Department Resources

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For Faculty, Grad Students, and Staff

 

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Campus Climate

UW–Madison is committed to creating a community where every person feels welcome, valued, and able to succeed. This is an ongoing and collaborative effort with initiatives across campus. This Campus Climate website tracks progress and reports on the outcomes of these initiatives. Join the effort to make our campus more inclusive for the diverse members of our community.

Department Community Standards

The UW-Madison Department of Sociology and Department of Community & Environmental Sociology have endorsed a set of
Community Standards designed to promote professional development and improve climate. Like the American Sociological Association (ASA) Code of Ethics, they articulate a common set of values upon which to build scientific work and professional interactions. These Community Standards include general principles , specific conduct expectations , and recommended practices.

Department Climate Committee Procedures

Composition: Sociology Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, one senior Sociology faculty, one senior CES faculty, Dept. administrator, Graduate advisor. Sr. faculty will serve two-year (renewable) terms to facilitate continuity. In appointing the committee, the chair will make efforts to reflect the diversity of the department.

Purpose: To receive and act upon (as appropriate) concerns or complaints about the departmental climate, broadly defined. Individual students (graduate or undergraduate), faculty, staff, postdocs, or others affiliated with the department can report directly to any one (or more) member(s) of the committee. All reports will be shared in regular meetings with the full committee. The frequency of meetings is to be determined.

Objective: The goal of this committee is to provide a clearly defined, transparent mechanism for addressing issues or incidents that negatively impact department climate.

Purview: Concerns or complaints that cannot be resolved by other established pathways (e.g., discussion between student(s) and instructor, reporting to DGS, dept. chair, graduate advisor, undergraduate advisor, or training directors.)

Procedure:

  1. Committee member(s) receive report/complaint.
  2. Report/complaint is shared with the full committee.
  3. Committee determines if there is reporting responsibility (e.g., to Deans or Title IX, etc.).
  4. If reporting is mandatory, climate committee representative makes report. If reporting is not mandatory, climate committee provides information on reporting procedure (resources for reporting bias, harassment, assault can be found below).
  5. If complainant does not wish to file a report, committee discusses appropriate good-faith response (that is consistent with University policies/regulations), reports to chair, informs complainant, chair implements response.

Appeals: Any action that involves a sanction against another member of the community (e.g., student removal from a class/brownbag, restriction on TA opportunities) can be appealed to the committee (or to the chair).

Protections: Complainants’ request for confidentiality and anonymity will be honored to the extent allowed by university policy and law. Deliberations internal to the department will always respect complainants’ requests for confidentiality/anonymity. In cases that involve mandatory reporting (e.g., to the Title IX office or to the Dean of Students), the committee cannot guarantee confidentiality/anonymity.

Record keeping: To ensure that committee activities and actions are recorded as precedents, anonymized summaries of complaints, actions, and resolutions will be placed in the chair’s folder. No names will be included in these records to protect the privacy of individuals involved.

Collaboration: The committee will confer with the SGSA climate committee (and other leadership as necessary) to ensure that graduate students are apprised of efforts to address climate issues. This will also provide an additional pathway for students to report concerns.

Outreach: In addition to responding to reports/complaints, the committee will take proactive steps to support a positive department climate. This includes providing text for inclusion in all syllabi and slides for presentation on first class days.

Examples of grievances:

  • Discrimination based on gender, race/ethnicity, religion, disability, gender identity, or political views
  • Sexual harassment
  • Sexual violence
  • Power harassment

RESOURCES FOR REPORTING BIAS, HARASSMENT, ASSAULT

What To Report and How

Reporting and responding to incidents of bias

Bias is officially defined as “acts toward an individual, group, or their property that are so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that they create an unreasonably intimidating, hostile, or offensive work, learning, or program environment, and that one could reasonably conclude are based upon actual or perceived age, race, color, creed, religion, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, marital status, spirituality, cultural, socio-economic status, or any combination of these or other related factors.”  Incidents of bias or hate include such things as slurs, degrading language, epithets, graffiti, vandalism, intimidation, symbols, and harassment directed toward a targeted individual or group. These words and actions contribute to a hostile climate even if the act itself is unintentional or is delivered with humorous intent.  More information is here.

Bias incident report form  Note that you may also report the incident in person to one of several campus offices listed on the Bias Reporting website.

Reporting incidents of discrimination

Discrimination is “conduct that adversely affects any aspect of an individual’s employment, education, or participation in an institution’s activities or programs, or has the effect of denying equal privileges or treatment to an individual on the basis of one more characteristics of that individual’s protected status or category.”  Specific bases upon which discrimination is prohibited are delineated here.  An employee wanting to file a discrimination complaint should contact the Office of Compliance in 361 Bascom Hall, e-mail: uwcomplianceoffice@wisc.edu, phone: 608-265-6018. Information about how to resolve concerns is available here.  A student who wishes to file a discrimination complaint against a fellow student who is acting in his/her role as a student should contact the Dean of Students (dean@studentlife.wisc.edu) at the Division of Student Life in 70 Bascom Hall, phone: 608-263-5700.  A student who wants to file a discrimination complaint against a fellow student who is acting in his/her role as a University employee (e.g., teaching assistant, res hall assistant, student hourly employee) or against any other employee of the University should contact staff in the Office of Compliance by e-mailing uwcomplianceoffice@wisc.edu.

Reporting incidents of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking 

Any member of the University community–student, faculty, or staff–who has been subjected to sexual discrimination, harassment, assault, violence, or stalking is encouraged to report these incidents to the University. In cases involving criminal misconduct, you have, in addition, the right to report to the UW-Madison police or to the local law enforcement office that has jurisdiction over the location where the incident occurred (e.g., the Madison Police). Note, however, that reporting is not mandatory. If you decide to report, you have several options:

                                                 OR

The rights of students and employees who choose to report, as well as resources available on campus and in the Madison community are detailed here.

(a) Reporting sexual assault

Please be aware that any UW-Madison employee who is not a confidential resource is required, by state law, to notify the Office of the Dean of Students when he or she witnesses a sexual assault on campus or receives a report from a student that the student was sexually assaulted. The report does not have to include personally identifiable information, however. In addition, any UW-Madison employee who is not a confidential resource is required, by Title IX (a federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance) and University policy, to notify the Title IX Coordinator, Lauren Hasselbacher (lauren.hasselbacher@wisc.edu, phone: 608-890-3788), of any reports of sexual assault they receive.

Moreover, any UW-Madison employee who is designated a Campus Security Authority has an obligation to report sexual assaults they are made aware of to the University’s Director of Clery Compliance, Mickey Kienast (makienast@wisc.edu), and to the Title IX Coordinator, Lauren Hasselbacher (lauren.hasselbacher@wisc.edu). The faculty and staff in Sociology with a Campus Security Authority designation are Eric Grodsky (chair), Lyn Macgregor (undergrad advisor), and Charlotte Frascona (grad advisor).

Information about the Clery Act (a federal law requiring higher education institutions to establish security and safety policies and to disclose certain crime statistics) and the duties of Campus Security Authorities is here: http://uwpd.wisc.edu/crime-data/clery-act/.

(b) Reporting sex discrimination or sexual harassment

The campus policy on sexual harassment is here.

Students, faculty, or staff who have experienced sex discrimination or sexual harassment are encouraged to report this to the University. You are not required to do so, though. If you choose to report the incident, you may discuss it with a confidential resource, a University employee, or the police. (See the options listed above.)

If you decide to report, please be aware that any UW-Madison employee who is not a confidential resource is required, by Title IX and University policy, to notify the Title IX Coordinator, Lauren Hasselbacher (lauren.hasselbacher@wisc.edu), of any reports of sex discrimination or sexual harassment they receive.

(c) Reporting dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking

Again, students, faculty, and staff subjected to these incidents are encouraged to report them to the University and to the police; however, you are not required to do so.  If you choose to report the incident, you may discuss it with a confidential resource, a University employee, or the police. (See the options listed above.)  If you decide to report to a University employee who is a designated Campus Security Authority (in Sociology the CSAs are Christine Schwartz, Ellen Jacobson, and Charlotte Frascona), that person will be obliged to report the incident to the UW Director of Clery Compliance, Jaimee Gilford (jaimee.gilford@wisc.edu), and to the Title IX Coordinator, Lauren Hasselbacher (lauren.hasselbacher@wisc.edu).

Title IX basics

More information about reporting

UW video about sexual harassment/assault reporting options

Right and Resources for Students or Employees Who Report Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and/or Stalking