, e-communicationsmanager (413) 552-2183, jrome@hcc.edu; or AnneSroka, director of marketing and strategic communications(413) 552-2259, asroka@hcc.edu.Those wishing to launch and maintain a Facebook page orother social media account on behalf of an HCC department,student club or organization, or any other officiallysactionedHCC entity or activity must first meet withJoAnne Rome, e-communications manager, for guidanceabout requirements specific to Facebook pages and practicaltips for optimizing your Facebook presence.Social Media General RequirementsCollege staff and those of HCC-affiliated programs or activitiesthat manage or in any way participate in social media onbehalf of HCC (including officially-sanctioned student clubsand organizations) must be familiar with and adhere to applicablelaws and college policies, including but not limited tothose outlined in HCC’s “Acceptable Use of InformationSystems” and “Use of Copyrighted Material” college policiespursuant to The Family Educational Rights and PrivacyAct (FERPA); social media sites’ terms of use and codes ofconduct, the Commonwealth’s public employee conflict ofinterest laws; and the requirements and guidelines outlinedin this document.In summary, these documents address responsibilities andobligations associated with access to computer systemsand networks owned or operated by Holyoke CommunityCollege; HCC’s and social media sites’ communicationsstandards; applicable local, state and federal laws; ethics; andprivacy and intellectual property rights.43