A sub-committee met several times during fall quarter 2011 to review and discuss the type of data available that could be used to evaluate equality for males and females in various programs and activities at Central Washington University. Tracy Terrell provided leadership to the data review sub-committee that included Ed Day, Coleen Gelatt and Lisa Plesha.

Data collected by sex (male, female, transgender) includes:

Academic and Student Life data

• Financial Aid
• Admissions Funnel Statistics
• Census by Residence Hall and Class Standing
• Grades Earned
  • By Individual Grade by Year
  • By Individual Grade by Quarter
• Complete Withdrawals
• Discontinued Students
• Students Dropped for Lack of Pre-Requisites
• Degrees Awarded
• Top Fifteen Degrees
  • Undergraduate Degrees
  • Graduate Degrees
  • Type of Graduate Degree
• Students Dropped for Non-Attendance during Add/Drop Period or Reported as No Show
• Top 15 Courses Where Grades of D, F, +W, or HW were earned

The task force recommends that the office of organizational effectiveness/institutional research provide a report that contains these elements presented in a consistent format by December 31 of each year to the primary Title IX coordinator.

Recommendations from the sub-committee include:

1. Data collection must be standardized. Especially, those with responsibility for out-of-class programming and activities do not have standard data collection methods and have not identified the type of data to be collected. Conversations must begin and solutions must be found and implemented. Baseline data must be reported. Ed Day, Interim Director, Institutional Effectiveness, will lead this effort. He will produce a report on progress to Sherer Holter, Chief of Staff, and Staci Sleigh-Layman, Director, Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, no later than July 1, 2012.
2. Academic departments should report consistent academic data based on sex (male, female, transgender) in strategic planning documents and program review. Baseline data must be collected and reported. Goals should be established to ensure equity and access. Staci Sleigh-Layman, Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, will work with Provost Marilyn Levine, to ensure this recommendation is implemented. A status report will be produced no later than May 1, 2012.
3. The strategic planning process must include the number of students and participants as indicators of program success. Various collection strategies must be explored to ensure a consistent method of collecting data. Data collected may include the number of participants, paid “secret shoppers” to evaluate the quality of out-of-class experiences, etc. Best practices should be identified and implemented in the area of data collection. Ethan Bergman, Interim Dean of Students, will provide a status report on this recommendation no later than July 1, 2012.
4. Technical analysis of data over time is needed. Responsibility for this technical analysis must be assigned. Ed Day, Interim Director of Institutional Effectiveness, is responsible for this technical analysis. He will provide a status update no later than September 1, 2012.

In closing, the Title IX Task Force also recommends that the institution discuss mandatory reporting and widely distribute information about expectations. Currently, according to Interim, Director of Public Safety and Police Services, the Clery Act requires that the university identify mandatory reports, which the Act calls “Campus Security Authorities” or CSAs. CSAs are identified annually by University Police because they have “significant responsibility for student and campus activities.” Typically CSAs include coaches, club advisors, certain supervisors and other stuff. By Clery’s definition it does not include faculty in their normal teaching role. In 2011, University Police hand identified about 200 CSAs and delivered letters to them explaining their obligation under the law. Interim and his staff are currently designing a presentation to further provide guidance to CSAs.

The Title IX Task Force recommends examination of institutional expectations for mandatory reporting of suspected sexual harassment and/or sexual misconduct. A memo or other correspondence should be widely distributed that articulates institutional expectations clarifying the nature of instances where mandatory reporting is necessary and the process to be used for this reporting. In light of recent allegations at Penn State, it seems that it would be in the best interest of the university to give guidance on the definition of abuse (including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct) and who and when reporting of these behaviors is mandatory. Staci Sleigh-Layman, Director, Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, is responsible for working with Sherer Holter, Chief of Staff, to respond to this recommendation. A memo will be distributed no later than October 1, 2012.