University of Montevallo
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

https://www.montevallo.edu/about-um/administration/human-resources/equal-opportunity/ In accordance with University policy 01:100, the University of Montevallo is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution and prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability, or disabled veteran/Vietnam era veteran status in the University’s educational programs; admissions policies; faculty, staff, and student employment policies; financial aid; or other school-administered programs and services. The University of Montevallo prohibits any form of harassment related to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status of and by faculty, staff, and students. It is the University’s intent to take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity in employment, and to avoid unlawful discrimination in employment within the University. The University will take affirmative action to recruit, employ, and to advance in employment minorities, women, and disabled veterans/Vietnam era veterans. Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified disabled veterans and persons with disabilities. The University and individuals or agencies signing contracts with the University agree not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information disability, or veteran status and agree to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants and employees are treated without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. This policy covers the following: Recruitment and recruitment advertising; employment, promotion, demotion, or transfer; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; training; and all other terms and conditions of employment. The University and individuals and agencies with whom it contracts will adhere to the letter and spirit of all relevant laws and governmental regulations. The Director of Human Resources and Risk Management is responsible for coordination of all activities to ensure equal opportunity/affirmative action in all University programs and activities and for monitoring their effectiveness.

We have a program called Meet Me At Montevallo where we bus Birmingham City students to campus, give them a campus tour, and feed them lunch. They also get to hear from deans, campus minority groups, and other student services offices. We also have TRIO SSS and McNair that explicitly serve minority/first generation college students, and a Great Start Program (GSP) that is a bridge program for students whose test scores are too low for regular admission. Description of TRIO from website: McNair scholars receive services such as GRE preparation, academic counseling, personal development, tutoring and many additional services based on individual scholar needs. McNair scholars are also able to participate in graduate school campus visits, cultural events and connect with professionals in their areas of interest; likewise, scholars participate in various seminars, additional academic programming, and undergraduate research. WE also have scholarships for minority students, including Transfer Minority Scholarship, Minority Educators Scholarship, Martin Luther King Scholarship, Minority Mentoring Scholarship. As for Faculty and Staff, HR advertises all job openings on HigherEdjobs.com, HigherEdjobs.com Affirmative Action, The Academic Network, Inc., MFAD (Minority Faculty Application Database) Diverse Jobs. Several of these websites explicitly recruit minority applicants.

Montevallo Participates in TRIO SSS and McNair Scholars Program. We also run a Great Start Program that provides additional support for students whose test scores were too low for regular admission.

McNair Scholars Program encourages its participants (who are all minority/first generation students) to attend PhD programs directly following their undergraduate experience. They support students in all aspects of this process.