North Carolina State University, Office of the Provost, Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records 1964-2008

Summary
Contents
Names/subjects
Using these materials
Please note that some historical materials may contain harmful content and/or descriptions. Learn how we’re addressing it.
Creator
North Carolina State University. Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity
Size
88.25 linear feet (167 archival boxes, 1 halfbox, 6 legal boxes)
Call number
UA 005.009
Access to materials

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Some student, faculty, and staff records are restricted. Please contact Special Collection Research Center staff for more information.

The Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records contain correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, publications, and other material related to the administrative functions of the Affirmative Action Office (later the Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity). The bulk of the material involves efforts by North Carolina State University to comply with federal statutory and regulatory requirements prohibiting discrimination. Also included are records of the Disability Services Office, which became part of the Office for Equal Opportunity in 1999. Most of the Disability Services material, comprising student records, is restricted, and will be deaccessioned according the disposition instructions for GU 323 (Services to Students with Disabilities) of the University of North Carolina (System) General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule.

The Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office oversaw all university activities related to compliance with federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and disability. In July of 2011, the office of Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Compliance became a unit under the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity. As of 2020, Equal Opportunity and Equity provides training, resources and assistance to address and end discrimination and harassment at NC State. Areas of focus include accommodations and accessibility, discrimination and harassment, Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action, pregnancy, and Title IX.

Biographical/historical note

The Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office oversaw all university activities related to compliance with federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and disability. In July of 2011, the office of Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Compliance became a unit under the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity. As of 2020, Equal Opportunity and Equity provides training, resources and assistance to address and end discrimination and harassment at NC State. Areas of focus include accommodations and accessibility, discrimination and harassment, Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action, pregnancy, and Title IX.

The position of affirmative action officer was created within the Office of the Provost in 1972. It carried the title assistant provost for affirmative action from 1974, and became associate provost in 1982. The Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity was established within the Provost's Office in 1999, under the direction of the vice provost for equal opportunity and equity (the successor to the associate provost for affirmative action).

The position of affirmative action officer was created within the Office of the Provost in 1972. Clauston L. Jenkins and William H. Simpson held the post successively until 1974, when Lawrence M. Clark was appointed. Clark carried the title assistant provost for affirmative action from that time until 1982, when he became associate provost.

In 1995, upon Clark's retirement, Joanne G. Woodard was named interim affirmative action officer. She was appointed assistant provost for equal opportunity two years later. The Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity was established within the Provost's Office in 1999, under the direction of the vice provost for equal opportunity and equity (the successor to the associate provost for affirmative action). Woodard was appointed to the position at that time, and still held it as of 2007.

The Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office oversaw all activities at North Carolina State University related to compliance with federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and disability. In this capacity, it was responsible for developing and implementing the university's affirmative action/equal opportunity plans; providing education and training regarding non-discrimination and non-harassment policies and procedures; investigating and resolving complaints of discrimination and harassment; assisting in the recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students; and overseeing special programs for minorities, women, and the disabled, as well as advocating the civil rights of those groups. Beginning in 1989, the office also worked in cooperation with the Office of African American Affairs (which became the Office for Diversity and African American Affairs in 1999).

The Equal Opportunity Office began overseeing the Disability Services Office (then Disability Services for Students) in 1999. The latter was created within the Division of Student Affairs in 1985, and renamed Disability Services for Students in 1994. It became the Disability Services Office in 2005, at which time its director was made associate vice provost for equal opportunity and equity. Patricia D. Smith served as coordinator of Handicapped/Disability Services from 1985 to 2000. Cheryl R. Branker was then appointed director of Disability Services as Smith's successor.

The Handicapped/Disability Services Office coordinated all activities at N.C. State University involving compliance with federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. In this role, it assisted students with physical, psychological, and learning disabilities, and facilitated equal access and opportunity for students, faculty, and staff.

As of 2020, the Disability Resource Office is a unit under the Division of Academic and Student Affairs.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Officers
1972-1973
Clauston L. Jenkins
1973-1974
William S. Simpson
1974-1982
Lawrence M. Clark (Assistant Provost for Affirmative Action)
1982-1995
Lawrence M. Clark (Associate Provost for Affirmative Action)
1995-1997
Joanne G. Woodard (Interim Affirmative Action Officer)
1997-1999
Joanne G. Woodard (Assistant Provost for Equal Opportunity)
1999-2015
Joanne G. Woodard (Vice Provost for Equal Opportunity and Equity, became Vice Provost of Institutional Equity and Diversity)
2019-
Sheri Schwab (Vice Provost for Equal Opportunity and Equity)
Coordinators/Directors of Handicapped/Disability Services
1985-1994
Patricia D. Smith (Coordinator of Handicapped Services)
1994-2000
Patricia D. Smith (Coordinator of Disability Services)
2000-2005
Patricia D. Smith (Director of Disability Services)
2005-????
Cheryl R. Branker (Associate Vice Provost and Director of Disability Services)

Scope/content

The Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records contain correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, publications, and other material related to the administrative functions of the Affirmative Action Office (later the Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity). The bulk of the material involves efforts by North Carolina State University to comply with federal statutory and regulatory requirements prohibiting discrimination. Also included are records of the Disability Services Office, which became part of the Office for Equal Opportunity in 1999. Most of the Disability Services material, comprising student records, is restricted, and will be deaccessioned according the disposition instructions for GU 323 (Services to Students with Disabilities) of the University of North Carolina (System) General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule. Records previously filed under UA 005.020-UA 005.024 and UA 0026-UA005.032, as well as UA 005.001 and UA 016.051, have been moved into UA 005.009.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in thirteen series:

1. Correspondence and General Records 2. Affirmative Action Plans 3. Consent Decree 4. Athletics 5. Section 504 6. Title IX 7. Affirmative Action Recruitment Reports/Waivers 8. Mathematics and Science Education Network Pre-College Program 9. Race Awareness Seminars 10. Financial Records 11. Personnel Data 12. Disability Services Office Records 13. Lawrence Clark's Files

Use of these materials

The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], North Carolina State University, Office of the Provost, Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records, UA 005.009, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Related material

Source of acquisition

Transferred from the North Carolina State University Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity.

Processing information

Processed by Will Andersen, 2007 September

Encoded by Will Andersen, 2007 October

Finding aid updated to reflect additions to collection by Todd Kosmerick, 2013 June

Large addition to the collection processed by: Katelyn Cuomo, 2022 May; Finding aid updated by Cathy Dorin-Black, 2022 May

Sponsor

Portions of this collection have been digitized as part of "Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina." The project was made possible by funding from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

Please note that some historical materials may contain harmful content and/or descriptions. Learn how we’re addressing it.

Access to the collection

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Some student, faculty, and staff records are restricted. Please contact Special Collection Research Center staff for more information.

For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.

Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111

Phone: (919) 515-2273

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], North Carolina State University, Office of the Provost, Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records, UA 005.009, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Use of these materials

The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.