This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff.
Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu.


                            GLOSSARY

Affirmative Action Plan or Procedure.  A formal plan or procedure
developed to eliminate, limit, or prevent discriminatory treatment
on the basis of race, ethnicity, and sex by employers and
educational institutions. 

Agent.  A person authorized by another to act on his/her behalf.

Breach of Contract. A breach is the breaking or violation of a law,
right, or duty. A complainant may file a civil suit for breach of
contract when sexual harassment occurs in the workplace.

Civil Suit. Civil suits are municipal legal actions filed in court
for the declaration, enforcement, and protection of rights, or for
the redress or prevention of a wrong. Specific statutes or sections
of the federal constitution or state constitutions give particular
parties the right to file civil suits against sexual harassers.

   Note: In some instances when a complainant wins a civil        
   suit, the Court may order the accused to pay the               
    complainant's attorney's fees and court costs.

Code of Student Conduct.  A UMCP document of prohibited student
conduct and disciplinary guidelines. 

Complaint.  An informal or formal allegation of misconduct against
an individual. The original or initial pleading by which an action
is commenced. A formal complaint is a written complaint filed in an
appropriate office which requires action on the behalf of the
sexually harassment complainant. An informal complaint a verbal
allegation of objectionable behavior by acomplainant. 

Conciliation.  The process of seeking to resolve a discrimination
complaint through informal negotiations without resorting to a
formal hearing or Court action.

Contract.  An agreement, written, oral, or implied by
law, between two or more parties.

Criminal Suits.  Action instituted or filed to punish an infraction
of the criminal law. Touching, fondling, physical assaults, and
attempted rape fall within the realm of criminal acts.

Dean.  An administrator who heads a division within a college or
university.

Director. The head of an administrative unit. A personen trusted
with the overall direction of a particular department.

Discrimination.  An act, policy, or practice which unlawfully
differentiates against a person on the basis of their race, sex,
creed, color, religion, etc. Discrimination may involve a single
act or may be a continuing policy or practice. Discrimination may
be intentional or unintentional.

***  Discrimination may be overt (discriminating openly on the    
     basis of sex or race) or covert (using a mechanism           
     indirectly related to sex or race to discriminate).

EEOC Guidelines.  The EEOC guidelines specify that "unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment
when:

   1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or     
   implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment;

   2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual 
   is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the    
   individual; or

   3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably      
   interfering with an individual's work performance or creating  
   an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment."

Employee.  A staff member, agent, or student who has been hired or
selected to perform a service for wages.

Employer.  A manager, head, director, or supervisor who provides
jobs that pay wages or a person who directs salaried and/or
non-salaried personnel to perform a particular service or activity.

Equal Employment Opportunity.  Equal access to all available jobs
and training, under equal terms and conditions, and with equal
benefits and services in the absence of actions, policies, and
practices which illegally differentiate among applicants and
employees on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age,
and religion. 

This includes equality in recruitment, hiring, layoff, discharge,
recall, promotion, training, wages, sick leave, vacation, overtime,
insurance, retirement, and pension benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  The Federal agency
which, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, administers federal laws
and regulations which relate to discrimination in employment. The
Commission is the enforcement agency for Title VII.

Grievance.  An injury, injustice, or wrong which provides grounds
for complaint because it is unjust, discriminatory and against
university policies on procedures.

Guidelines. Interpretations of legal or administrative regulations.

Human Relations Code.  Adopted by The University of Maryland,
College Park in 1976, prohibits harassment & discrimination on the
basis of race, color, sex, marital status, personal appearance,
age, national origin, political affiliation, or on the basis of the
exercise of rights secured by the First Amendment of the United
States Constitution. 

Injunction.  An injunction is a court order forbidding a certain
type of action by an individual or institution. An injunction
prevents the initiation or continuation of a wrong.

Jurisdiction.  It is the authority by which campus grievance
systems and court accept and decide cases. 

Legal Action. A civil or criminal suit filed in a court by a
prosecutor, an enforcing agency or department, an aggrieved person,
several persons (class action), or an organization.

Office of Human Relations Programs (OHRP).  The University of
Maryland Human Relations Office is part of the President's Office.
HRO sponsors Campus-wide programs, workshops, seminars, forums, and
services to increase awareness and appreciation of individual and
group differences. One of the primary functions of the Office is to
administer the UMCP Human Relations Code. The Code is the Campus'
legal document that sets forth the process for dealing with
complaints of discrimination.

***  Discrimination complaints may be filed with the Campus       
     Compliance Officer in the Human Relations Office, the Equity 
     Administrators, the Personnel Office, or one's Supervisor.

Policy.  A policy is a method of management, actions, or    
conditions used to guide and determine present and future
decisions. It is an overall plan embracing the general goals and
procedures of a body, an agency, or an organization.

Reasonable Person Standard.  The reasonable person standard is a
phrase used to denote a hypothetical person who exercises "those
ordinary qualities of attention, knowledge, intelligence and
judgement which society requires of its members for the protection
of their own interest and the interest of others." The phrase does
not apply to a person's ability to reason, but rather the prudence
with which s/he acts under the circumstances. Similar terms are
reasonably prudent person or the ordinary prudent person.    

Reprisal.  In general, any action taken by one person either in
spite or as a retaliation for an assumed or real wrong by another.

Retaliation.  To repay in kind, return like for like, or to get
revenge. The infliction upon an actual or perceived "wrong doer"
the same, or another injury, which the "wrong doer" has caused to
another.

Rights.  That which one is entitled to have, or to do, or to
receive from others within the limits prescribed by law.

Sex Discrimination.  Defined as acts of preferential treatment and
failure to provide equal opportunity based on a person's gender.
For example, giving rewards, punishments, assignments, promotions,
and bonus funds based on reasons other than a person's performance
and merit.

Sexual Harasser.  A person perceived or accused by another person
of engaging in actions which the accuser/complainant perceives
as sexual harassment. 

Sexual Harassment Complaint. An informal or a formal allegation
against a person.

Sexual Harassment Complainant.  A person who files a complaint of
sexual harassment in a formal legal or quasi-legal process, or in
an informal process.

Sexual Pollution.  Sexual pollution is an act (or continuous acts)
that has (have) the potential for being offensive and should be
considered improper if it is (they are) not job related. Examples
of sexual pollution are: remarks of a sexual nature, open displays
of written and pictorial erotica, or nude photographs or posters
that are not job related or are not being displayed for educational
purposes.

Statute.  A statute is a law, enacted by a legislature, which
declares, commands, or prohibits certain actions. A permanent rule
established by an organization, corporation, etc, to govern.
Federal statues apply to the entire country. State and local
statues apply only to that particular jurisdiction.

Student.  A person who attends classes at the University of
Maryland College Park, on a full-time or part-time basis. This
includes a person auditing a course.     


Please note the following changes under the new University System
effective July 1, 1988.

1. The title of Chancellor, has been changed to President;

   The Title of Vice Chancellor, has been changed to Vice   
   President;

   The Title of Assistant to the Chancellor, has been changed to 
   Assistant to the President.

   The Title of President has been changed to Chancellor.