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[[underlined]] Equal Opportunity [[/underlined]]

Mr. Ripley reported that Mr. Will Douglas, Jr. joined the staff as Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity in June 1977, replacing Mr. Archie Grimmett. He has begun an intensive review of the Institution's equal opportunity policies and programs. Data is presently being compiled which will enable bureau directors and heads of major offices to identify key areas requiring improvement. Mr. Douglas has visited the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and plans to visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in January 1978.

A system has been developed to categorize the Smithsonian workforce into seven occupational groupings -- scientific/curatorial, technician, administrative, clerical, wage grade (crafts), wage grade (custodial), and guard force -- which will provide a basis for analyzing where major emphasis should be placed. New comparative analyses are currently unavailable due to a major computer conversion at the Smithsonian Institution; however, this data will be reported at the next meeting of the Board of Regents.

Mr. Douglas also has been assigned responsibility for coordinating the Institution's handicapped programs in compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; this Act requires that no otherwise qualified handicapped person may be excluded from programs or activities receiving federal assistance solely by reason of a handicap. Mr. Douglas has briefed the bureau directors on the programs for the handicapped and plans to evaluate the progress of these programs periodically.