Sexual Harassment Task Force and President's Council for Women
To the UMB Community:
In March, I wrote to you about convening a Task Force on Sexual Harassment, charged with examining issues of sexual discrimination and misconduct at UMB; assessing our capacity to respond effectively to reported incidents; recommending ways to remediate deficiencies; and suggesting a framework to monitor our performance going forward.
I'm delighted to share that the task force has completed its work, and published its full report. I thank School of Pharmacy Dean Natalie Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP, (faculty chair) and Deputy Accountability Officer Susan Buskirk, DM, MS, (administrative chair) for leading this group.
The task force's recommendations follow:
- Create standards to ensure that UMB's sexual harassment prevention and response activities are consistent through policy, procedure, and application.
- Provide additional resources to respond to allegations of misconduct and to support training initiatives.
- Build trust within the UMB community by improving transparency with regard to reports of sexual misconduct, the investigatory process, and investigation outcomes.
- Raise awareness of UMB processes, training, and resources related to sexual harassment.
Each of these recommendations has associated action steps, and I've been working with the University's leadership team to prioritize these steps and ensure that the task force's recommendations are executed faithfully and well.
When I first announced in January my intention to form the Task Force on Sexual Harassment, I announced as well the creation of a President's Council for Women. Unlike the task force, the council would be convened with no end date in mind; it would instead be a long-term group advising the UMB president on matters of gender equity and other issues affecting women across the University. While issues and implications of sexual harassment might certainly be examined, the council is not limited in scope to Title IX concerns.
I'm grateful to Margaret McCarthy, PhD, James and Carolyn Frenkil Dean's Professor and Chair of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine, for agreeing to head the council. Dr. McCarthy has been committed to the success of women at UMB for a long time, and I know she'll be an enormously effective leader and advocate. She's joined on the council by an impressive roster of UMB's people; their names follow my signature. Should you have questions about the council's activities, or issues you'd like the members to consider, please contact Katrina Davis at 410-706-6224.
The work of the President's Council for Women will not substitute for or supplant efforts undertaken in schools and offices across the University -- efforts that have proved critical to moving the needle in terms of how we behave with one another and how we respect the differences among us.
And so I thank everyone at the University working to improve our campus culture and climate. I thank everyone working to make UMB a place of safety, civility, respect, and equity -- for all.
Sincerely,
Jay A. Perman, MD
President
