Executive Order 31 | SUNY Oswego

SUNY Oswego Working to Support New York State Goals for Employing People with Disabilities

In spring 2024, SUNY Oswego completed the university’s Executive Order 31 (EO31) Strategic Plan, which supports Governor Kathy Hochul’s directive committing New York State to being a model employer for people with disabilities.

As part of that mandate, every executive-controlled state agency is required to issue and maintain a strategic plan that outlines its strategy to increase the number of people with disabilities it hires and retains.

SUNY Oswego’s EO31 Strategic Plan is centered around actions that will support its main objectives, including:

Making workplaces accessible for both current and prospective employees,
Increased training for employees to build awareness around initiatives with the Executive Order, and
Communicating to the public, other agencies and stakeholders about available support and welcoming of people with disabilities.
Partnerships with the community and with outside not-for-profit organizations will be enhanced and deepened, under the goals of the new plan.

At SUNY Oswego, all people with disabilities are encouraged to apply to all jobs that they are qualified for. To learn more about employment at SUNY Oswego, visit https://oswego.interviewexchange.com/static/clients/313OSM1/index.jsp. Further, if you have any questions about EO31 or resources for employees with disabilities, please contact ADA/504 Compliance Officer Starr Wheeler at [email protected].

SUNY Oswego EO31 Strategic Plan

1: SUNY Oswego will make current workplaces accessible for both current and potential employees, interns, apprentices and fellows. SUNY Oswego will:

Conduct an accessibility survey of agency websites, documents, and job postings each year. Results from each year's survey will be included in every annual report.
Ensure that all employees receive annual trainings on how to request reasonable accommodations, combined with a written plain language explanation of how to request a reasonable accommodation that is sent to their email. This plain language explanation should be included in the annual report.
Have all officers and employees take a training within 60 days of starting employment upon this Strategic Plan, effective immediately upon availability of the training materials. A log of all employees who completed this training will be included in every annual report.
For long term reasonable accommodations or services connected to reasonable accommodations, will check in twice a year with the person being provided the reasonable accommodations or services connected to the reasonable accommodation about the quality of reasonable accommodation, performance of vendors used to provide reasonable accommodations, and/or the sufficiency of current reasonable accommodations in place to empower that person to do their job. A list of reasonable accommodations, anonymously listed, will be included in every annual report.
Track employee satisfaction in terms of provision of support for working as a person with a disability.
Develop hiring practices to ensure that interviews and communications are accessible and welcoming to people with disabilities. Such practices will include the following: making reasonable accommodations easier to prompt for or request; being mindful of language; refining job requirements; partnering with community organizations; providing necessary accommodations; understanding what you can and cannot ask; getting feedback from existing employees.
Perform quarterly and annual data analysis of self-identified disability disclosures in order to track performance, adjust practices, and/or recommend new goals and objectives towards hiring and retaining more employees with disabilities. This data will be included in every annual report.
Ensure that managers and the Human Resources team know how to contact appropriate state entities like the Chief Disability Officer, the Division of Human Rights, the Department of Civil Service, OGS' Business Service Center and/or internal agency staff in order to develop or expand upon reasonable accommodations.

2. SUNY Oswego will proactively connect to people with disabilities for open positions by undertaking the following:

Review 55-b and 55-c lists for open positions and proactively contact qualified people for interviews. Agencies will track the number of hires from these lists and include in future annual reports
Work with the Inclusive Internship Coordinator to provide internships to people with disabilities. The number of these internships, and whether each intern was retained in either a part-time or full-time capacity will be included in all future annual reports.
Work with appropriate state entities (ACCES-VR, Commission for the Blind, OPWDD, OMH, DOL) on offering customized employment. This information will be conveyed in an anonymous manner in all future annual reports.
Work with ACCES-VR and the Commission for the Blind on providing resources and services for work-based learning experiences, internships, and training for high school and college students with disabilities. Resources utilized will be included in future annual reports.

3 - Part 1 - External Communication: SUNY Oswego will communicate to the public, other agencies, and stakeholders about increased support and welcoming of people with disabilities through the following efforts:

Conduct town halls and/or listening sessions to convey its desire to hire people with disabilities. A list of all such activities will be summarized in the annual update to the Strategic Plan.
Include its goal of hiring more people with disabilities into any of its external emails, including news updates, newsletters, and appropriate social media posts.
Include language on all appropriate job postings that state specifically that "all people with disabilities are encouraged to apply" to all jobs that they are qualified to do.
Post appropriate excerpts of the EO 31 Strategic Plan to its website and also include language on its website that specifically says "all people with disabilities are encouraged to apply" to all jobs that they are qualified to do.
Make copies of its EO 31 Strategic Plan available at all job fairs it attends. A list of all job fairs and other recruitment events attended will be listed in the annual update to the Strategic Plan.
Issue a press release upon the completion of its initial EO 31 Strategic Plan and annually thereafter upon its required yearly updates.
Add references to its non-discrimination and equal opportunity statements in all appropriate documents (printed or online) to make them available and accessible to members of the public. The non-discrimination and equal opportunity statements will be included as an addendum to this initial Strategic Plan.
Distribute both the initial Strategic Plan and its annual updates to all appropriate employee unions.
Make a copy of the Strategic Plan available to contractors, vendors, agencies who assist people with disabilities seeking employment and members of the public in the format requested by the individual making the request.

3 - Part 2 - Internal Communication: SUNY Oswego will communicate to its management team, hiring managers and all employees about increased support and welcoming of people with disabilities. The Strategic Plan will be disseminated and communicated to employees using the following means:

Biannual emails will be sent to all of its employees regarding the desire to hire more people with disabilities and expand its inclusivity and accessibility. Employees will be encouraged to spread the word to their own personal networks.
This Strategic Plan will be referenced in the Commissioner's annual form 6920A "Policies and Standards Generally Applicable to All Employees."
This Strategic Plan will be posted to SUNY Oswego's internal website and made available to any employee who requests it in the format it is requested in.
Concerted efforts to add Strategic Plan goals to trainings, orientations and webinars.
This Strategic Plan will be posted in non-discrimination and equal opportunity statements and posters prominently displayed in offices, in areas frequented and accessible to employees.