Community Updates

April 21, 2021: Welcome to Katrina "Trina" Garry as our new Deputy Title IX Coordinator. Trina is already busy working on having introduction meetings with colleagues, learning about USF's culture, and getting the renewed Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee up and running. Additionally, Trina is already planning ways to support our Athletics Department and working on building curriculum for new trainings and workshops. To learn more about Trina go to the "Title IX Team" section from the menu on the left side of the Title IX website.

March 2021: The Deputy Title IX Coordinator position has been filled! We will be welcoming, Katrina Garry, to USF starting April 12, 2021. Katrina comes to us from Yale University and was a student-athlete as an undergraduate. Look here for a short bio from Katrina soon!

Feb. 17, 2021: The search for the deputy Title IX coordinator has been underway since November. A committee of university staff and students convened to review the applications. After a first round of phone interviews, three finalists were identified and virtual campus interviews took place. Students were involved in the campus interviews. Our new deputy Title IX coordinator will be announced to the community soon. Once the position is filled, one of the projects for the deputy coordinator will be to convene the updated Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee, which was developed with ASUSF representatives, to focus on community-wide awareness, prevention, and educational efforts.

July 6, 2021: Our new Sexual Violence Resource Advocate has been hired and started today. We welcome Lisa Quach. Look here for a bio and further information soon.

March 25, 2021: The Search Committee for this position has been selected and began reviewing applications. The committee is being chaired by Blair Davis, Staff Psychologist in CAPS. Students, staff, and faculty will be a part of the interviews for this position. First round interviews will be starting April 8, 2021.

Feb. 17, 2021: The sexual violence resource advocate position has been posted, and candidates will be interviewed as soon as possible. This position is housed in CAPS and will be supervised by the associate dean/director of CAPS. The advocate will serve as a part-time clinician in CAPS as well as a dedicated confidential resource for victims of sexual violence. The new advocate will not be considered a mandatory Title IX reporter.

Feb. 17, 2021: In December, it was determined that listening sessions would be best held after the report from the independent investigators was completed and shared with the community. Plans for the listening sessions include hybrid in-person/virtual sessions to ensure community-wide attendance. We will reach out to possible outside facilitators this spring. We will schedule fall listening sessions that will incorporate information from the report, and will introduce the new deputy coordinator and resource advocate to the community. Jess Varga, Title IX coordinator, Shannon Gary, associate vice provost/dean of students, and both Joan McDermott, athletics director, and Julie Orio, vice president for student life have met with ASUSF leaders who have been excellent partners in this planning.

Feb. 17, 2021: The new Policy on Nondiscrimination Based on Sex and Gender, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct for Students, Employees, and Third Parties is available on the Title IX website. A community-wide message was shared last fall with details on how to access the policy, how to report incidents to the Title IX office, and how to access available resources. Updates will continue to be made to our policy and procedures to comply with any new changes in the law and to incorporate feedback from our community and best practices that emerge from the field.

Feb. 17, 2021: The Title IX office will undergo a comprehensive program review during the fall 2021 semester. Each unit/department in the Division of Student Life participated in this process in which outside experts meet with faculty, staff, students, and partners to review the unit/department and make recommendations. This process begins with a self-study.

July 20, 2021: We are currently identifying outside individuals with experience and knowledge in Title IX who we will invite to be our reviewers in the Fall. 

July 2021: The updates to the Student-Athlete Handbook are approved, edited by Deputy Title IX Coordinator, Title IX Coordinator, Director of Compliance, and Athletic Director. Changes included updated language about reporting, team rules, student-athletes found responsible for sexual misconduct, and potential educational opportunities when disrespect has occurred. 

Feb. 17, 2021: The new deputy coordinator will conduct an extensive review of the Athletics Student Handbook as it pertains to addressing sex and gender discrimination, harassing behavior, and sexual misconduct. This will include reviewing additional expectations the university has for student athletes, how these are communicated, and how student athletes are held accountable. They will also identify and fix gaps in the communication between the Title IX office and the Department of Athletics.

July 15, 2021: Recommendation document was provided to Vice President Julie Orio and Athletics Director Joan McDermott for review and further discussion. Link to document below.

Recommendations Document 

Mar. 29, 2021: The working group met for their introductory meeting. Introductions of the members took place, followed by Vice President for Student Life Julie Orio sharing information on what steps, meetings, and activities have taken place since the report was published. Title IX Coordinator Jess Varga and Dean of Students Shannon Gary provided general information about Title IX and the services of the Title IX Office.

The members of the working group are:

Chair: Shanie Chambers, Director Recreational Sports Department

Undergraduate Student from ASUSF: Olivia Williams

Student Athlete: Catherine Hill

Graduate Student from GSS: Paolo Bicchieri

Graduate Student from SONHP: Adlina (Addy) Basuki)

Staff: Sara Doell, Women's Golf Coach

Faculty: Nicole Gonzales Howell, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mellon Scholar Coordinator

Feb. 17, 2021: We will also appoint a small working group composed of students, faculty, and staff to read the report and make recommendations on steps that Athletics and Student Life can take to rebuild trust within our community. This work will begin this semester.

September, 2021:  REPS hosts individual athletic team training for all student-athletes on campus totaling over 240 students. Each session is 90 minutes long focused on community accountability and responsibility. Read more about these sessions here: https://myusf.usfca.edu/title-ix/workshops

August, 2021: REPS officially launches with the training of student leaders who are also mandatory reporters. The Deputy TItle IX Coordinator revitalizes orientation programming with Sophomore Welcome Week, and New Student Orientation. The new session- Talk About It: Everyday Consent, Recognizing and Responding to Disrespect is focused on prevention, intervention, and support. The REPS initiative educates over 2,100 students in the first weeks of school. 

July, 2021:  Title IX Taskforce also known as the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee rebrands officially as REPS, standing for Resources Education Prevention and Support. REPS is the official program title for all ongoing prevention and education efforts at USF. Read more at https://myusf.usfca.edu/title-ix/usfreps. 

May 27, 2021: After two attempts to host this program in spring 2021, with no attendance at either session, we are pausing this for the summer. The Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee will be starting in June and this committee will be strategizing about all future programs and events.

Feb. 17, 2021: A monthly "Time with IX" program will take place on the second Thursday of each month at 12 p.m., beginning March 11. These regular sessions will allow for different topics to be discussed and provide an opportunity for the community to discuss information on trends, rumors, issues, and questions. At these sessions, no reporting takes place nor is there any discussion of individual incidents.

Zoom Meeting ID will be posted here and advertised week of meeting.