Executive Director, Office of Equity, Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance

Executive Director, Office of Equity, Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report. Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity.

Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents.

Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The Office of Equity and the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance support Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.

Provide strategic direction and operational oversight for the Office of Equity and the Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance unit. The Executive Director fosters a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible learning and working environment while ensuring institutional compliance with civil rights mandates. The Executive Director will also lead the Civil Rights and Title IX office and is responsible for overseeing compliance with civil rights and equal employment opportunity laws, regulations and policies related to race, ethnicity, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, genetic status, marital status, disability, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

The Office of Equity is the institutional point of contact for federal and state agencies for civil rights and equal opportunity compliance inquiries and compliance confirmation and is responsible for responding to related external agency complaints and investigations.

Position

Duties and Responsibilities:

• 60% - Administer and oversee the University's Equal Opportunity policies and procedures in all aspects of employment and education, ensuring compliance across the University with federal and state civil rights and equal employment opportunity laws and regulations, including Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.
• Manage the Office of Equity and serve as institutional subject matter expert for civil rights and Title IX complaints, including interpretation of laws and agency guidance. Provide oversight and direction for investigations into alleged discrimination and harassment, and allegations of sexual misconduct. Lead responses to external agency complaints, including EEOC, OCR, Dept. of Education, and Washington State agency complaints. Research, implement, and evaluate activities, procedures, and practices which support the university in achieving equitable and inclusive recruitment, hiring, and employment practices.
  
  Collaborate with Human Resource and academic departments to establish best practices within the University. Implement and ensure compliance requirements are met for all Title IX and anti-discrimination training for university students, staff and faculty. Develop and facilitate requested climate assessment tools for university stakeholders.
• 15% - Serve as the University's Title IX Coordinator
• Administer Title IX guidance and grievance procedures to the university…