What has UMBC done since 2018?
The university in Catonsville now requires training on sexual misconduct prevention and response — a demand from students outraged by the university’s handling of complaints.
It launched an anonymous reporting form for the Office of Equity and Inclusion that has averaged dozens of reports per month since its launch in February 2020.
And it has moved the office handling Title IX issues so it no longer falls under the purview of the general counsel’s office, which critics had called a conflict of interest. Other steps are still in the works. Students and faculty have called for additional services for sexual assault survivors, ideally through a full-time advocate who could help individuals navigate systems and the university’s investigatory process.
Dodson-Reed said officials are discussing that recommendation, including following federal Title IX regulations that have changed under different presidential administrations.
And, while UMBC’s Office of Equity and Inclusion has publicly released one report about its work, the case statistics provided didn’t go into specifics that were recommended by outside consultants the university hired to assess its work around campus sexual misconduct. The consultants recommended the university make data public, including the type of report — sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual violence, stalking, interpersonal violence, etc. — and the nature of the cases’ resolution, including the number in which the accused was found to be in violation of policy.
The 2020 report said the office handled 427 cases that year, including 236 for Title IX or sexual misconduct and 191 into discrimination or bias. Of those 427, 361 were “closed.”
No information for 2021 is publicly available.
The office is led by an acting director, Morgan Thomas, who previously served as UMBC’s assistant general counsel and reports to Dodson-Reed, who in turn reports to the university president.
The consultants had warned against housing Title IX investigations under the general counsel, as it adds to a perception the university “only cares about protecting itself from legal risk” and “contributes to the perception that the institution ‘speaks out of both sides of its mouth,’ on the one hand stating that it cares for individuals but appearing to hide behind ‘legalistic language’ and policy language.”
The office’s team also includes a civil rights and Title IX investigator and a Title IX coordinator, according to its website. Dodson-Reed said this week that the office was in the process of hiring a case and training manager, and had secured funding for an additional full-time employee.
Dodson-Reed said she remembered the campus furor in 2018 over sexual misconduct, which occurred shortly after she dropped her own daughter off at college for the first time. Listening to people describe their experiences was difficult, she said, and she remembered thinking: “This is not the experience that we want any student, faculty or staff to have at UMBC.”
The campus has made strides in the years since, Dodson-Reed said. While there’s ongoing work to be done, she said, the commitment from faculty and staff on these issues has been “inspiring.”
“This is a community that cares about people, and we want to try to get this as right as possible,” Dodson-Reed said. “It is never going to be perfect because people are complex, but we’re trying to get it as right as we can. And that is a sincere commitment from every level at this university.”