Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. If your questions are not answered below, please email equity@vcu.edu.
Allegations of discrimination or harassment that fall under the Preventing and Responding to Discrimination policy or allegations against employees that fall under the Sex-Based Misconduct Policy.
EAS staff members will review your report and assess the information provided. An EAS staff member will conduct outreach with the opportunity for an Intake meeting to discuss your reported concerns.
Current or former VCU student, applicant for admission, or participant in the university’s educational programs or activities within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory or retaliatory conduct; Current or former VCU employee or applicant for employment within 300 days of the alleged conduct; or Third party who is not a VCU student or employee within 300 days of the alleged conduct.
You may file a report and request anonymity if you wish. However, the remedies available through anonymous reporting may be limited, as VCU’s civil rights policies require that respondents (individuals against whom a complaint has been filed) be provided due process. This means respondents generally must be made aware of who raised the civil rights concern in order for an appropriate investigation to be conducted.
Yes, you are allowed a support person of your choosing to help you navigate EAS processes and assist you throughout an investigation.
A Formal Investigation is a form of resolution defined under the Preventing and Responding to Discrimination Policy that seeks to determine whether a violation of the Policy has occurred. For a Formal Investigation to commence, the misconduct alleged must have a basis for resolution under the Policy.
A trained Investigator conducts a Formal Investigation by engaging in party and witness interviews, collecting evidence, and summarizing all of the interviews and other evidence in a Report of Investigation. The Report of Investigation includes an analysis and discussion section where the evidence in the investigation is evaluated against the forms of prohibited discrimination, to determine whether a violation of the Policy has occurred.
Informal Resolution resolves a complaint by the parties mutually agreeing upon resolution, and does not include a formal investigation. Informal Resolution is voluntary and involves both parties formulating ideal outcomes, and then, with the help of a neutral facilitator, coming to an agreement related to resolution of the complaint.
A Respondent is the party that has allegedly violated the Preventing and Responding to Discrimination Policy. Respondent’s receive a “Notice of Investigation” document that provides details about the allegation(s), information about resolution, and other important information about the investigation. Also in the “Notice of Investigation,” the assigned Investigator for the case is identified, and the contact information of the investigator is provided.
The Respondent may contact the Investigator with any questions; the Investigator will likely be in contact soon after the “Notice of Investigation” is delivered to the Respondent, to schedule a time to meet to discuss the investigation and to ask the Respondent questions about the allegation(s).
All the following questions relate to the Non-Discrimination Online Training that Equity and Access Services has offered since Fall, 2021. If your questions are not answered below, please email learnequity@vcu.edu.
The system automatically records completion of the four sections of the training program. If you are receiving reminder emails, you have a section remaining that has not recorded completion, such as a policy acknowledgement (a check-box in the final component of the training program). If you log into the system, it should take you to what is remaining in your training transcript.
When you complete the full program you will receive a final certificate that indicates completion of one of the following:
- "VCU Preventing and Responding to Discrimination - Manager (Custom)" a training program requiring 54 minutes.
- "VCU Preventing and Responding to Discrimination - Non-Manager (Custom)," a training program requiring 45 minutes.
All VCU employees (anyone who is on payroll) are required to complete the training once. This includes faculty, staff, adjuncts, full-time, part-time, and student employees.
Managers (those who have responsibility for one or more employees in the workplace) are required to complete “Discrimination: Avoiding Discriminatory Practices.” All other employees are required to complete “Discrimination Awareness in the Workplace.”
Your personal training transcript can be accessed here.
Enter your University credentials on the sign on page. The system will then walk you through the program page by page. Once you complete the training in the system, your completion will automatically be logged and you will be able to download a certificate of completion for your records.
It is the responsibility of every member of the VCU community to support diversity, foster a climate of inclusion, and be familiar with the policy on Preventing and Responding to Discrimination. In order to equip employees with the knowledge needed to achieve this, VCU is using this online discrimination training.
Employees are required to complete this training once with a passing rate of at least 80%. Employees are encouraged to attend other awareness programs throughout the year.
Current employees are required to complete the training by the end of the first week of classes for the spring semester, Friday, January 21, 2022.
New employees starting October 21 and after will be required to complete the training within 90 days of receiving the email from LearnEquity@VCU.
Completion is monitored through the EEO/AAP Office and provided to leadership on a regular basis.
If you believe you have been assigned to the manager training in error, please email learnequity@vcu.edu and we will update your training module to the appropriate option.
If you believe you have not been assigned to the manager training in error, please email learnequity@vcu.edu and we will update your training module to the appropriate option.
Vector LMS is compatible with all recent versions of Google Chrome (preferred), Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, iOS, and Android.
You will need internet access and audio capabilities. Closed captioning, audio descriptive captioning and an interactive transcript are available in the course player.
Vector LMS Troubleshooting Tips
You can resolve most issues with one of these 3 steps:
- Switch browsers. Use Chrome or Firefox when you can instead of IE.
- Make sure your browser is up to date by visiting: www.whatismybrowser.com.
- Make sure to Clear the Cache.
If you need additional support, you can reach out to Vector Solutions Support Team at support.education@vectorsolutions.com or 800-434-0154. When emailing support, please include the name of your organization, which browser you are using, a screenshot of the entire screen including the website url (if applicable) and a detailed description of what you are experiencing.
You will log into the Vector LMS via https://vcu-va.safecolleges.com/ and you will be prompted to enter your VCU single-sign-on credentials.
The training is compatible with all devices, but for best results it is recommended that you use Chrome or Firefox browsers to access the training.