Announcement - Office of Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention

April 10, 2024

To:   Campus Community

Fr:    David Marshall, Executive Vice Chancellor

Re:   Announcement - Office of Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention

In February of 2024, the University of California Office of the President announced a new Anti-Discrimination Policy that replaced a previous Discrimination, Harassment, and Affirmative Action in the Workplace policy. The new policy, overseen by the new UC Office of Civil Rights, establishes new reporting and implementation requirements, and in many ways aligns procedures and protocols with the existing UC Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment.

In this context, we are reorganizing and restructuring the Equal Opportunity and Discrimination Prevention Office and the Title IX and Sexual Harassment Policy Compliance Office, which were originally combined in one office, in a newly constituted Office of Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention.

Ariana Alvarez, who has served as Title IX Officer and Director of the Title IX and Sexual Harassment Policy Compliance Office, is now Director of the combined office. In this capacity, she also serves as the campus Local Implementation Officer required by the new Anti-Discrimination policy. Ricardo Alcaíno, who is retiring from his position as Director of the Equal Opportunity and Discrimination Prevention Office, will assist with the transition for the rest of the academic year. We are grateful to Ricardo for his many years of dedicated service to UC Santa Barbara and we wish him the best.

Concurrent with this reorganization, June Randrup Betancourt, Director of Policy Compliance for Academic Affairs, will take on responsibility for Equal Opportunity policies, including Affirmative Action plans, supported by Patty Makela, Equal Opportunity Analyst, who oversees EO/AA policies and procedures within the Academic Recruitment Process.

The Office of Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention, as well as our Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action officers, will continue to collaborate extensively with offices across campus, especially Human Resources, Student Affairs, Academic Personnel, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Office of Campus Counsel, and the Academic Senate, as well as the Office of the President. We are grateful to Ariana Alvarez for taking on new responsibilities, and to all of our colleagues who work tirelessly to implement these important policies in an increasingly complex academic environment.

While we are updating our websites, you may find information about resources and reporting at https://titleix.ucsb.edu/ and https://eodp.ucsb.edu/discrimination. To report bias, discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual violence, you may submit a report here. Thank you.