ºÚÁÏÍø

Systemwide Title IX/DHR Assessment Campus Visit: November 8, 9, 10, 2022

All meetings take place in person in unless otherwise noted.

Published May 26, 2023

Dear Beach Community:

At the request of the Board of Trustees, for more than a year, the firm Cozen O’Connor has conducted a systemwide assessment of the California State University’s implementation of Title IX, and Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) programs.

At this week’s board meeting, Cozen O'Connor provided a preliminary overview of its findings and recommendations, with a full publicly accessible report expected in June. 

This assessment was necessary and welcomed, and both our campus and our system will benefit from the observations, perspectives, and strategies resulting from this intensive review.

Here at The Beach, an implementation team will begin work immediately upon the release of the final report to review and address recommendations specific to our campus, with an eye to necessary infrastructure and resources, prevention efforts and education, investigation and resolution procedures, and campus culture and climate. I have asked the implementation team to update the campus community at key junctures in their work. More information can be found on our Equity and Diversity website.*

I am grateful to the students, faculty, and staff who participated in the assessment work on our campus. This input, I know, was invaluable to Cozen O’Connor’s efforts and in identifying those items of specific importance to The Beach.

We are unwavering in our commitment to ensuring that our community is safe, welcoming, and free of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. 

Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D.
President

* As of July 1, 2023 Equity & Diversity has been updated to Equity & Compliance

Published July 17, 2023

Dear Beach Community:

This past May, the firm Cozen O’Connor presented to the Board of Trustees of the California State University’s implementation of Title IX, and Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) programs. . The California State Auditor is releasing a similar report this week detailing that office's own review.

We welcomed these intensive evaluations, and both our campus and our system will benefit from the resulting observations, perspectives, and recommendations.

As I shared in an earlier email, here at The Beach, an implementation team will now begin to review and address items specific to our campus, with an eye to necessary infrastructure and resources, prevention efforts and education, investigation and resolution procedures, and campus culture and climate. I have asked the implementation team to update the campus community at key junctures in their work, sharing specific plans as they are developed and implemented. More information can be found on our Equity and Compliance website.

In my own preliminary reading of the ºÚÁÏÍø campus-based report, our efforts here at The Beach were largely complimented and noted for their strength and effectiveness. Still, it is clear that much work needs to be done and I know that the implementation team will study and advance the recommendations made.

We remain deeply committed to ensuring our campus is safe, welcoming, and free of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct.

Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D.

President

Published December 14, 2023

Dear Campus Community,  

As you may recall, the California State University system conducted a systemwide review of policies, procedures, and areas of improvement in addressing Title IX (sexual misconduct) as well as discrimination, harassment, and retaliation (DHR) compliance programs on all 23 CSU campuses. In 2022, the CSU contracted with the independent firm Cozen O’Connor to assess each campus’s handling of Title IX and DHR compliance programs.  Thanks to the hard work of our Equity & Compliance Team and the commitment of ºÚÁÏÍø’s faculty, staff, and student leaders, the Title IX and DHR program review for ºÚÁÏÍø was overall very positive.

In July of this year, our campus received recommendations on ways to streamline educational efforts, enhance campus wide awareness of resources and strengthen prevention programming. So far, ºÚÁÏÍø has made several improvements to its already existing processes. Since July, progress has been made in the following areas to address the recommendations in the report: 

A collaborative relationship has been enhanced between the Office of Equity & Compliance and Student Health Services, as well as prevention educators, to collaborate on Title IX prevention strategies and better serve our student population.  

Since July 2022, more than twenty presentations were made to on-campus stakeholders to encourage faculty and staff to report forward Title IX cases and those pertaining to discrimination and harassment. Additionally, OEC continues to further clarify language regarding CSU employees reporting forward Title IX and DHR matters. 
ºÚÁÏÍø was acknowledged for effective cross campus collaborative prevention efforts as well as strong case management practices. 
Lastly, ºÚÁÏÍø has completed most of CSU Systemwide recommendations that were embedded in all 23 campus reports.
 
Progress continues in streamlining Title IX education across campus, raising awareness of campus resources and cross campus collaborations.  For more information, please visit ºÚÁÏÍø’s Cozen webpage found on Equity & Compliance. 

If you are affiliated with a group and would like a presentation about the Office of Equity & Compliance, please email OEC@csulb.edu.

Sincerely,

Larisa Hamada
Assistant Vice President
Equity & Compliance