Vice President for Institutional Equity Myrna Adams announced this week that the search for a University harassment prevention coordinator would be temporarily suspended while her office considers restructuring the post.
The post was originally held by Judith White who was hired in 1993 as special assistant to the president and sexual harassment prevention coordinator. White relinquished her duties as coordinator when responsibility for harassment issues was transferred to the office of institutional equity after Adams was hired in the fall of 1995. That office has continued to handle harassment grievances since that time.
The search for a new coordinator began last January, and Adams had said earlier this summer that she hoped to have a new coordinator in place by the first of September. At this point, Adams said the post will most likely not be filled until the end of the current academic year. She said that most of the candidates for the post were likely to be under contract with their current institutions until that time.
"We just didn't find the ideal candidate," Adams said. She added that one of the reasons for the unsuccessful search is that the position is extremely complex. The post calls for a person capable of understanding and representing the interests of students, faculty and employees. "That may have been something that we didn't specify well enough in the ad and prevented us from attracting the right pool of candidates," Adams said. She said that currently, her office is working on developing an interim plan for dealing with harassment issues this year before the search resumes.
How ever the position is eventually defined, most administrators agree that there are some basic qualities that the new coordinator must possess. "This person needs to have a good understanding of the laws involved," said Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs. "They also need to have an understanding and appreciation of the higher education setting."
Until a coordinator is named, however, there is a system in place to help students-undergraduate, graduate and professional-with their harassment concerns.
There is a group of administrators with representatives from each school who serve as harassment prevention advisers and with whom Adams meets on a regular basis. "These advisers are front-line administrators who have a great deal of day-to-day contact with students," said Wasiolek, coordinator of the group. "My anticipation is that students will and ought to feel comfortable talking with these individuals."
While the search for a coordinator has been postponed, some of those involved in dealing with harassment issues on campus have become concerned with the prolonged vacancy in that post.
Ellen Plummer, director of the Women's Center, said that she is anxious to see someone appointed to the coordinator position as soon as possible. "My sense is that institutionally it would be very helpful if we had a person in Myrna Adams' office responsible for outreach and response to peer-to-peer harassment complaints," she said.
Plummer added that an incredible amount of work has already been done by both White and Adams in ironing out the University's harassment policy. She said, however, that "it will be better when there is one person who everyone knows is responsible." When that person is appointed, she added, they will have a lot of work to do to determine what the University's educational goals are with respect to promoting harassment awareness.
Wasiolek said that even in the absence of a coordinator for this year, students will still have somewhere to turn. "I don't think it means students will fall through the cracks," she said. "Ideally speaking, we would have someone in place, but we can live without that for now."
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