Published: Oct. 3, 2014

The CU-Boulder invites all faculty and staff to voluntarily identify their veteran status and disability status at the MyCUInfo Portal.

As a recipient of over $300 million in federal contracts annually, CU-Boulder is required to adhere to federal regulations in order to keep in good standing with our federal contracts. For instance, we are required to maintain an affirmative action program and follow other sections of the law to ensure that the university does not discriminate against applicants and employees based on protected status, such as race, ethnicity, gender, veteran and disability. Furthermore, the university strives to engage in effective outreach to attract, recruit and advance qualified individuals within those historically underserved populations.

While veterans and individuals with disabilities have long been protected by such regulations (there was already a requirement to develop effective programs for the equal opportunity of these populations), it wasn鈥檛 until 2014 that the federal government made a bolder move to ensure contractors do more to attract, recruit and advance qualified members of these two groups specifically. To this end, the Office of Federal Compliance Contracts Programs (OFCCP) under the Department of Labor has passed regulations that require all federal contractors over 50 employees that receive at least $50,000 annually in federal contracts to invite their workforce and applicants to identify as a veteran and whether or not they have a disability.

The data is used to statistically identify areas where the employers need to make a concerted effort to engage in proactive outreach activities to increase the number of qualified veterans and individuals with disabilities as applicants and employees. However, regardless of protected status, the most qualified candidate or employee based upon their business-related qualifications should be the one selected for employment and advancement.

鈥淥verall, the intention of the OFCCP to collect data on disability and veteran status of employees and applicants is a positive one,鈥� says Torrey S. Tiburzi, the Affirmative Action Officer at CU-Boulder. 鈥淚 can understand how many federal contractors can see these new regulations and analyses as a hardship. However, I have been in the affirmative action industry over a decade and there has never been a time where veterans and individuals with disabilities were given the attention that is deserved. I believe it鈥檚 largely due to the fact we never had to collect data and analyze our workforce.鈥�

Tiburzi explains that the disability community and the veteran community are both very diverse communities that have faced unlawful discrimination with employment opportunities when they are equally qualified to perform the functions of the job, with or without any reasonable accommodations. These new regulations are intended to help encourage individuals with disabilities and veterans to identify and for employers to actively recruit and advance qualified individuals to create a culture of inclusion and advocacy for these communities.

Both the OFCCP and CU-Boulder want to make it clear that requesting disability and veteran information is not intended to be intrusive or to pry. Rather, it is intended to promote and be inclusive of both populations. All CU-Boulder employees are invited to identify as an individual with disabilities or veteran. Providing this data is 100% voluntarily and there is no penalty for choosing not to do so. Either way, your personal information is protected and will remain confidential.

Should you choose to provide your disability and veteran status, it is easy to do through the portal:

1. Log on to the

2. Click the 鈥淐U Resources鈥� tab

3. Click 鈥淧ersonal Information鈥�

4. Click 鈥淒isability Info鈥� for disability status

5. Click 鈥淰eteran Info鈥� for veteran status

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