Dear Spartan Community,

I write to share that Ms. Maureen Holland from Cozen O’Connor, the firm retained by the Chancellor’s office to conduct Title IX assessments of all CSU campuses, was unable to visit SJSU as planned last week due to unforeseen circumstances. Ms. Holland notified all those she was scheduled to meet and will be rescheduling her visit in the next few weeks. The rescheduled visit may present an opportunity for individuals who were unavailable last week to contact her with requests to meet at [email protected].

I would like to share some additional work that is happening to advance and improve Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation work on all CSU campuses. In December 2022, Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester and then-Acting Vice Chancellor Leora Freedman provided communications to CSU campuses via Interim President Steve Perez about the Title IX and DHR Assessment. Acting VC Freedman’s letter indicated that each campus president will form a campus team that will be charged with implementing the recommendations in the campus report. The letter indicated that the working group would likely include the president’s chief of staff or a member of the President’s cabinet, the Title IX Coordinator, the DHR Administrator, a staff member, a representative of the faculty senate, and a member of student leadership.

The letter further indicated that each campus president and working group will meet with members of the Cozen team to discuss the report. The president will then promptly share the campus report with the campus community, and will identify the members of the working group, as well as their charge. The president and campus senior leadership will secure resources and extend authority and approval to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations.

Membership of the team is intended to represent the key constituencies of faculty, staff, and students who can collaborate with the administrators responsible for Title IX and DHR. The Cabinet member's role is to ensure the recommendations are implemented. Appointing faculty, staff, and student leaders who are committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment at SJSU and who can bring the perspective of their constituency to the work is important. Once I have formed the implementation team, I will share that news with you.

In this first month at SJSU, I have engaged in many conversations on this topic with different campus constituents. I appreciate the deep level of engagement and commitment to changing our culture to be more safe, welcoming, and inclusive to our university community.

Sincerely,

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