Affirmative Action Policies and Procedures for Appointment of Officers
As the chief executive officer of the University, the President has the responsibility for ensuring compliance with the laws governing equal opportunity, nondiscrimination, and affirmative action. The President has delegated that responsibility to the Provost who also directs the implementation of the University’s affirmative action policies and programs for its officers of instruction, research, and the libraries. The Vice Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action exercises overall management of these policies and programs on behalf of the Provost. At the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, the Provost has assigned responsibility for their implementation to the Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences.
Every appointment as an officer of instruction or research must be made in accordance with the policies described in the University’s Affirmative Action Plan.
Before an initial full-time, compensated appointment can be made, with certain exceptions for postdoctoral officers of research, the Vice Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, acting on behalf of the Provost, who is the University’s chief affirmative action officer, reviews the procedures by which the nominee was selected. No one who will fill a position that is subject to those requirements can start to work in either a full-time or part-time capacity or be paid in any manner until the Vice Provost has given clearance for the appointment.
Requests for clearance are submitted through the University’s electronic system for academic recruiting, called Academic Search and Recruitment. The Vice Provost uses this system to determine if a search followed the standard search and selection procedures of the unit for making instructional and research appointments at the proposed rank of the candidate. Those meeting that requirement receive electronic clearance. Others that do not, including requests for an exception to the affirmative action requirement of a full search, are reviewed by the Vice Provost. In the Faculties of Dental Medicine, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, the Provost has delegated responsibility for considering these requests to the Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences.