New Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for Supervisors
   On September 30, 2004 , the Governor signed into law a bill requiring two hours of mandatory sexual harassment training and education for supervisors. The new law requires employers to provide two hours of training and education to all supervisory employees every two years and to all new supervisory employees within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Academic Personnel and Human Resources have been working together and with our colleagues system-wide to prepare UCI for compliance with this new law.

   The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (OEOD) provides workshops designed specifically for both faculty and staff supervisors on this topic. In addition, an on-line training program is to be offered through the Office of the President and will be available late summer. Human Resources will include these courses, both live and on-line, in their Training and Employee Development (TED) system, providing an easy way for individuals to register and track their compliance. Watch for more information on how to register in the Fall E-news.

Addressing Hate in Our Community: Community Responses and Resources
Monday, April 25, 2005 , 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Cross-Cultural Center Conference Room
   The final session of the three-part Shades of Hate: A Hate Crime Series will focus on community impact and community response to hate crimes and hate incidents.  A panel that includes representatives from various community organizations will outline the factors that may keep their constituents from reporting hate crimes/incidents, the impact of such incidents on their communities, and what actions their communities have taken to combat bias-motivated acts.  The psychological impact of such incidents on a community will also be discussed, as well as resources available to communities throughout Orange County .

   Panelists include: Dr. James Cones, UCI Counseling Center; Daniel Huang, Hate Crime Coordinator at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC); Terry Stone, Executive Director of the Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County; and Iliana Soto, Community Building Director from the Orange County Human Relations Commission.

   This workshop is free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Gwendolyn Kuhns Black at (949) 824-5594 or gkuhns@uci.edu .
Sponsored by the Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity, the Cross-Cultural Center, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center .

Greater Expectations for 21 st -Century Learning: Implications of Technology for General Education
Monday, April 25, 2005 , 12-1 PM
"Learning About Other Cultures"
   A webcast from The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), along with the Teaching, Learning and Technology (TLT) Group
Register at http://www.aacu.org/meetings/Tech_Gened_webcasts/registration.cfm

   "Technology is making it more feasible for large numbers of students to take time to study off-campus, even in other countries. And it's easier to learn vicariously about other cultures, by communicating with people in those cultures and by studying their works online. What are institutions learning from these opportunities? How can faculty deal with some of the problems that can arise as students from one culture encounter people from another culture?"

   Presenters include Kathie Young, Director of the International Communication and Negotiation Simulation (ICONS) Project at the University of Maryland-College Park, and Jonathan Wilkenfeld, Executive Director of the ICONS Project and Professor of Government & Politics at Maryland .

   As UCI is a member of the AAC&U, the registration fee for UCI employees is $55. For more information about this series, contact Chandi Rajakaruna at rajakaruna@tltgroup.org . Information about the full series can be found at http://www.aacu.org/meetings/Tech_Gened_webcasts/topics.cfm .

   The OEOD provides a variety of training opportunities. Workshops designed to foster the acquisition of culturally competent skills are available and may include dissemination of cultural and historical knowledge, exploration of values, participation in communication and teambuilding exercises, and analysis of scenarios. Faculty, management, team leaders, and all levels of professional and support staff at the UCI campus and Medical Center are invited to participate in the training programs offered by the Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity (OEOD).

Cultural Awareness Workshop
   The Cultural Awareness Workshop focuses on organizing collaborative efforts to improve communication and develop effective working relationships between cultures by examining changing demographics, diverse cultures, and differing manners of communication.

Intercultural Communication Workshop
   This workshop addresses multicultural issues in the workplace with special emphasis on intercultural communication. The backgrounds, cultures, and unique experiences of participants are highlighted in the context of intercultural relations and understanding of diversity.

Departmental Inservice Training
   This program provides training in the methods for teambuilding, improving communication between co-workers, and developing amicable working relationships in a multicultural workplace. The training sessions are tailored to the specific needs of individual departments.

Consultations and Program Development
   Consultations are available to departments wishing to research and plan faculty and/or staff development programs in the areas of diversity, cultural competency, and conflict management across cultures. Please contact OEOD for information on resources, concepts, and models that are available to meet departmental training needs.

Contact the OEOD at (949) 824-5594 to schedule a workshop for your team.

Supreme Court Expands Title IX protections to Whistleblowers
The Supreme Court has held that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects the rights of individuals who report instances of sexual misconduct even if the alleged conduct was not directed toward them. Four months after hearing oral arguments in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education , the Supreme Court determined that denying whistleblowers protection from retaliatory practices would essentially dismantle the enforcement system under Title IX. The case involved a girls' basketball coach who was relieved of his coaching duties after complaining of the inequitable treatment of girls' sports at his high school.

Prompt Remedial Action Protects University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
A state appeals court has overturned a $440,000 jury award to a University of Michigan at Ann Arbor graduate student, saying that the university had responded adequately to her charges of sexual harassment. The university had immediately investigated the student's complaint and warned the visiting professor to stop the harassment. Michigan later refused to assign him to courses or to give him office space. After the university acted, the student was not subject to further harassment. The appellate court said Michigan had acted properly and "is liable for hostile-environment sexual harassment only if it failed to investigate and take prompt, appropriate remedial action" after being notified of the harassment.

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