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MCC Daily Tribune

President's Wednesday Message

MCC is thrilled to welcome to campus trainers from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Training Institute March 27-30, 2018. The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for enforcing employment discrimination laws, and in October 2017, it launched two new training programs for employers. You can view the course outlines by clicking on the links below:

  1. Leading for Respect (for supervisors)
  2. Respect in the Workplace (for all employees)

This training program is different - it focuses on respect, acceptable workplace conduct, and the types of behaviors that contribute to a respectful and inclusive workplace. It is an outgrowth of the Report of the Co-Chairs of the EEOC's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. You can read more about the training modules in the Q&A for Employers document.

While most training on harassment prevention focuses on what individuals should not do, this training focuses on what individuals should do. It is interactive and skills-based, giving participants the opportunity to highlight positive behaviors that may prevent conduct from rising to the level of illegal conduct.

EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, has said,

A strong training program is a critical piece of a holistic harassment prevention effort. We know that workplace incivility often acts as a 'gateway drug' to workplace harassment. These trainings, therefore, provide employees with the specific skills they need to act respectfully and to intervene when they observe disrespectful or abusive behavior. In short, the program is designed to stop improper behavior before it ever rises to the level of illegal harassment.

Your supervisor will share information with you about the training date/time for your department/office. The training is two hours. The goal is to have a high participation rate without negatively impacting College operations or services or cancelling classes. I recognize that mobilizing a campus-wide training in a few short weeks is a significant undertaking. The EEOC received many training requests since the launch of these new modules in October, and we are grateful that they are dedicating four days to join us at MCC.

The EEOC's new approach and focus aligns with our core values - particularly Integrity, Empowerment, Inclusiveness, and Collaboration. It also supports our strategic focus on building and sustaining an organizational culture that will promote "openness, trust, collaboration, accountability, and mutual respect that is shared among students, faculty, staff, and administrators from a range of diverse backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives."

We have a shared responsibility for assuring a safe, respectful, and inclusive educational and work environment for all students and employees. Thank you for your commitment to leading on this important obligation we have to ourselves and to our community.

Please share your thoughts on the blog.

Anne Kress
Office of the President
03/14/2018