The Committee for Equal Opportunity (CEO) has, with the support of the Provost, created a College-wide network of Departmental Equal Opportunity Liaison/Information Officers (DEOLOs). Heads of Departments are responsible for appointing the DEOLO and were encouraged to provide the names of volunteers/nominees from both academic and non academic staff. The only requirement was that these individuals should have a genuine interest in enabling the implementation of equal opportunity policies within UCL.

There are currently about 95 DEOLOs at UCL. Each Department should have one DEOLO, but if a Department is very large or is based geographically on more than one site, it might make sense to have more than one DEOLO, some Departments do.

What skills and attributes should DEOLOS have?

• a commitment to promoting equal opportunities actively across the spectrum of college activities
• the wish to be involved at a local, departmental level.
• Good interpersonal skills, to be able to communicate effectively with a wide range of different people and get on well with them
• a good listener, with flexible, non judgmental attitudes to differing perspectives
• good advocacy and Influencing skills
• being aware of your own inevitable biases and prejudices and challenge these
• being aware of your own limits. It is important to know when you are out of your depth and should seek help from others.
• being willing to be trained and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills

You are not expected to be an expert on equalities issues, the Head of Equalities & Diversity will keep you regularly informed about new UCL initiatives and legislative change and training will be available on an ongoing basis. These will be supplemented by information on this website and by attending DEOLO meetings, which are every term.

Your role is:

• to help the Head of Department with the implementation of UCL's Equal Opportunities Policies and practice at a departmental level. This will include assisting your department with developing and implementing departmental Equality Action Planning initiatives, assisting disabled colleagues with applications to the Access to Work Scheme and in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) departments, assisting the department with initiatives that advance the careers of women in SET. (See elsewhere on the Equalities website for further details on the above.)
  
• to be a local resource within your department to whom staff and students can come for information and advice, distributing and drawing attention to new equality developments and legislative change and ensuring staff and students are conversant with UCL's EO policies and procedures
  
• being the first point of contact for personal equal opportunities issues within your department
  
• liaising with the Head of Department about implementation of equal opportunity good practice within the department and corporately
  
• to provide valuable feedback about equal opportunity implementation at a departmental level, on any specific issues, problems or successes within your department.

You are accountable to your Head of Department who is held responsible for the implementation of UCL equal opportunity policies within the department. Regular meetings between the Head of Department and DEOLO are encouraged therefore in order to provide an opportunity for the DEOLO to flag up equal opportunity issues that have arisen. It is important for the DEOLO to be integrated into the departmental organisational structure in order to enable them to fulfil their role; for example, it would be appropriate for the DEOLO to be part of academic staff meetings and student/staff meetings.

Your Head of Department should be informed of equal opportunity concerns raised by staff and students regarding departmental processes and procedures, but care should be taken to maintain individual anonymity and confidentiality, unless you have gained the permission of the staff or students concerned to do otherwise.

Regarding personal cases, if you can't resolve the issue yourself, then you should ask for help and advice from the Equal Opportunities Coordinator, or your HR contact. It is necessary to get the agreement of the person concerned before involving the Head of Department.

The work load associated with the DEOLOs task should be recognised as a specific Departmental contribution; it will vary with the size of the department and is a matter for negotiation with the Head of Department. The valuable 'enabling' contribution of DEOLOs to the department and College should be recognised with regard to appraisal, promotion, and increment points. Heads of Department have agreed to allow up to 5 days a year for DEOLOs to attend meetings and training sessions.