CORRECTED VERSION

Dear Spartan Community:

With appreciation for your candid feedback and ongoing engagement, I am pleased to update you on our continued efforts to nurture and strengthen our culture of caring, safety, belonging and respect at San José State.

As part of a systemwide effort across our 23 California State University campuses, the Cozen O’Connor Institutional Response Group has assessed how we respond to reports and incidents of discrimination and harassment. Through a series of interviews, campus visits, survey results and email feedback, Cozen O’Connor has identified core observations for improvements at both the system and university levels.

The full written report of the systemwide Cozen O’Connor assessment, including a summary report and a separate report concerning San José State, can now be found on the CSU’s Commitment to Change and SJSU FYI webpages. The CSU press release can be found here.

I am encouraged by Cozen's assessment of the current status of the Title IX program.

• Resources: Cozen found that the SJSU Title IX and Gender Equity Office is currently staffed and able to fulfill its core functions and respond promptly and equitably to the volume of reports it receives.
• Educational efforts: Cozen recognized that SJSU has a robust program for educating its community on the Title IX and Gender Equity Office, Title IX reporting options, resolution pathways, and available resources and supports.
• Timeliness, responsiveness and communications: Cozen did not identify concerns about timeliness, responsiveness, or communications in the Title IX and Gender Equity Office’s intake and initial assessment processes.
  
  

Cozen has also made recommendations of areas of focus and action for our work over the months to come:

• Administrative changes to Title IX and DHR leadership: We have decided to bring two closely related functions together under a single administrative umbrella. Our Title IX office and our Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) function will be aligned to streamline processes and create more consistency. As we have built our Title IX office, we believe it is the right time to combine these two areas. This model is also recommended in the report by Cozen O’Connor. The recruitment we began in the spring for the next administrative leader for Title IX will evolve into a search for this new position and the position description will be updated. Our goal is to bring finalists to campus in September.
• Continuation of our campus work: Our campus has implemented many of the recommendations in the Cozen report and our work continues, including improving efficiencies in response to reporting, investigations, and resolutions, as well as continued investments in training, professional development and continuous learning for staff and leaders.
• Focus on the DHR function: While our campus has already implemented many of Cozen's recommendations into our Title IX program, we will focus on implementing the recommendations into our Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation processes. The consolidation of our Title IX and DHR programs will help accelerate these improvements.

A second report, conducted by the State Auditor is expected to be released tomorrow via its website, is focused on the consistency and timeliness in which campuses respond to harassment allegations. We expect recommendations that will apply specifically to our campus and will incorporate those in our campus plan.

This work will be very challenging and we will lean deeply into our strategic plan goals and institutional values around integrity, collaboration, leadership, equity and inclusion. My thanks in advance to the implementation team members who will invest their time, energy and expertise in this vital effort so important to all of us. Our commitment to our ongoing efforts will require continual alignment of resources and personnel, and will be accomplished in stages over the coming months. We will continue to share our progress as it evolves. 

Each and every member of our university community plays a role in creating a place where we all thrive. I look forward to working with you as we continue to strengthen our commitment and implementation of Title IX and DHR best practices.

Sincerely,

Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson
President
(She/Her/Ella)