January 25, 2008
SUBJECT: 2008 Pacific West Area Diversity/Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement
TO: All PWA Employees
FROM: Andrew C. Hammond /s/
Acting Director, Pacific West Area
As acting Area Director, I share and strongly support Dr. Knipling’s commitment to diversity and Civil Rights as outlined in his memo to all employees dated January 18, 2008, a copy of which is enclosed.
I want to take this opportunity to affirm that I am personally and professionally committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and diversity and to managing our workforce in a way that is most conducive to recruiting, retaining and promoting qualified diverse talent, a workforce that provides equal employment opportunities to all employees of the Pacific West Area regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital or family status, or protected genetic information.
Any form of discrimination, reprisal, or harassment to or by any employee will not be tolerated. I also expect every manager and supervisor to be responsible for maintaining an atmosphere free of discrimination and discriminatory harassment, an atmosphere that provides equal opportunity for all, and builds on teamwork. Nonsupervisory personnel are also expected to share this responsibility through their own conduct by respecting the rights of their coworkers.
Within ARS we have many opportunities to recruit, hire and work with scientists and staff from a diversity of backgrounds. However, we need to be proactive in our recruitment efforts. When recruiting to fill vacancies we expect that you will make a committed effort to diversify the pool of candidates for that vacancy by doing everything possible to recruit individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures and then selecting the most qualified candidate from that pool of candidates.
The PWA Workforce Diversity Committee continues to undertake projects aimed at eliminating barriers to achieving a more diverse workforce, a workforce that better reflects the diversity of the populations we serve. A major initiative implemented in 2007 was the piloting of the PWA New SY Mentoring Program. This program was developed to support our new scientists by enhancing the orientation process and providing the support needed to assist them to reach their career potential—a program where current scientists will guide the next generation of PWA scientists, striving to make each new scientist’s career with ARS a success!
Our employees are essential to our success and must be treated with respect and professionalism. I know I can count on all PWA employees, managers and supervisors to continue to work together to create an atmosphere of openness and make every effort to eliminate discrimination and harassment in any form in the PWA.
Enclosure
cc:
E. Knipling
A. Betschart
C. Rexroad, Jr.
Printable Version
E-mail this page
