Title IX Probe At Sonoma State

ROHNERT PARK, CA — A long-awaited report describing a broken system across Cal State's 23 campuses of handling complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination includes detailed reports on each campus with recommendations for reforms. The following are excerpts from the reports with a link at the end of each one to the full campus report.

Sonoma State University

The campus community's perception of the Office for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment, which handles Title IX reports, "remains colored by the university's recent experience, which includes a high-profile matter involving the former President's husband." Because of recent changes, including new leadership, there is renewed optimism that the office is in a position to succeed, but "numerous challenges remain in rebuilding trust and strengthening the functioning." Those include hiring more staff "to fill necessary positions to support necessary intake, support, and investigative functions." The office should also launch a campaign "to educate the university about OPHD, its purpose and function, and resources available through OPHD."

The full report can be found here: https://www.calstate.edu/title...

California State University, East Bay

"East Bay's Title IX and DHR Office is essentially an office of one administrator, with one full-time administrative support who has taken on expanded roles. There is an urgent need to expand the staffing of the office to include individuals to fill functions related to intake and supportive measures, investigations, prevention and education, and allow the administrative support role to take on more expansive documentation and data-related tasks. East Bay's approach to prevention and education has been organic and ad hoc, rather than strategic. We noted and heard significant concern about the timeliness of investigations, and in some instances, the responsiveness of the Office. The Title IX and DHR Office does not currently have internal written protocols regarding timeframes for each step in the process. We observed that timeliness of investigations is impacted by the staffing constraints and resource needs. We also learned that there are delays even before cases proceed to investigation, such as the time between a report and an intake meeting. In sum, we heard and observed that the investigation process missed required steps, and takes longer than it should at every juncture. We recommend that the Office develop written internal protocols, implement timeframes for accountability, and conduct a process mapping to identify gaps in process and opportunities to enhance timeliness."

The full report can be found here: https://www.calstate.edu/title...

California State University Maritime Academy

"During the period of our review, and until June 5, 2023, Cal Maritime did not have an on-campus Title IX Office and the interim Title IX Coordinator worked remotely. The DHR Office was separately housed in Human Resources and the DHR Administrator was also the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources. During our listening sessions with the community, we learned of the community's perception that Cal Maritime is not invested in its Title IX and DHR programs. Underlying reasons for this opinion included negative perceptions of prior Title IX personnel (prior to December 2021) and concerns about pervasive discrimination and harassment on campus that were deeply impacting the community. On June 5, 2023, a new Title IX Coordinator began working in person and on campus at Cal Maritime. The process to transition the DHR office out of HR to be combined with and under the leadership of the Title IX Office is being reviewed by Cal Maritime. Our recommendations address combining the Title IX and DHR functions, building upon the infrastructure developed by the interim Title IX Coordinator, improving visibility, and resolving the trust gap with the Cal Maritime community."
The full report can be found here: https://www.calstate.edu/title...

California State University, Monterey Bay

When she assumed the presidency in 2022, Vanya Quinones inherited a Title IX/Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation Office (Title IX/DHR Office) that was "broken and nonfunctional." The programs remain "in a state of flux, although the Title IX/DHR Office is improving under new interim leadership and the university has prioritized rebuilding the office to better serve the community." The report recommends "steps to increase its awareness and visibility. Most notably, we recommend that the Title IX/DHR Office revamp its website, which is antiquated and not regularly updated." Other recommendations are "an awareness campaign to educate the university about the office, its purpose and function, and resources available through the office" and internal reforms to receive and investigate complaints.
The full report can be found here: https://www.calstate.edu/title...

San Francisco State University

The Office of Equity Programs and Compliance has grown to five staffers, has among the highest number of complaints compared to other campuses and suffers from broad community distrust. "The community largely expressed a distrust of the OEPC process, describing responses as delayed and ineffective. Students reported a view that the office was hyper-legalistic and lacked a caring and supportive space for students. An updated website with easily accessible access to information, expanded training and education programming that includes opportunities for feedback, and additional personnel to OEPC to improve timeliness of responses will, over time, improve the accessibility and credibility of OEPC. Additional university resources like a Confidential Advocate and dedicated respondent resource will provide additional needed support to parties." Although the office has high visibility given that it has received "among the highest number of reports of all CSU universities, which reflects community awareness of the office and its function ... investigators remain stretched too thin to deliver timely responses and investigations. While there is significant work to be done in the areas outlined above, there is notable support from senior leadership and positive momentum with the current staff in OEPC that positions the university on a path to having a fully developed Title IX and DHR program."
The full report can be found here: https://www.calstate.edu/title...

San Jose State University

The university's "Title IX and Gender Equity Office receives and addresses a high volume of cases. The university reported that the volume of reports for 2022-2023 was 27 percent higher than in 2021-2022. As of May 9, 2023, the Title IX Investigators were actively investigating approximately 15 formal complaints. The Interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer reported that, at any given time, the Title IX and Gender Equity Office is monitoring approximately 200 cases. There are email, phone and in-person reporting channels for individuals to raise concerns to, although those channels are difficult to find and unclear. There is no clear statement about when and how to report, whether responsible employees are required to report, how to submit the online complaint form, or where one might go if they have questions. We recommend either a unified reporting portal for all conduct that may fall under the Nondiscrimination Policy or enhancements to the DHR reporting websites so that they mirror the resources, explanations, and visibility of the Title IX and Gender Equity reporting website. We note that the contact information for the DHR Administrator and general information about the DHR function can be found on university websites but is difficult to find without searching. Unlike the Title IX and Gender Equity Office, which has a standalone website, OEO exists only as a sub-page of the University Personnel website." It is recommended the university "develop a website dedicated to prevention and campus programming that is kept current, facilitates distribution of prevention and education materials, and incorporates the opportunity for feedback and recommendations."
The full report can be found here: https://edsource.org/2023/prob...

By Michael Burke, Thomas Peele and Ashley SmithEdSource

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