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Oct. 16, 2023 

Dear Colleagues and Students,

In July 2023, the º£½ÇÉçÇø Board of Trustees released , the law firm contracted by the Chancellor’s Office in 2022-23 to investigate the state of the º£½ÇÉçÇø system’s and each campus’s Title IX services. I write today to provide an update on where our campus is in the process of responding to recommendations made.

• Our Title IX Implementation Team (TIX-IT) was formed in Spring 2023 and has been meeting regularly since the start of the Fall 2023 semester.
• Three TIX-IT subcommittees were formed:
  • Project Management: Designing the implementation plan, tracking progress
    • Laurie Nichols, Convener, with Renee Fuentes, Bill DeGraffenreid, and Cassandra Sumano
  • Communication: Designing the communication plan; supporting Title IX office
    • Kaia Tollefson, Convener, with Helen Alatorre, Daisy Navarrete, and Lindsey O’Connor
  • Other Conduct of Concern: Responding to problematic behaviors that do not rise a potential policy violation through the Nondiscrimination Policy
    • Bill DeGraffenreid, Convener, with Eboni Ford Turnbow, Katie Johnson, Lindsey O’Connor, and Cassandra Sumano
• A system has been created for assigning the varied Cozen O’Connor recommendations for our campus to the following entities for review and tracking their progress where appropriate:
  • Project Management Subcommittee
  • Communication Subcommittee
  • Other Conduct of Concern Subcommittee
  • Title IX Office
  • President
• The Chancellor’s Office Liaison for our Implementation Team is Alex Pursley, Associate Director for Systemwide Title IX.
  • Our TIX-IT co-chairs meet monthly with Alex to ensure consistency of communication between º£½ÇÉçÇøCI and the Chancellor’s Office, and to have benefit of Alex’s guidance in designing, implementing, and evaluating our Title IX Communication Plan and Implementation Plan.
  • Our Title IX Communication Plan is due to the Chancellor’s Office 10/27/2023 and our Title IX Implementation Plan is due 12/15/2023.
• A main topic of concern for our campus in the Cozen O’Connor recommendations was insufficient staffing. We have already allocated two additional positions to Equity & Inclusion, growing the office from three professionals in to five, going forward:
  • • Executive Director of Equity & Inclusion (national search underway)
    • Renee Fuentes, Manager of Institutional Equity and Deputy Title IX Coordinator
    • Katie Johnson, Restorative Justice & Outreach Coordinator
    • Fope Adesina, Compliance & Restorative Justice Specialist
    • Title IX & Equity Specialist (search underway)

I appreciate each of our Title IX Implementation Team (TIX-IT) members (see below) who have accepted the responsibility of supporting our Title IX office in communicating with the campus community, supporting and overseeing our TIX Implementation Plan, and recommending processes for responding to conduct that does not rise to the level of a potential policy violation but that creates a work environment threatening to campus climate and morale.

Championing sex and gender equity is among the elements that our Inclusive Excellence Action Plan is designed to promote. At º£½ÇÉçÇøCI, all of us matter, belong, and are needed to help ensure that in this place, equity and inclusivity is our goal for every member of our campus community.

Sincerely,
Richard Yao, Ph.D.
President

Title IX Implementation Team Members 2023-24: Laurie Nichols, Co-Chair; Kaia Tollefson, Co-Chair; Bill DeGraffenreid, Katie Johnson, Lindsey O’Connor, Renee Fuentes, Marc Mootchnik, Cassandra Sumano, Helen Alatorre, Eboni Ford Turnbow, Daisy Navarette, Alex Pursley, CO Liaison