Bias Assessment and Response Team

History of Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART)

In Winter Quarter 2006, Student Affairs Vice President Rich Hollingsworth and Vice Provost for Minority Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer Mac Stewart initiated university discussions on bias response after the Dracket Tower letters and Oprah Winfrey Facebook concerns at ATI Wooster.

The President's Cabinet confirmed the need for a response team in Fall 2006.

In Winter Quarter 2007, Student Affairs Vice President Rich Hollingsworth and Vice Provost for Minority Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer Mac Stewart charged a team of 8 staff and faculty (initially called the "Diversity Consultation Team") to create a process for coordinating university responses to hate and bias-related incidents that impact the university community. The 8 core members eventually decided to be called the Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART). Below is the charge given to the team.

Purpose of BART

The Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART) is a partnership of the Ohio State University Offices of Minority Affairs and Student Affairs. The team will receive, monitor, refer, and, as necessary, coordinate university responses to hate and bias-related incidents that impact all or a significant portion of the university community. Incidents may involve bias or hate grounded in race, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, age, or disability and that occur within the university community.

BART is not intended to replace or subordinate any existing processes for reporting and addressing acts of discrimination, harassment, or violence, including but not limited to processes of the Office of Human Resources, OSU Police, and Office of Student Judicial Affairs.

Charge (approved by President's Cabinet)

1. Develop, implement, and continuously improve a voluntary mechanism(s) for members of the university community to report hate-based incidents.
2. Identify and make referrals to established mechanisms for addressing acts of harassment, discrimination, and violence as appropriate.
3. Coordinate communication about reported incidents and the resolution/response with individuals, groups, offices, or other stakeholders on and off campus who are impacted by the incident.
4. Monitor and, when necessary, follow up on departmental responses to hate-based incidents.
5. Document and monitor patterns of incidents and inform appropriate academic and academic support leaders so that policies, practices, and programs may be reviewed and modified to improve response to and reduce or eliminate hate-based behaviors.
6. Make recommendations to senior university leadership on the nature and timing of the larger institutional response to hate-based incidents.
7. To the extent required by law, respect the privacy and maintain the confidentiality of individuals involved in discrimination, harassment, or violence

NOTE: The reporting vehicle, processes for monitoring, and communication protocols are to be developed so as not to compromise any existing reporting and resolution mechanisms.

Reporting Mechanisms

• Website
• Incident Forms
• Direct contact with or referrals to core team members.

Process

• Convene initially to develop reporting and monitoring process, team operating procedures, etc.
• Convene as needed to coordinate response and communication when a hate-based incident that has the potential to impact campus climate for all or a significant portion of the university community and or is likely to generate interest outside the university community.
• Meet quarterly to review effectiveness of reporting mechanisms and responses, track patterns, identify trends, and assess the team's effectiveness.
• Create an annual summary report on incidents reviewed and actions taken to share with the various diversity councils or committees and with university leadership.

Membership

Advisory Committee

To contact any individual member of the team, please e-mail rnelson@studentaffairs.osu.edu.

Psychologist, Counseling and Consultation Service	Dennis Alexander
Assistant Vice President, University Public Safety	Vern Baisden
Professor of Engineering	Jose Castro
Assistant Vice Provost, Office of Minority Affairs (co-convener)	Georgina Dodge
Program Director, Office of Human Resources	Olga Esquivel-Gonzalez
Associate General Counsel, Legal Affairs	Jan Neiger
Director, Multicultural Center and Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs (co-convener)	Rebecca Nelson
Senior Director, University Relations	Karen Patterson

Response Committee

Program Manager of Office of Minority Affairs Mentoring Program	Kris Coleman
Assistant Vice Provost, Office of Minority Affairs (co-convener)	Georgina Dodge
Graduate Administrative Associate BART	Leah Komora
Intercultural Specialist, Multicultural Center	Rebecca Lane Sandidge
Program Coordinator of University Housing	Julius Mayo
Director, Multicultural Center and Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs (co-convener)	Rebecca Nelson
Assistant Director of Housing Education, University Housing	Bernie Savarese
Intercultural Specialist, Multicultural Center	Elizabeth Warren
Director, Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center	Larry Williamson, Jr.

Student Representatives

Kevin Baldwin

Miranda Cavins

Michelle Millar

Daniel Newhart

Danielle Smith

Nicholas Steinbrecher

Zach Usmani

Supplemental Team Members

Individuals with special knowledge or expertise related to or involvement in an incident under review will be invited to join the team on a case by case basis.

Examples

Affected offices/units/individuals, University Housing, University Diversity Council, University Senate Diversity Committee, Student Advocacy Center, Student Judicial Affairs, Office for Disability Services and/or ADA Coordinator, Greek Life, Office of International Education, Student Wellness Center/SVES, The Women's Place, Columbus Community Relations Commission, the Hale Center and other offices within the Office of Minority Affairs and the Student Affairs Multicultural Center, various gender and ethnic studies academic departments, the Kirwan Institute; student governments, University Senate, students, faculty and/or staff representatives, student organization representatives, etc.

Ex Officio Members Advisory Committee Reporting Line

Vice Provost for Minority Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer	Mac Stewart
Vice President for Student Affairs	Richard A. Hollingsworth