Note: This site is for reviewing legacy plan of work data from 2007-2011. If you are looking for the current plan of work interface, visit pow.nmsu.edu.

Civil Rights - Program Development Dept. (Lea County)

Plan Goal

Civil Rights compliance by New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service is mandated by federal laws and is directly tied to Extension's receipt of federal funding.

Situation Statement

Clear Statement of the Issue: The New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service (CES), as the state’s 1862 land-grant university recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in the development and implementation of Extension programs. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that no person on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex or national origin will be excluded from participation in or benefits of any program receiving federal funding. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that no person on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex or national origin will be excluded from selection, trainings, advancement, and other benefits of employment. New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service has the responsibility to provide programming to all residents of New Mexico. These Extension programs must be handled in a manner that treats every customer and employee with fairness, equality, and respect. This applies to all aspects of Extension programs including identifying needs, setting priorities, allocating resources, selecting and assigning staff, conducting programs, and receiving feedback. Every person who works for the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service is responsible for civil rights efforts. Who Sees This as an Issue: Each county and Native American Extension Office is on a state five year cycle for civil rights reviews. The review consists of an examination of office civil rights files, discussions on successes and problems in carrying out civil rights compliance and reviewing the importance of the task. Furthermore, each state across the nation is on a five year cycle with Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service(CSREES) for federal civil rights reviews. Counties within states selected for federal civil rights reviews are chosen based on varying reasons determined by the CSREES civil rights department. What are the Documents that Surround the Issue: In accordance with United States Department of Agriculture civil rights regulations 7 CFR 15 any recipient of federal financial assistance, regardless of the amount, is subject to civil rights reviews. Further, the primary recipient of federal financial assistance is responsible for civil rights administration where the primary recipient has extended the financial assistance to another recipient. The USDA Civil Rights regulations require CSREES to determine whether or not recipient institutions are in compliance with the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions contained herein. A complete list of statutes and Departmental regulations can be found at http:www.usda.gov/da/directives.htm. What are the Implications of Ignoring the Issue: Civil Rights program reviews conducted by New Mexico State University CES are intended as part of a proactive effort to determine how well Extension programs and operations are being done on an equal opportunity basis as recipients of federal dollars in compliance with Federal civil rights laws, rules and regulations. If it is determined by the Federal partner that New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service is not in compliance federal dollars may be withdrawn from the program. Ultimately, ignoring civil rights laws can result in stagnant programs. What Work has been Done in the Past on the Issue: Reviews are planned and organized jointly between the New Mexico State University CES state office and the CES county offices on a rotational basis. Every year a cycle of reviews is organized by a state specialist. Training is offered to all offices coming up for review and guidelines for the review are published. What are the Potential Solutions Proposed for the Future: Civil rights compliance is an ongoing effort for New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service. The needs of the residents of New Mexico are ever-changing as well as the demographic make-up of our counties. To aid counties to continuously reach out to underserved audiences and meet their changing needs many tools have been created. A civil rights Web site has been established (http://cahe.nmsu.edu/civilrights/) that contains all the information and forms needed to prepare for successfully completing a civil rights review and to establish files for permanent record keeping. It is recommended that offices devise a ‘standard operating procedure’ that works for that office that complies with all civil rights laws and regulations. Tip sheets, which can be found on the civil rights Web site, have been designed to help counties establish methods to continously meet civil rights requirements. Two sets of mock civil rights files are available for counties to check out for training purposes and to view examples of what should be in the county files. During the review process counties establish goals to meet during the next five year period for their civil rights efforts. At the state and county level plans to meet the needs of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals will be established. A civil rights newsletter will begin to bring suggestions and important issues to the attention of all county offices. How will Progress be Made: Progress on this effort is ongoing. For new faculty and staff, training on compliance strategies is always needed. A CES new hire civil rights training packet has been created to help with this effort. A Centra program has been archived as one training tool (eplace.com) and can also be used as an office review tool. Establishing strategies in each office to ensure compliance is an opportunity to measure progress in the area of civil rights. Every employee of CES must understand their responsibilities in civil rights compliance. Everyday compliance must be handled in a manner that treats every customer and employee with fairness, equality, and respect.

Target Audience and Actions

What will Happen: Civil rights compliance work is ongoing. Compliance includes plans of work and program participation data that continues throughout the year to ensure nondiscrimination in program delivery, conducting educational programs for faculty and staff on civil rights topics, the delivery of innovative programs and the corrective action taken when discrimination occurs or noncompliance is documented. The county staff will use civil rights artifacts collected, such as county demographic data, the public notification steps of programs, and data of who attends the programming, to determine gaps in outreach efforts and potential needs of underserved audiences. Who will be Reached: For the civil rights specialist, the target audiences are the faculty and staff in county and tribal Extension offices. For county agents, depending on whether they supervise staff, target audiences will include staff they supervise and all residents of their geographic area with specific attention paid to under-served and under-represented audiences.

Short-Term Objectives

The County Extension Agriculture civil rights plan will include written plans for the agent and staff members' periodic participation in equal opportunity/diversity training that is offered via. conferences or CENTRA.

Program methods and content will be planned to reach ESL persons for participation in Extension programs.

County Extenison Agent will make all reasonable efforts to reach audiences that may be underseved.

Medium-Term Objectives

Internal and external advisory boards and committees are diverse with respect to gender, ethinicity, and community representation and are representative of the population in the geographic areas being served.

Agent and staff understand the complaint process and those issues of compliance and noncompliance.

A nondiscrimination statement is used on Extension printed publications.

Agents, staff, and volunteers understand the basis on which program discrimination is prohibited in Extension programs.

Work facilities are consistent with rehabilitation regulations and are fully accessible to disabled people.

Long-Term Objectives

Where and when appropriate, educational materials are published in a language other than English.

There is equality, fairness, and respect in the use of Extension work facilities, including support for educators, paraprofessionals, secretarial and support staff.

Procedures are in place to mainstream participants into other Extension programs to ensure total inclusion.

All CES employees will understand the NMSU CES file guide system.

Evaluation Plan

Every five years each county and/or Native American Extension office is required to conduct a civil rights review. Civil rights program efforts will be reviewed by a team of trained reviewers representing different program areas and areas of expertise. The evaluation will consist of an examination of the completeness of office civil rights compliance files, discussions on successes and problems in carrying out civil rights compliance and reviewing the importance of the task. Counties, as a team, will establish five-year goals for outreach to underserved audiences within their communities. If compliance is not complete, recommendations will be made that will outline corrective actions needed. A timeline for completion of those corrective actions will be established and a follow-up examination of those corrective steps will take place with the civil rights specialist.