Anti-Harassment
DSC seeks to provide an environment that supports effective teaching and learning, mutual respect among students, faculty, and staff, and productive, congenial working relations. Discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex/gender, national origin, sexual preference, sexual orientation or disability subverts these goals and is unacceptable on the Dalton State College campus. We do not tolerate harassment of any of our employees or students. Harassment is defined a verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct that degrades, belittles or puts down an individual or shows hostility or aversion toward the individual. Harassing behavior is designed to threaten, intimidate, or coerce an individual and is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile, abusive or intimidating environment for a reasonable person.
Examples of Harassment include:
- Verbal: Referring to someone’s race, religion, sex, disability, age or other characteristic protected by law in negative, offensive, or derogatory terms; making comments that include inappropriate stereotypical ideas, attributes or characteristics of others.
- Nonverbal: Distribution or display of written or graphically derogatory material about protected characteristics; offensive or hostile facial expressions or gestures.
- Physical: Threatening or intimidating actions such as blocking a person’s path, pushing, shoving or intentionally bumping into another person, or actual physical assault.
- Cyber-harassment and/or stalking: Repeated, unsolicited, threatening behavior by a person or group using mobile or Internet technology with the intent to bother, terrify, intimidate, humiliate, threaten, harass or stalk someone else.
In addition to the above listed conduct, sexual harassment, whether blatant or subtle, is a form of discriminatory behavior incompatible with institutional commitments and a violation of policies of the BOR policy manual and federal legislation (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments).
Legal guidelines published in 1980 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provide the following definition of sexual harassment:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when:
- Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition ofn individual’s employment or academic advancement.
- Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for emplment decisions or academic decisions affecting such individual.
- Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or academic environment.
Sexual harassment may occur between individuals of different status or authority in the institution or between peers. Offenders shall be subject to dismissal or other disciplinary action after being afforded procedural due process. Members of the college community are encouraged to resolve sexual harassment situations as informally as possible. Unresolved problems should be reported immediately to a supervisor, a member of the administrative staff, or to the Equal Opportunity Officer (Director of Human Resources). Every effort will be made to protect the rights, privacy, and confidentiality of both the complainant and the accused and to protect the complainant from reprisals or other discrimination.
When one party has a professional relationship towards the other, or stands in a position of authority over the other, even an apparently consensual amorous relationship may lead to sexual harassment or other breaches of professional obligations. DSC prohibits all faculty and staff, from pursuing amorous relationships with undergraduates whom they are currently supervising or teaching.
The Board of Regents also strongly discourages amorous relationships between faculty or administrators and graduate/professional students and/or employees whose work they supervise. Anyone involved in an amorous relationship with someone over whom he/she has supervisory power must recuse himself or herself from decisions that affect the compensation, evaluation, employment conditions, instruction, and/or the academic status of the subordinate involved. The Complete BOR policy may be found at http://www.usg.edu/hr/manual/amorous_relationships.
Anyone who experiences harassment from another employee or a visitor to the campus or persons are urged to report the incident to College officials. The Department of Human Resources will investigate all allegations of hostile workplace harassment. Retaliation for reporting harassment will not be tolerated. Dalton State College may take disciplinary action against any employee providing false information during the investigation of a complaint.
Arrest and/or Conviction of a Crime
Any current employee charged with a crime (other than a minor traffic offense) shall report being charged with such crime to Human Resources within 72 hours of the employee becoming aware of such charge. Failure to report being charged with such a crime may result in appropriate disciplinary action, including termination of employment. Human Resources shall review the nature of the crime and make a determination on what, if any, action should be taken regarding the employee’s employment status until resolution of the charge.
Any current employee who is convicted of a crime (other than a minor traffic offense) shall report suchconviction to Human Resources within 24 hours of the conviction. Failure to report such conviction mayresult in appropriate disciplinary action, including termination of employment. The BackgroundInformation Committee (BIC) shall review the nature of the crime and make a determination on what, ifany, action should be taken regarding the employee’s employment status. The BIC shall review the crimeutilizing the same standards as it applies in reviewing crimes committed by a candidate for employmentbut may consider other factors, including the length of employment of the employee and performancereviews.
Consulting/Outside Activities
Any outside occupation, pursuit, or endeavor that interferes with the regular and punctual discharge of one’s institutional duties, is discouraged. Such activities could result in termination of employment with the DSC. Therefore, any planned activity regarding self-employment, salaried work, or accepting positions of employment responsibility outside the institution should be discussed and approved by the supervisor. Completion of an outside activity form is required for faculty.
No USG employee shall hold or be a candidate for public or political elective office at the state or federal level or take an active part in a political campaign while on duty to perform services for which he/she receives compensation from the USG.
The BOR closely governs the employment of a full-time employee of the USG by another unit of the System or another state agency. BOR guidelines for outside activities may be found in BOR Policy Manual 8.2.18.2.
Dismissal, Demotion & Suspension
Dismissal, demotion or suspension of employees may be effected by the employee’s immediate supervisor when the supervisor determines that the employee’s performance of duty or personal conduct is unsatisfactory.
The employee will be informed in writing of the reasons for the action taken and granted a reasonable opportunity (not less than five working days) to respond to the next highest authority prior to the effective date of the action. Under emergency circumstances when immediate action is necessary, the employee may be dismissed, demoted or suspended (with or without pay) by the immediate supervisor, pending a review by the next highest authority.
Any such employee will also be entitled to the procedural protections of a hearing before a Board of Review convened pursuant to Human Resources Administrative Practice Manual (HRAP) upon request made within ten (10) working days following the adverse personnel decision of his/her immediate supervisor, provided that the Board of Review hearing may take place either before or after the effective date of the personnel decision in question.
An employee who has been dismissed or suspended without pay and is later reinstated will be entitled to recover back pay unless the President or his/her designee determines otherwise.
Cause for Dismissal, Demotion, and Suspension:
- Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor
- Crime involving moral turpitude
- Discourteous or disruptive behavior
- Entering an unauthorized area at any time
- Excessive personal telephone calls
- Failure to report an absence or reason for an absence
- Falsifying records, reports, or information
- Gambling on college premises or when engaged in college business
- Habitual absence or tardiness
- Illegal manufacture, possession, use, sale, or distribution of drugs on college premises Inappropriate handling or disclosure of confidential information or records
- Insubordination
- Interfering with the work performance of another employee
- Job abandonment
- Larceny, misappropriation, or unauthorized possession or use of property belonging to the college or an employee, student, or visitor
- Misuse of college property, services, or resources
- Neglecting or failing to perform duties
- Non-approved use of alcoholic beverages on college premises
- Sleeping while on duty
- Taking unauthorized leave
- Theft
- Threatening, intimidating, harassing, or coercing a college employee, student or visitor
- Unauthorized absences from assigned work area
- Unauthorized purchase of goods or services including credit card purchases
- Unfit to perform duties
- Willfully or negligently damaging equipment or property or failing to report such damage
- Willfully or negligently violating safety regulations
- Willfully violating a law or policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or genetic information.
- Working under the influence of alcohol or dangerous substance as defined by law
- Any other misconduct interfering with performance of duties
Employees Affected by Reorganization/Program Modification/Financial Exigency
Employees who are terminated, demoted or otherwise adversely affected by reorganization, program
modification or financial exigency, as approved or determined by the President or his designee, will not
be governed by the procedures described under Dismissal, Demotion, and Suspension of the Human
Resources Administrative Practice Manual (HRAP). Such employees will, however, have the right of
appeal to the BOR as indicated in HRAP.
Employment of Relatives
A person related to an employee may be employed provided neither is in a supervisory or administrative capacity of the other. Nepotism is not allowed.
Employee Evaluation
Employees are evaluated annually by the immediate supervisor(s). Employees holding administrative positions are hired or promoted based upon a review of academic credentials, professional experiences, and/or demonstrated competency. General personnel information for all these employees is on file in the DSC Human Resources Office.
Administrators at DSC are evaluated continuously by supervisors and are formally evaluated at least once each year. The essential focus of this process is the improvement of institutional effectiveness through enhanced administrative support of the mission of the institution.
At least annually, written performance evaluations will be completed on each faculty and staff person by his/her immediate supervisor. These may be used in determining salary adjustments, promotions and other areas for improvement and learning. Negative performance evaluations could result in other appropriate employment action.
Employee Change of Contact Information
It is vital that personal contact information required for payroll and benefits be kept current at all times. It is the employee’s responsibility to notify Human Resources of any change of name, address, telephone, etc.