OCU’s Title IX Department is searching to hire a new Civil Rights Investigator.
The position replaces the Title IX Investigator position, which is currently vacant.
Remy Barnett, who held the position since it was established in 2015, tendered her resignation earlier in February, said Joey Croslin, vice president of human resources and the university’s Title IX Coordinator.
Croslin said a job posting was created the week of Feb. 22, and they want to fill the position quickly. The search process will be thorough, as they want to find a proper candidate, she said.
The job posting is currently open on LinkedIn.
“The Civil Rights Investigator manages the daily responsibilities associated with the university’s compliance obligations regarding student civil rights. The investigator is responsible for responding to reports and complaints of prohibited discrimination and discriminatory harassment involving students by collecting the relevant facts related to the reported event,” the job description states.
Croslin said they are looking for a candidate skilled in professional judgment, investigation, communication, analysis of information, and for someone who cares about the university and the student affairs team and student success.
“I would want a person whose technical experience in addition to communication styles builds confidence in our process so students, or whoever’s working through our process, has confidence in our process and in the university’s process,” she said.
The title of the position has changed to fit the job’s purpose more accurately, Croslin said. The other positions involving Title IX, such as the Coordinator position, will not change, as they are federally required to be identified with the Title IX label.
This position deals with any allegation of a violation of OCU’s Non-discrimination Policy, which includes discrimination, intimidation, threats of violence, hazing, bullying, and intimate partner violence. The policy protects against discrimination on race, ethnicity, national origin, veteran status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability status.
The investigator also ensures an Equitable Resolution Process.
“Upon notice to the Title IX Coordinator, this resolution process involves a prompt preliminary inquiry to determine if there is reasonable cause to believe the Non-discrimination Policy has been violated. If so, Oklahoma City University will initiate a confidential investigation that is thorough, reliable, impartial, prompt, and fair,” states the current overview of the Equitable Resolution Process.
The investigator also organizes training on these issues and university policy and process, in addition to prevention education, Croslin said.
While the position performs the same role, the organizational hierarchy has changed. The investigator will now report to Dr. Amy Ayres, the Title IX Deputy Coordinator, instead of Croslin, the Title IX Coordinator.
Croslin said this position change has not prevented the university from managing Title IX reports.
“Right now, as Title IX coordinator, I’m receiving all reports, and I’m managing them with our appropriate staff,” she said.
She said Remy Barnett helped form the investigator position as the first in that position at OCU, bringing procedural structure and tools and resources for day-to-day procedure.
Croslin said incidents need to be reported to prevent future prohibited behavior and remedy the effects of this behavior, instilling trust the university receives these reports and help address them.
The investigator also engages in prevention education and programming, she said. This brings awareness to students and connects them to tools which provide support and information within the campus community.
Elizabeth Edem, economics senior, said she supported the investigator’s title change in the hopes people would have a greater understanding of their civil rights than their rights under specific legislation.
“Just a reiteration of the fact that it’s called Civil Rights Investigator: I just have the hope that more people will speak up when they need to because they might not be as concerned whether or not they fit under a specific title or a specific law,” she said.
Edem was unaware of Remy Barnett’s resignation and said she had mixed feelings about hiring a new investigator. “It’s a mixed bag because on the one hand I would like to have someone who is aware of the current campus climate and the current campus environment, whatever that would be; I would want them to be aware of that,” she said. “But on the other hand, for such an important position, you would want the best person you could find, so you would want to be open to having outsiders come in, if that makes sense. As long as we trust is the hiring process of OCU and believe that they will find the best person for the position, then I think it’s fine.”
Leave a Reply