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Mttitt (Cluster VOLUME 72, NUMBER 15 MERCER UNIVERSITY, MACON, GEORGIA THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1990 Department Of Labor Investigates Mercer’s Employment Policies YT(Tia ,,( V— — A 9 ... M A . _ The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, is in vestigating Mercer University's employment practices, as the result of a complaint filed by several •■onwi faculty members. Concern ed with the violation of Mercer’s •pi opportunity and affirmative iction policies, the Complaint UttLjittc, March. 1989. A«*nt R. Kirby Godsey filled four vice presidential positions without soliciting applications through bona fide and appropriate position announcements. The Com plaint also refers to one staff posi tion, in the Office of University Relations and Development, which was filled in the same manner. ThejppoiAtfnemTqucstioncd by the ttomplaint arc: James C. Coon**. Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Robert V. , Senior Vice President Admmisuauon. p. Miller. Vice President for Enrollment Management; John Womble. Vice President for University Relations and Develop- Henry Named Women’s Basketball Coach hfacon-Lea Henry has been “fceted to coach the basketball team. Henry, who was chosen from tnQrc than 40 applicants for the P°wk>n. replaces Ed Nixon who re **gned in April to accept the head co * c * lln g post at Mississippi Col- ^ » Clinton. MS. The new Mercer coach served as ® assistant at the University of four .casons and was the Lady Gators' interim hc*d coach in February following jr »n of Carol Whitmore Dw “g her six games in that post she guided Florida to a 3-3 record. All three losses came to nationally ranked teams, twice to Tennessee and once to Vanderbilt. Her primary responsibilities at the University of Florida were on-thc- floor coaching and serving as chief recruiter. Prior to taking the position at Florida she coached at Stetson for one season and was a graduate assistant at her alma mater, the University of Tennessee. Henry, a native of Albany. GA. spent her high school career at Continued on page 7 menfeand Shawn Lamer. Director of Alumni Affairs. The Complaint does not question the qualifications of these men; rather, it addresses the method by which they were recruited. Because Mercer holds govern ment contracts, employment pro cedures must comply with the regulations of Executive Order \ \ (pc the gfomtWton and in suring of equal opportunity for all persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sex. or national origin" (Chapter 60—Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Equal Employment Opportunity. Department of laibor p. 98). These regulations in clude adherence to the University 's equal opportunity and affirmative action plans. The Complaint contends that in these appointments President Godsc) and Vice President Wom- blc violated Mercer’s own pro cedures for hiring, which include publicized .announcements of v acancies, internally and external ly; review of applications with special efforts to identify qualified women and members of minority groups; interviews; and documen tation of the attention given each application. Typically, procedures for filling faculty and ad ministrative positions include a representative search committee that participates m the selection of the final candidates. "tbft T|ifWynitv I hi I "these violations of University equal opportunity and affirmative action policies are the rule, not the exception, by which President Godsey fills positions" at the ex ecutive level According to the Complaint, four of these positions were not adver tised externally, and position descriptions were not circulated in tcmally; rather, ' the President and the Vice President appointed in dividuals. whose applications they solicited privately. As a result of this private solicitation of applications and the subsequent ap pointments to the four vice presidential positions. Mercer female and minority students. faculty, and staff suffer as classes by the deliberate exclusion of women and minorities from several of the highest paid and most in fluential positions in the Universi ty" The Complaint points out that in the case of John Womble an an nouncement of the position ap peared 13 months after the resigna tion of the former Vice President for University Relations and Development and approximately 25 days before Godsey announced Womble'$ appointment. Womble had interviewed Jt the University at least twice before the advertise ment for the position appeared. The complainants "submit that the an nouncement of this position was not a bona fide solicitation of applica- Hons. rather, in response to the discussions of the subject within various groups of faculty and staff, the announcement was an attempt to cover up the President's viola tion of equal opportunity policy in replacing a vice president who had resigned 13 months earlier.” Continued on page 7 Alfred Heath Named BSU Director Alfred Neal Heaih has been ap- lo the position of director ••(Xist student ministries at the rSJ"*) 1 . effective July 1, 1990. “ ™ Pinion. Heath will oversee * ) <wect Mercer s Baptist Student union program. Larry Duke, who directing the BSU pro- f* “ d ‘“■veraity Religious Ac- uv «es wui be T*7vrnvryrrr ? received the bachelor of from Mercer in.1972 and the master of divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. KY. in 1976. He has served as Baptist campus minister at Georgia College in Miiledgcvillc since 1981. during which time their BSU has been ranked among the top ten programs in the state A native of Forsyth. Heath serv- Confinued on page 3 Noted author and Phjsician Ferrol Sams. Mercer 42 spoke at the Grand Opening Celebration for the Main Librars during Mumni Dny on April 2d. San*. iM received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.