As a recipient of federal financial assistance, NC State University is required to comply with federal civil rights laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in all extension and research programs and activities. In addition, our programs are prohibited from retaliating against individuals who engage in protected activities. Explore Federal Laws, Regulations & Guidance that apply to NC State Research & Extension programs.

NC State University strives to maintain a campus environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation and to provide a process for reporting and resolving allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Explore NC State Policies, Regulations & Guidance.

N.C. Cooperative Extension is dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs that comply with all civil rights requirements. Discrimination is prohibited across the Extension system. Explore Extension Policies, Regulations & Guidance.

A nondiscrimination statement is required on to appear on all print and electronic documents, websites, program registration forms, and program marketing materials that are made available to the public, participants, students, applicants, volunteers or employees to inform them that as an institution we do not discriminate. To notify participants in virtual environments of our nondiscrimination policy, the nondiscrimination statement should be presented during virtual presentations. A sample nondiscrimination slide is available to use during virtual presentations.

An accommodation statement is required to appear on all marketing and event announcements and program registration forms. This statement informs participants (employees, students, and the public) of the process to obtain a reasonable accommodation. All program announcement and marketing materials developed by Specialists for county Extension use must include an editable accommodation statement.

Although not a civil rights statement, the public cost statement is required by NC General Statute to be included when 200+ copies are printed for public distribution. Proper acknowledgement of USDA funding is also required in published manuscripts, posters, presentations, press releases, and other communications.

USDA regulations stipulate that Extension cannot provide funding or significant assistance to organizations that exclude any person from participation because of race, color or national origin, sex, disability, or age. N.C. Cooperative Extension and its employees may not participate in or provide support to any organizations or efforts that would result in a program that excludes, restricts, or denies any person from participation because of race, color or national origin, sex, disability, or age.

Extension employees involved in collaborative efforts are responsible for assuring that an organization or group provides services in a nondiscriminatory manner before rendering Extension assistance. Employees should provide a copy of the Notice of Nondiscrimination to each partner organization before joint programs are provided. Once every four years subsequent Notices of Nondiscrimination should be provided to partner organizations with ongoing collaborative program efforts. Log the distribution of Notices of Nondiscrimination in the XCR system. 

NC State prohibits discrimination and harassment based upon the following, which is considered by NC State to be a protected status: race, color, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy or related conditions), age, disability, genetic information,  religion, or veteran status in University programs and activities. NC State also prohibits retaliation based upon a person’s engagement in a protected activity. Individuals participating in Extension programs may file a discrimination complaint with NC State University. NC State Complaint Procedures describe the complaint process.

Discrimination is prohibited on the bases of race, color, sex, age, disability, national origin, and reprisal for prior civil rights activity in programs that receive federal financial assistance from the USDA. Individuals participating in Extension programs may file a discrimination complaint on one of the aforementioned bases with the USDA. USDA Participant Complaint Procedures describe the complaint process.

Civil rights training is an integral part of Extension's in-service continuing education. Training provides Extension employees and volunteers with an understanding of federal laws, regulations, instructions, policies and other guidance. Learn more about opportunities for civil rights training.

NC State Extension is committed to providing individuals with disabilities the opportunity for full participation in programs, services, and activities through our compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

NC State Extension recognizes that individuals with disabilities may need accommodations or modifications to have equal opportunities to participate in or benefit from NC State Extension’s programs, services and activities. It is NC State Extension’s policy that no otherwise qualified individual with a disability will be denied access to or participation in any program, service, or activity offered. NC State Extension will administer programs, services, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities have a right to request accommodations. Individuals will receive accommodations appropriate to their needs in order to fully participate in or benefit from NC State Extension’s services and activities in a non-discriminatory, integrated setting.

Learn more about our Accessibility Resources.

Individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English may be entitled to free language assistance with respect to Extension services or benefits. Extension has two main ways to provide language services: oral interpretation either in person or via telephone interpretation service and written translation. County Extension Centers may request funding to pay for language access services to support mission critical programming from Extension Administration. Learn more about our Multilingual Services.

As a recipient of federal financial assistance, Extension is required to maintain evidence that programs and services are provided in a nondiscriminatory manner. All Extension programs must collect and securely maintain data on the race/ethnicity and sex of the program's participants. Data collection must be conducted in accordance with federal Standards for Collecting Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15).

In the majority of cases this data is collected by County Extension Agents and data is stored in the ERS system. However, Extension Specialists and Associates conducting programs not associated with an agent are responsible for collecting and maintaining their program data for 3 years.

If the program registration is conducted through Eventbrite or Reporter, standard demographic questions designed to comply with the federal requirements are automatically collected. Sample Demographic Data Collection Cards are available to used with in-person data collection. Sample Spanish Versions of the Demographic Data Collection Cards are also available.

Routine monitoring of compliance with civil rights law and regulations helps to ensure access for program recipients. NC State Extension has three levels of monitoring to assure that employees are implementing civil rights policies.

1. An annual internal county review is conducted by each County Extension Center Director (CED) and the Director of the EBCI Extension Center and submitted in the Extension Civil Rights (XCR) online system. The internal review includes but is not limited to the completion of a civil rights checklist that examines nondiscrimination in programs; use of the nondiscrimination and accommodation statements on program announcements and materials; staff and volunteer training; accommodations and multilingual services requested and provided; and outreach efforts. Annual County internal reviews will be monitored by District Extension Directors (DED) as part of the CED annual performance review process.
2. Each DED conducts on-site internal reviews of one-quarter of the county centers within their assigned district each year based on the published 4-year review schedule. This review provides an in-depth discussion between the district director and county center staff regarding civil rights practices. The DED will complete an online form within XCR highlighting observations and recommendations. The internal review will be closed when the district director determines the proposed actions have sufficiently been implemented.
3. The Civil Rights Coordinator conducts a statewide internal review once every three years. The statewide review will look broadly at functioning of the system overall, policies and procedures, data collection processes, and training. Based on this review the Civil Rights Coordinator will revise policies or update trainings, increase communications to staff, or make other program adjustments as needed. The Civil Rights Coordinator will also monitor the XCR system and other data collection processes to ensure information is being consistently and accurately being collected.

The Extension Civil Rights Reporting System (XCR) is a repository to document the civil rights activities that support our compliance efforts. The XCR system provides a means to submit a variety of information including:

• Requests made by clientele for language access services
• Requests made for clientele for reasonable accommodations
• Records of Notices of Nondiscrimination distributed to partner organizations
• Records of employee and volunteer training pertaining to civil rights topics
• Annual county civil rights internal review checklists
• Annual district civil rights internal review forms

The green and orange “And Justice For All” civil rights posters are the primary method utilized to inform customers of their rights, responsibilities and displays information relevant to assisted programs. Recipients of federally-assisted programs, such as land-grant institutions are required to display this poster in their facilities where it can be viewed by customers and while conducting program delivery.

Title IX enables all members of our community to live, work, play compete, empower, create and learn regardless of gender or sex. NC State recognizes that sex and gender identity are important parts of the academic, working and living environment everywhere our campus reaches. To help ensure awareness and compliance with Title IX, every campus building should display at least one Title IX poster in English and preferably also one in Spanish.

Employers are required to post the labor law posters in a conspicuous area that employees frequent. Please order your free posters by completing the online form. In addition to the N.C. Department of Labor Notice to Employees poster, businesses in North Carolina are required by other state and federal agencies to post notices to employees about workplace laws, including unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and equal employment opportunities. A complete list of the notice posters that may be required is found on the State and Federal Workplace Poster Requirements page, and these notice posters may be obtained from the individual agencies that administer the respective laws. In addition, as a public service for the employers and employees of North Carolina, you may download each of these posters individually or in a group.

NC State Office of Equal Opportunity facilitates efforts to ensure equal opportunity by providing guidance, programming, and outreach. The Office of Equal Opportunity oversees the complaint reporting and investigation process to ensure that students, faculty, staff and visitors are safe and not subject to further discrimination, harassment or retaliation. Sheri Schwab,  Vice Provost for Institutional Equity & Diversity and NC State Title IX Officer   slschwab@ncsu.edu

CALS Human Resources coordinates with the Office of Equal Opportunity on the investigation of discrimination complaints.  Rebecca Zuvich, CALS Assistant Dean for Personnel  rebecca_zuvich@ncsu.edu

CALS Evaluation & Accountability Office facilitates efforts to ensure adherence to accountability and compliance standards and provides guidance, resources, and professional development to support research and extension programs and services.  Meredith Weinstein, Evaluation & Accountability Coordinator and CALS Title VI Compliance Officer meredith_weinstein@ncsu.edu