Affirmative Action & Equal Employment Opportunity at UConn
Equal Employment Opportunity: Employment practices under which no individuals are excluded from consideration, participation, promotion or benefits because of a protected class. EEO is achieved through Affirmative Action.
Affirmative Action: Results-oriented practices/programs that eliminate the effects of discrimination and ensure equal employment in hiring or recruitment, transfer, promotion, or training.
Protected Class: A protected class is a group of people who share a specific common identity or characteristic and are legally protected from discrimination and harassment on the basis of that characteristic. Protected classes are established by state and federal laws to ensure equal treatment in areas such as employment, education, and housing.
Protected Classes (State and Federal)
Age
Ancestry
Color
Covered Veteran
Criminal Record (in state employment and licensing)
Gender identity or expression
Genetic Information
Learning disability
Marital Status
Past or present history of a mental disability
Intellectual disability
National Origin
Physical disability
Prior protected activity
Race
Religion
Sex, including pregnancy and sexual harassment
Sexual Orientation
Workplace hazard to the reproductive system
Status as a Victim of Domestic Violence
As a Connecticut state agency, the University must comply with state AA/EEO regulations in ensuring a non-discriminatory search and hire process. These regulations direct the University to engage in proactive recruitment strategies to identify a qualified applicant pool and qualification-based evaluation resulting in the hire of the most qualified candidates regardless of protected class. Further information on recruitment and Applicant Evaluation can be found on the Search Compliance and Recruitment page.
To demonstrate compliance, The University prepares the Affirmative Action Plan for Employment for both Storrs & Regional Campuses and UConn Health, which are submitted annually to the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO).
The Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) annually completes the University of Connecticut’s Affirmative Action Plan for Employment (Plan) as required by Connecticut General Statute (CGS) §46a-68 and sections 46a-68-75 to 46a-68-114, inclusive, for submission to the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO).
The Plan
- Establishes hiring, promotional, and program goals that promote affirmative action and equal opportunity.
- Illustrates the University of Connecticut’s good faith efforts to achieve a workforce that is balanced and fully representational of the relevant labor market areas.
- Quantitatively and qualitatively measures the University’s degree of success in accomplishing hiring, promotion, and program goals.
- Examines and eliminates policies and employment practices that adversely affect members of protected classes throughout all aspects of the employment process.
Affirmative Action Plans – Archive
The current UConn and UConn Health Affirmative Action Plans for Employment are available to view here. The materials listed below should be considered for archival purposes. Should you need a document in an accessible format, please contact OIE at equity@uconn.edu.
2025 Affirmative Action Plan for Employment, Storrs/Regionals – Approved June 2025.pdf
2025 Affirmative Action Plan for Employment, UConn Health – Approved December 2025.pdf
Affirmative Action Plan Race/Ethnicity Definitions
- WM, WF – White (Not of Hispanic Origin): All people having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.
- BM, BF – Black (Not of Hispanic Origin): All people having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
- HM, HF – Hispanic or Latino: All people having Puerto Rican or Mexican origins, or all people of Cuban, Central, or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
- AM, AF (AAIANHNPI): Combines the Asian and Native American categories (per CHRO)
- Asian: All people in the groups of Asian/Pacific Islander; Asian (all people having origins in any of the original peoples of China, Japan, Korea, Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent (including Pakistan) or the Pacific Islands including the Philippines and Samoa.)
- Native American: Native American Indian or Alaskan Native (all people having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment.)
- TM, TF – Two or More Races: All persons identifying with Two or more of the following races: White, Black, Asian, Native American.
- UU – Unknown: Persons who have chosen not to provide their demographic profile.
Review and Approval
Within ninety days of submission, CHRO reviewers are mandated to review and evaluate the Plan to ensure that it contains all required elements and follows the CGS sections 46a-68-75 to 46a-68-114 . The Commission formally votes for approval or disapproval of the Plan based on the reviewer’s recommendations.
The University’s history of approvals has been based on CHRO’s acceptance that the University has demonstrated every good faith effort to meet goals, rather than goal achievement.
What is Good Faith?
.. that degree of care and diligence which a reasonable person would exercise in the performance of legal duties and obligations. At a minimum, it includes all those efforts reasonably necessary to achieve full compliance with the law.
Further, it includes additional or substituted efforts when initial endeavors will not meet statutory or regulatory requirements. Finally, it includes documentary evidence of all action undertaken to achieve compliance, especially where requirements have not or will not be achieved within the reporting period established pursuant to section 46a-68-92 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
Additionally, as a federal contractor, the University must maintain compliance with federal anti-discrimination regulations. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) monitors contractors’ compliance with the legal requirement to not discriminate based on protected classes as well as enforcing VEVRAA and Section 503.
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
VEVRAA prohibits discrimination in employment against protected veterans, and requires employers to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote, and retain these veterans. As revised, the regulations strengthen the affirmative action provisions of the regulations to aid contractors in their efforts to recruit and hire protected veterans and improve job opportunities for protected veterans.
Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 503 prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals with disabilities (IWDs), and requires employers to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote, and retain these individuals. As revised, the regulations strengthen the affirmative action provisions to aid contractors in their efforts to recruit and hire IWDs, and provide income job opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
Annual Community Letters:
Annual AA Plan Executive Summaries: