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2007 Accomplishment Report

WV Civil Rights Advisory Committee

This year’s WV Civil Rights Advisory Committee has been extremely active this year, and we are very proud of their commitment to the program. They did an outstanding job, even though we lost four members of the committee and had two replacements. “Give the world your best you have and the best will come back to you” exemplifies this committee’s efforts. Our committee is representative of all our employees and the various occupations, grade levels, sex, race national origin and geographical locations.

The following is a list of accomplishments of the West Virginia Civil Rights Advisory Committee (CRAC) for Fiscal Year 2007:

All the CRAC Business Plan action items were all completed with the exception of some training not received because of Budget Constraints.

  • CRAC SEPM’s and Members at Large conducted nine (9) West Virginia Civil Rights Compliance Reviews completed in FY-2007 in all three Areas. One or two members from the CRAC, i.e. a Member at Large and/or a SEPM, conduct the reviews.
  • CRAC held four regular scheduled meetings in FY-2007, and one of these meetings was a teleconference. E-mail is used extensively for communication between members of the committee.
  • CRAC reviewed the list of training requests approved for FY2007 in accordance with EEO and Civil Rights policy, and there appeared to be no abnormalities found with the training requests received. The results of this review will be maintained to discover any trends with subsequent years. It was noted that training was extremely limited due to budget constraints, and the committee discussed this as an overall concern.
  • The CRAC Chair met with the Acting and current STC to discuss the committee’s efforts and the obvious limited diversity of our State. WV has a history of being a predominately Caucasian state, and this is reflected in our statistics as well. Currently approximately 2 % of our workforce is represented by non-Caucasians, and 34% of the total workforce is female. We need to seek out and encourage more Black, Hispanic, Native Indian and people with Disabilities to create a healthy, diverse workforce.
  • CRAC committee updated and streamlined the mentoring brochure and information presented on the web.
  • CRAC, with the help of the Public Affairs Specialist, maintains the Civil Rights web site maintained and updated with new information. The web site is linked to the WV NRCS home page and National Civil Rights home page. The web site is dynamic and constantly updated with new information. Information about the Civil Rights Advisory Committee, quarterly meeting minutes and other associated information is posted on the site including the SEPM Business Plans and Accomplishment reports. New information added to the CRAC Web this year were:
    • The Chief’s Civil Rights Policy Statement
    • NRCS Civil Rights Required Posters
    • The Civil Rights Compliance Review Guide
    • WV NRCS Employee Guide
    • CRAC Monthly Calendar
    • Specific information, sites or presentations that linked specifically to each emphasis or special emphasis program (Hispanic Who’s Who, FWP PowerPoint, Disability Building Accessibility Checklist, Fact Sheet on Reasonable Accommodations, Supporting Red Shirt Day (heart awareness), Veterans’ Guide and Veterans’ Preference Advisor and others.
  • CRAC assisted the Human Resources Manager in developing the AEP (Affirmative Employment Program) Plan.
  • CRAC continues to compare FY2003, FY2004 and subsequent years against the total numbers of employees within WV NRCS to determine any trends or problems associated with the awards procedure. We currently track and/or compare awards given to gender (female/male), diversity group, and grade levels and plan to maintain and monitor awards presented using these parameters. The awards for FY2006 were reviewed and the percentage of awards appeared consistent with the PATCO groupings. The percent reviewed according to grade indicated a slightly less likelihood of presentation of an award to the lower grade employee. Dialog ensued concerning this single trend, and it was agreed that this decrease likely reflects supervisors’ lack of participation in the award process. It was suggested that a notice should go out once or twice a year to encourage all supervisors to nominate (for either a spot, performance or a non-monetary award) an employee for an outstanding contribution; however, discussion ensued and this topic was tabled until next year. It was suggested it be added to the CRAC FY2008 business plan.
  • CRAC responded to all e-directives routed to the Chair for comment in a timely manner.
  • CRAC sent two power point pictures and description to the National Civil Rights Committee per Solicit Civil Rights Training Requests
  • “FIRSTS” for WV NRCS CRAC for FY 07:
    • The CRAC developed the WV NRCS Employee Guide for new or transferring employees. This will also be useful to other employees because of the timeliness of information. This was a large task for the CRAC. The guide is an excellent source of information. It is on our web site for easy access. The guide includes information about NRCS, personnel and administrative policies, careers, pay and leave information, benefits, job protections, common NRCS acronyms, WV organizational chart, frequently used web sites and much more. We recommend each Area Representative review this guide with new or transferring employees.
    • The CRAC Chair made several contacts with the USDA Liaison at WV State University and WV Extension Service. Information was sent concerning the USDA 1890 scholarship program, USDA student job notices, the NOPHNRCSE scholarship and endowment fund committee application and announcement information and information about the 2007 summer intern program. Information was also sent concerning USDA Careers, and it is planned that next year we will support their career day.
    • CRAC represented WV-NRCS at the Career Expo, Sept. 12, 2007, at the WVU Coliseum, and approximately six hundred students attended the Expo. Approximately 100 students talked to NRCS about career opportunities─10% of the students were minorities or disabled. We also received a free radio broadcast advertisement about our booth.
    • This year special emphasis was placed on providing information to our staff about the Civil Rights Program. Each program manager prepared a news article and/or a power point presentation; spoke to a group or at an area meeting about their program or Civil Rights. They also attended teleconference meetings particular to their program in addition to their regular duties.
    • CRAC encouraged each Member at Large to plan a diversity day celebration within their area. The State Office had a guest historian/storyteller and poet speak about WV diverse culture and heritage for their Diversity Day Luncheon. The West Area had a Diversity Day Luncheon celebrating their diversity and unique heritage and both used a “Guessing Game” which included unique background, talents, history and heritage information about each employee (information the employee offered to share). Everyone enjoyed the programs and learned quite a bit.
    • All program managers received the Special Emphasis Program Manager’s Workshop SEPM training manual. The manual was reviewed at meetings and was considered training for the year, due to lack of budget for training.
    • In order to maintain continuity from year to year, the program managers agreed to create the next year’s business plan and assist a new manager (if so appointed)
    • The business plan is flexible and can be altered if necessary; but, by doing this, it provides the new program manager structure and template, while maintaining continuity.
    • Each Area Member at Large prepared a year end report outlining their activities in relation to Civil Rights.

In accordance with the CRAC bylaws, the CRAC is recommending to the DEEOO Kevin Wickey that Barbara Broxterman assume the Chair for this committee.

The CRA Committee at the meeting on Aug. 29, 2007 voted on the following by-law changes and, if approved by Mr. Wickey, the changes will be amended to reflect the vote by next meeting.

  • Extend the CRAC Chair appointment from a maximum of two years to three years.
  • Allow an Area Representative to have a co-lateral duty as a SEPM, Chair or Vice-Chair representative, as needed.
  • If there is no appointed Veteran Emphasis Program Manager, then the duty would be co-chaired with the Disabilities Emphasis Program Manager.

CRAC has prepared the FY-07 End of Year Accomplishment Report and FY-08 Business Plan as well as the Member-at-Large Report. These reports are submitted for your review. Should you require additional information or have questions regarding this report, please contact Barbara Broxterman, CRAC Chair, at the State Office at (304) 284-7562.

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