Does your Title IX Coordinator need some relief?
Your Title IX Coordinator is Exhausted
At many schools, the TIXC is also the Chief Diversity Officer, the Human Resources Director, and much more. Yet the complaints keep coming. Racially insensitive assignments. Mandatory classroom attendance for unvaccinated students, despite their applications for religious exemptions. Post-break-up stalking. Lack of affirmative consent to sexual touching. Racial, ethnic, and gender slurs spoken and written. Microaggressions in class or on the court. They see it all, and they absorb a lot of the trauma.
It’s good that students and employees are more aware than ever of their rights. That’s in part due to your efforts as educators and administrators. However, those rights are experienced differently in lives than in the online courses and mandatory trainings you offer. This sometimes leads to more complaints, and many of them can be resolved without a formal hearing.
Forgive Yourself for Wherever You Are (Choice One)
It’s impossible to anticipate every potential scenario that might result in a complaint. Do a thorough investigation and consider informal resolution after each step. Why?
- The parties to the complaint will probably have to see each other on campus again, even if a student transfers to another class or a staff member moves to a different department. It will benefit the campus community for them to treat each other respectfully when they encounter each other. It will also cut down on harmful gossip when they are apart.
- You are an institution of higher education. This includes outside the classroom. Informal resolution puts much of the power to resolve a dispute back in the power of the parties. It can help them build their conflict resolution skills, too, which will benefit everyone around them.
- Informal resolution is quick, voluntary, and private, which allows the parties to get back to pursuing their academic or career goals sooner than if they opt for a formal hearing.
An EEO and Ethno-Religious Conflict Mediator Can Help
As a mediator trained by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation, I appreciate the range of options colleges and universities offer to resolve some of the most emotionally charged conflicts that occur among human beings. While conducting investigations for one of the most diverse colleges in the world, I saw firsthand some of the results that are possible through informal resolution:
- Mental and emotional freedom for the parties
- Reduced backlog for TIXCs and CDOs
- Increased trust in the institution
Feedback
Many, many thanks, Nancy, for all the hard work that you have done to resolve this matter amicably and for all the updates. ~ J.T., Employee, NY