ACD 002: Definitions

[horizontal rule]

Effective: 8/15/1990

Revised: 1/30/2008

ACD 002: Definitions

Terms used in this manual are defined as follows:

Abuse of Authority: Generally meaning action or decision that is outside the scope of the alleged violator’s position, scope of duties, or level of authority as authorized by the president or designee. However, even actions that are within the alleged violator’s authority may constitute abuse of authority if the violator’s motive or purpose is to harass, intimidate, or treat the employee unreasonably or capriciously under the applicable facts and circumstances.

Academic/Administrative Unit: Any component of the university that is involved in the hiring of faculty, academic professionals, and/or graduate assistants/associates (e.g., colleges, departments, centers, and programs).

Academic Freedom: See “Professional and Intellectual Freedom.”

Academic Professional: A nonclassified employee involved with research or teaching programs who requires professional and intellectual freedom and who reports to a person below the level of provost or vice president, including librarians and researchers.

Access Privileges: Authorization to access and use computers and related resources.

Account: User identification and related access to computers and resources.

ACRD: Arizona Civil Rights Division, a state agency authorized to accept, investigate, resolve, or make findings related to charges of employment discrimination.

ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Administrator or Administrative Staff: An officer who reports directly to the president or to a vice president and who is responsible for planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and evaluating the activities of a major segment of a university; promulgating and implementing university rules and regulations; preparing and administering the organizational budget; maintaining relationships with administrative officials and members of business, government, and civic communities. These positions shall include vice presidents, deans, academic department heads, and other positions as determined by the board.

Any nonclassified or nonstudent employee, not covered by the Conditions of Professional Service or Conditions of Faculty Service, who reports to a person below the level of vice president and who has a direct role in planning, organizing, directing, evaluating, and controlling a major university function. Specific positions shall be determined by the president consistent with the terms of this definition.

Adverse Personnel Action

An employment-related act or decision of a supervisor or higher level authority that impacts an employee negatively. The following are adverse personnel actions in the university's personnel system:

termination of employment, including denial of tenure, denial of continuing status, nonrenewal, or dismissal for cause
demotion with salary reduction
imposition of suspension without pay
receipt of a written reprimand
failure to promote
receipt of a lower performance evaluation than in the past
withholding of appropriate salary adjustments
imposition of involuntary transfer or reassignment
elimination of the employee’s position, absent a reduction in force, reorganization, or a decrease in or lack of sufficient funding, monies, or work load
and
other significant change in job responsibilities that is inconsistent with the employee’s position, salary or grade.

Affirmative Action: Those positive steps taken by an employer to ensure the provision of equal employment opportunity. Affirmative action regulations cover minority persons, women, persons with disabilities, Vietnam-era veterans, and special disabled veterans.

Agreement: A written document prepared by Office of Diversity, Human Resources. The agreement is signed by the parties involved.

Alleged Wrongful Conduct: Violation of law, mismanagement/gross waste of money, or abuse of authority.

Alternate Administrator: An administrator from another department or unit or at a higher rank than a supervising administrator, who will assume the responsibilities of the supervising administrator for key decisions involving a relative of the supervising administrator.

American Indian or Alaskan Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition. This category includes Native Americans, Alaskan Aleuts, and Eskimos.

Anonymous Communications: Communication that does not include or masks the identity of the sender.

Applicant: A person who has applied for a position at ASU and has submitted all required application materials, such as a completed application form, résumé or curriculum vitae, and names/letters of references, by the application deadline.

Appointment: Employment for a period as specified in a notice of appointment. The term refers to both the initial appointment and all subsequent appointments, reappointments, or renewals of appointments.

Appointment Renewal: The process by which an appointment is extended for an additional period. See also “Appointment” and “Notice of Appointment.”

Arizona Public Records Law: Arizona Revised Statutes §§ 39–121 to –125.

Asian or Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, Samoa, the subcontinent of India, and the Indo-China Peninsula and nearby islands, as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Sikkim, and Bhutan.

Assets: Resources such as money, negotiable securities, and property owned by or under custodial control of the university.

ASU Web or Home Pages: Any pages hosted on the asu.edu domain.

Authorized ASU Official: Dean or director of a university unit.

Auxiliary Aids and Services

Reasonable accommodations that may be provided for sight and hearing impairments: e.g., qualified interpreter, qualified reader, note-taker, taped text, transcription service, modification of equipment, relay service, TTYs, large print, Braille or alternative print format, telephone amplifier, listening system, open and closed captioning, audio recording, computer terminal, speech synthesizer, communication board, etc.

Note:

The type of service needed will vary from case to case.

Black: A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa who is not also of Hispanic origin.

Board: The Arizona Board of Regents.

Board on Equal Opportunity (BEO): An ASU grievance board appointed to receive and conduct hearings on complaints of unlawful discrimination by current employees and enrolled students.

Candidate: See “Applicant.”

Child: A natural child, adoptive child, foster child, or stepchild.

Classified Research: Research sponsored by a federal government entity that involves restrictions imposed by agreement or otherwise on the distribution or publication of the research findings or results following completion, for a specified period or for indefinite duration.

Classified Staff: Positions in the Arizona Universities Classification/Compensation System (AUCCS) for which generic job descriptions and corresponding pay grade ranges have been established.

Click Trade: Services that pay a fee based on the traffic generated by a Web site.

College Web Sites: Sites developed and maintained by colleges in the asu.edu domain.

Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure: A committee selected by the faculty under procedures determined by the university. One of the responsibilities of this committee is to carry out hearings in accordance with ACD 509–02, “Grievance Policies and Procedures for Faculty.”

Complainant: A current ASU student or employee who believes he or she has been the victim of unlawful discrimination and files a complaint alleging unlawful discrimination, or a member of the public who files a complaint of disability discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act. See also “Complaint.”

Complaint: The complainant’s allegations of unlawful discrimination. The complaint must present sufficient background and facts to identify the alleged act(s) of discrimination and must be submitted to the Office of Diversity, Human Resources as prescribed by ACD 403, “Procedures for Resolving Complaints of Unlawful Discrimination.”

Continuing Status: The employment status awarded by a president to an academic professional who has demonstrated excellence in job performance, service, and professional development in accordance with criteria established by ASU. Continuing status for academic professionals is equivalent to tenure for faculty members and creates an expectation of continued employment unless the academic professional is terminated or released in accordance with appropriate policies.

Day: Calendar day. If the last day of a specific time period is a Saturday, Sunday, university holiday, or during a university break period, the time period is extended to 5:00 p.m. of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, university holiday, or break day. In cases of faculty and other employees appointed on an academic year basis (nine-month basis), day does not include summer, mid-semester, semester, and other similar break periods.

Day-to-Day Assignments: Actions involving assignments on course work, office space, travel, and other benefits.

Denial of Service Attacks: Bombarding a computer or site with mock or excessive traffic.

Department: The term most commonly used to refer to an academic unit, i.e., a sub-unit of a college under the supervision of a chair who reports to a dean. Because of new organizational patterns in the university, such units are also sometimes called schools or divisions. The term “department” may also refer to divisions or schools.

Department Chair: The individual directing a sub-unit of a college and reporting to a dean. References to “department chairs” may also apply to directors of schools or divisions.

Dependent Children: Children who are considered dependents for federal income tax purposes, and who have not reached age 30 as of the first day of the semester for which the special registration fee is granted.

Department Web Sites: Sites developed and maintained by departments in the asu.edu domain.

Direct Threat: A condition or disability that poses a threat to the health and safety of self or others and prevents an individual from performing the essential functions of the position or participating in a program, service, or activity at a safe level even with reasonable accommodation. ASU must show both high probability of substantial harm and inability to reasonably accommodate.

Directory Information: General information as defined in ACD 121, “Privacy Rights of Students,” that may be released to anyone without the consent of the student, unless the student has indicated otherwise. See also “Educational Records” and “Legitimate Educational Interest.”

Disability: A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such impairment, or a perception of such impairment. Examples of impairments: asthma, tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer, angina, diabetes, hypertension, stutter, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, blindness or vision impairment, deafness or hearing impairment, and paralysis.

Disabled: Any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of his or her major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. (Major life activities are defined as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.)

Discloser: An employee who reports alleged wrongful conduct to a public body, as defined herein.

Disclosure: Permitting access, release, transfer, or other communication of student educational records, or the personally identifiable information contained in them, orally, in writing, by electronic means, or by any other means to any party. See also “Educational Records.”

Disclosure Investigation: Review and determination made by the appropriate university officer and/or designees of a disclosure.

Discriminatory Action: An educational or employment action constituting unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, Vietnam-era veteran status, or special disabled veteran status.

Display Advertisement: A job vacancy announcement that is two or more columns wide. These are usually placed in newspapers or professional journals for faculty and executive-level positions.

Educational Records: Any information or data directly related to a student, recorded in any medium, and maintained by the university or someone acting for the university, excluding some records specified in the University Student Initiatives Policies and Procedures Manual—USI 107–01, “Release of Student Information.” See also “Directory Information” and “Legitimate Educational Interest.”

EEOC: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency authorized to accept, investigate, resolve, or make findings related to charges of employment discrimination.

Employees: All elected and appointed officers of a public agency; members of advisory commissions, boards, and councils; and persons employed by the university on a full-time, part-time, or contract basis, including faculty and academic professionals (also referred to as staff or staff member[s]).

EO/AA Office: The ASU Office of Diversity, Human Resources.

Equal Employment Opportunity: The assurance that all employment-related actions are based on objective, nondiscriminatory criteria. State and federal laws and regulations prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, age, disability, Vietnam-era veteran status, or special disabled veteran status. ASU policy also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Essential Function: Fundamental or material job duty, distinguished from marginal duty.

Facility: Building or site owned, leased, used, or controlled by ASU.

Faculty Member: An employee of the board in teaching, research, or service whose notice of appointment is as lecturer, senior lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, or Regents Professor, or whose notice of appointment otherwise expressly designates a faculty position. Graduate students who serve as assistants, associates, or otherwise are academic appointees as well as graduate students but are not faculty members.

Family

Immediate family, established household, or situations that place primary responsibility for care on the employee.

Immediate Family

Parent, parent-in-law, brother, sister, spouse, child, grandparent, and any other relative who is a permanent member of the employee’s household.

Note:

For purposes of family medical leave under ACD 702–03, “Family Leave,” the definition of family member is limited to child, parent, and spouse only.

Filing: Submission of written whistle-blower complaint.

Fixed-term Appointment: An appointment to a faculty position as a lecturer or senior lecturer for a period of time greater than one academic or fiscal year but not more than three fiscal years.

Former Employee: In ACD 204–07, “Whistle-Blowing’ and Personnel Actions,” a university employee who was dismissed for cause.

Former Employee: In policies other than ACD 204–07, “Whistle-Blowing’ and Personnel Actions,” a university employee whose employment is severed through resignation, retirement, or dismissal.

Gender Identity: An individual’s personal sense of masculinity or femininity including external characteristics and behaviors such as dress, mannerisms, speech patterns, and social interactions.

Graduate Assistant or Associate: A graduate student who assumes employment with the university either as a graduate assistant/associate, research assistant/associate, or teaching assistant/associate. See also “Graduate Teaching Assistant or Associate.”

Graduate Teaching Assistant or Associate: A graduate student who assumes any teaching responsibility, including lecturing, leading discussion groups, serving as an assistant to laboratory classes, grading tests, or reading papers.

Grievant: A current ASU student or employee who files a complaint with a university grievance committee.

Health Care Provider: A licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathy.

Hispanic: A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or some other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Institutional Base Salary (IBS)

The base annual compensation set by ASU for an individual’s appointment, whether that individual’s professional effort for ASU is spent on instruction, research, public service, administration, or other activities, and whether that employee is appointed full-time or part-time. IBS excludes income that an individual may be permitted to earn outside of duties to ASU.

In all submissions for funding for sponsored work, IBS is used as the employee’s salary. IBS may not be increased as a result of replacing ASU salary funds with grant or contract funds. IBS and FTE (as shown in the payroll system) of an employee will not be increased or decreased during a fiscal year as a result of receipt or loss of salary support from grants, contracts, and other revenues.

IBS may be changed at the beginning of any fiscal year, and may be increased or decreased at that time. During a fiscal year, IBS of an employee generally will not be changed. However, it may be changed in the following limited circumstances:

the employee’s formal appointment, and required professional effort, is changed from full-time to part-time, from part-time to full-time, or from one required level of part-time effort to another required level of part-time effort
the employee receives an increase or decrease in salary as a result of assuming, or relinquishing, specific academic or administrative duties, e.g., serving as a department chair
the employee receives a cost of living or merit salary adjustment as part of a university-wide adjustment of salaries that occurs during a fiscal year
or
the employee receives a salary increase as a result of a retention or equity adjustment, promotion in rank or position, or change in employment responsibilities.

Intellectual Property: Intangible property rights, including trademark, trade secret, copyright, and patent rights.

Investigative Report: The report submitted by the Office of Diversity, Human Resources to a provost, vice president, or vice provost as part of the formal complaint process.

Key Decisions: Actions involving initial appointment, hire, renewal of appointment, retention, probationary review, annual and other performance evaluations, evaluation for promotion, salary determination, and merit or other salary adjustment.

Known: Confirmed.

Lecturer: A nontenured faculty member whose primary responsibility is teaching undergraduate courses or clinical courses (see ACD 505–02, “Faculty Membership, Ranks, Titles, Appointment Categories, and Honored Positions”).

Legitimate Educational Interest: An interest in an educational record that is justified as part of an ASU employee’s responsibility and is consistent with the purpose for which the records, information, or data are maintained. (See ACD 121, “Privacy Rights of Students.”)

Major Life Activity: Walking, sitting, standing, lifting, reaching, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for one’s self, and other similar activities.

Manual Warrant: A manually prepared warrant not produced by the payroll system.

Minority: A person classified as Hispanic, Black, Asian or Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaskan Native regardless of the person’s citizenship.

Misappropriations: Wrongful uses of assets (e.g., fraud, embezzlement, and conflict of interest decisions that result in financial losses).

Mismanagement/Gross Waste of Public Funds: Action or decision which is outside the scope of the alleged violator’s spending on budgetary authority, or even when the action or decision was within budgetary authority, the action would be considered by a reasonable person to be grossly excessive or wasteful of public funds.

Notice of Appointment: The document that administrators, administrative staff, service professionals, faculty members, and academic professionals receive each year verifying an appointment for the fiscal year beginning July 1 or for the academic year beginning on or about August 15.

OCR: Office of Civil Rights, United States Department of Education, the federal office authorized to accept, investigate, resolve, or make findings related to complaints of unlawful discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance.

OFCCP: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the federal office authorized to accept, investigate, resolve, or make findings related to charges of employment discrimination based on disability, Vietnam-era veteran status, other protected veteran status, newly separated veteran status, or special disabled veteran status.

Office of EO/AA: The ASU Office of Diversity, Human Resources.

Ombudsperson: Functions as a mediator between a grievant and respondent; a member or appointee of the Ombudspersons Committee.

Other Protected Veteran: A person who served in the military during a war or who served in a campaign or on an expedition for which a campaign badge, a service medal, or an expeditionary medal was awarded.

Parent: A natural parent, adoptive parent, surrogate parent, or stepparent.

Personnel Action: All actions listed in “Adverse Personnel Action” herein, and also positive action including promotion, appointment, re-employment, restoration, positive evaluation, or pay increase.

Personnel Policies and Procedures for Academic Professionals: Arizona State University Personnel Policies and Procedures for Academic Professionals was published in 1986. Most aspects of this document have now been incorporated in the ACD manual; consequently, the document now consists of photocopies of relevant pages from the ACD manual.

Personnel Policies and Procedures for Faculty: Arizona State University Personnel Policies and Procedures for Faculty was first published in 1982 and revised several times since inception. All aspects of this document have now been incorporated in the ACD manual; consequently, the document now consists of photocopies of the relevant pages from the ACD manual.

President: The president of the appropriate university or the president’s designated representative, and the executive director of the central staff.

Probationary Appointments: Faculty and academic professional appointments that will either become appointments with tenure or continuing status within a specified period of time or be terminated.

Professional and Intellectual Freedom: The right and responsibility to exercise judgment within the standards of the employee’s profession. Professional and intellectual freedom is defined as “academic freedom” for those employees involved in teaching and/or research.

Professional Employee(s)

Those employees designated by the Notice of Appointment as “professional,” including:

Academic Professionals: Nonclassified employees involved with research or teaching programs who require professional and intellectual freedom and who report to a person below the level of provost or vice president, including librarians, cooperative extensionists, and researchers.
Service Professionals: Nonclassified employees with a direct role in service who require professional and intellectual freedom and who report to a person below the level of provost or vice president, including those in student services, technical services, student health services, and public service.

Proprietary Research: Research sponsored by a nongovernmental entity or an individual that involves restrictions on the distribution or publication of the research findings or results following completion, for a specified period or for indefinite duration.

Pseudonymous Communications: Communication that uses or implies the identity of an individual other than the sender.

Public Body: The Arizona attorney general; the Arizona Legislature; the governor of Arizona; a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency; the Maricopa County attorney; a member of the Arizona Board of Regents; a university president, provost, vice president, or vice provost.

Qualified Individual: Individual with a disability who with or without reasonable accommodation can perform the essential job functions of a position at ASU; a student admitted to the university who is eligible to receive services or benefits from ASU; or a member of the public who is eligible to utilize facilities or receive services or benefits from ASU.

Reasonable Accommodation

Change or modification that enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal opportunity and/or access. Examples: job restructure; flexible work schedule; reassignment to vacant position; reassignment to accessible facility; delivery of service to accessible site; provision or modification of equipment or devices; adjustment or modification of qualifications, criteria, tests, training materials or policies, provided fundamental alteration will not result from the modification; provision of qualified readers or interpreters; reallocation of nonessential (marginal) job functions; unpaid leave.

Note:

Reasonable accommodation is required for persons with known disabilities; ASU is not required to provide “best” or “most desired” accommodation but rather accommodation sufficient to meet either employment or accessibility needs. Unit heads or higher-level administrative officers must prepare a written explanation and consult with the ADA coordinator before denying a request for accommodation.

Record of Impairment: A prior physical or mental disorder that no longer exists or qualifies as a disability, but is still classified as a disability. Examples: mistaken classification as “mentally retarded” or “learning disabled.”

Regarded As Having Impairment: An individual who has physical or mental impairment that does not substantially limit a major life activity but who is treated as though it does. Examples: individuals with controlled high blood pressure, prior heart ailments, presumptive HIV risk, or disfigurement.

Relative (in ACD 515)

Spouse, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, niece, nephew, child, step-child, grandchild, great-grandchild, and close relative by marriage.

Note:

The definition of relative in this policy is based on the Arizona Hiring of relative law, Arizona Revised Statutes § 38–481, and may differ from the definition of “relative” in other university policies that are based on other laws or regulations.

Relatives (in ACD 204–08): Includes spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters (including half brothers and half sisters), brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, daughters-in-law, and sons-in-law of an employee. (A substantial interest of a relative is considered to be that of an employee.)

Report: Allegations of unlawful discrimination provided to the Office of Diversity, Human Resources that result only in a meeting with the person alleged to have engaged in inappropriate behavior. The meeting is to alert the person to the perception of discrimination.

Reprisal: An adverse personnel action taken by a supervisor or other authority against an employee for a prior disclosure of alleged wrongful conduct.

Respondent: A current ASU employee or student who is alleged to have committed the discriminatory act or practice.

Retired Faculty Member or Academic Professional: A faculty member or academic professional who has completed at least five years of continuous, full-time employment in the Arizona university system immediately preceding retirement, who is receiving a retirement annuity under an Arizona university-sponsored retirement program, who is at least 50 years old, and whose employment has not been terminated for cause by the university.

Rule: A statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy, or describes the procedure to be utilized in implementing law or policy.

Second-Generation Courses: Follow-up courses or workshops modeled after an ASU course and taught by a participant in the ASU course rather than an ASU faculty member (see ACD 120, “Second-Generation’ Credit”).

Service Provider: Individuals or entities who are qualified by education and experience to administer and conduct whistle-blower hearings, using an independent hearing officer, who have contracted with the university to provide hearing officer services.

Service Professionals: Nonclassified employees with a direct role in service who require professional and intellectual freedom and who report to a vice president or person below the level of vice president, including those in student services, technical services, student health services, and public service. Service professional does not include academic professionals defined as nonclassified employees involved with research or teaching programs who require professional and intellectual freedom and who report to a person below the level of vice president, including librarians, cooperative extensionists, and researchers (see ACD 503, “Conditions of Professional Service”).

Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature may constitute sexual harassment. For more information on sexual harassment, see ACD 402, “Sexual Harassment.”

Smoking: The carrying or using of lighted pipes, cigars, cigarettes, or tobacco in any form.

Special Disabled Veteran: A person entitled to disability compensation under laws administered by the Veteran’s Administration for disability rated at 30 percent or more, or a person whose discharge or release from active duty was for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.

Special Pay: A manually prepared paycheck not produced by the payroll system.

Student: Any individual who is or has been formally admitted to and enrolled at ASU (see ACD 121, “Privacy Rights of Students”).

Substantially Limits: Prevents an individual from performing a major life activity.

Supervising Administrator: The administrator who is involved in the day-to-day assignments of staff in the department or unit in which the supervising administrator is employed, e.g., department chair, academic unit coordinator, department director, center head or director. A dean, director, or vice president may be a supervising administrator if one of his or her relatives is employed in the same department or unit in which he or she is employed. A supervising administrator may participate in the day-to-day assignments of a relative in his or her department or unit but may not participate in the key decisions involving his or her relative in the unit.

Supervisory Employee: Any ASU supervisor, director, chair, dean, department head, or other employee who has authority to make or materially influence significant personnel decisions.

Teaching or Graduate Assistant: A graduate student who assumes any teaching responsibility, including lecturing, leading discussion groups, serving as assistant to laboratory classes, reading tests or papers, etc. (Research assistants are not included in this definition.)

Tenure: The employment status awarded by the president to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and service in accordance with criteria established by ASU. The status of tenure creates an expectation of continued employment unless the faculty member is terminated or released in accordance with appropriate policies.

Tenure-Eligible: Being on a tenure-track line, i.e., having an opportunity to be reviewed for tenure. See “Probationary Appointments.”

Theft: Taking and removing personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it (e.g., removal of university property by a university employee that was not entrusted to that employee as part of his or her official responsibilities).

Underutilization: The condition of having fewer women and/or minorities in a particular job group than would reasonably be expected given their availability within the labor force.

Undue Hardship

Accommodation that would be unduly costly, substantial, or disruptive, or that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of a university department, program, service, or activity.

Note:

Consultation with university legal counsel and the ADA coordinator on a determination is required.

University Officer: ASU president, provost, vice provost, vice president.

University Officials: Administrators, department heads, chairs, deans, project directors, managers, assistant managers, and supervisors.

Vice President: An ASU vice president or provost.

Vietnam-Era Veteran: A person who served on active duty for a period of more than 180 days, any part of which occurred between August 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975, and was discharged or released therefrom with other than a dishonorable discharge, or who was discharged or released from active duty for a service-connected disability if any part of such active duty was performed between August 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975, and who was so discharged or released within 48 months preceding an alleged violation of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.

Violation of the Law: A violation of a federal or Arizona state law (statute).

Whistle-Blower/Complainant (“Complainant”): A current or former employee who disclosed alleged wrongful conduct (violation of the law, mismanagement/gross waste of public funds, or an abuse of authority) to a public body, and who subsequently is subject to an adverse personnel action as a result of making the prior disclosure.

Whistle-Blower Complaint: A written complaint filed by a complainant with a university officer alleging that an adverse personnel action was taken in reprisal for a prior disclosure of alleged wrongful conduct to a public body.

Whistle-Blower Complaint Review: A review by a university officer of a whistle-blower complaint, resulting in a written decision that the university officer provides to the complainant.

Whistle-Blower External Hearing: A hearing conducted by an external hearing officer approved by the complainant and university to conduct a hearing if the complainant is dissatisfied with the decision of the university officer following a whistle-blower complaint review.

White: A person having origins in any of the peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East who is not of Hispanic origin.

Workplace: All property owned, used, leased, or controlled by ASU where university work is performed.

skip navigation bar

ACD manual | ASU policies and procedures manuals | Search manuals | ACD manual contact | Provost’s Office Web site