Weber State University
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Weber State University prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, pregnancy, genetics, age (over 40), disability, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, veteran, active military status and other classifications protected by law. The person responsible for coordination of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning any of these types of discrimination is the university's Executive Director of Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity, who is also the university's Title IX Coordinator and one of the university's Disability Coordinators.

https://www.weber.edu/nondiscriminationandaccessibility

STAR Team
The Strategic Threat Assessment Team is charged with assessing and responding to actual or potential threats of violence of any kind at Weber State University, as more fully described in PPM 3-67, Violence Prevention. In cases of sexual violence, the STAR Team works with the Title IX coordinator, as appropriate, to make recommendations regarding the safety of individuals at Weber State University. However, the Title IX coordinator is not required to report any incident to the STAR team where the Title IX coordinator has determined confidentiality is of paramount importance and will not put the safety of individuals in jeopardy.

Students who experience or become aware of any form of violence, sexual violence or sexual harassment are encouraged to immediately report such behaviors. To report any crime or emergency, call 911 or University Police at 801-626-6460, 3734 Dixon Parkway. For help responding to non-emergency situations, call any of these offices:

Title IX Officer and Director of Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity, Barry Gomberg, at 801-626-6240, Miller Administration 101, bgomberg@weber.edu
Dean of Students, Jeff Hurst, at 801-626-6256, Student Services Center, jhurst@weber.edu

Department of Human Resources, 801-626-6032, Miller Administration 111
University Housing, 801-626-7275, 1375 Village Loop Road

Safe@Weber Advocacy Services, 801-626-6090, safeatweber@weber.edu, Shepherd Union 322

The university encourages individuals to seek out these resources regardless of whether the behavior occurred on or off campus. These resources are available to assist in making decisions about how to proceed.

Anonymous reporting can also be done by filling out an online form. Any information given may assist the police in determining if there is a pattern of crime with regard to a particular location, method or suspect, and may enable the police, in appropriate circumstances, to alert the campus community to potential dangers. Filing an anonymous report may limit the ability of the police department to provide specific assistance or to investigate or solve a crime.

Support for individuals who have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, act of discrimination or hate crime is available in various forms, including: 1) an on-staff Survivor Advocate (housed in the Women's Center); 2) free counseling support services for students through the on campus Counseling and Psychological Services Center and the faculty/staff psychological/counseling support available through the health benefits program; 3) Support measures can be put in place via the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office on campus such as temporary reassignments for faculty/staff; 4) students may be supported through academic accommodations to enable successful completion of coursework.

In addition, this year the institution is in the process of creating a stand alone Bias Education Support Team (BEST), as well as a critical incident management team.

Recruitment of Underrepresented Populations are addressed at numerous levels of the institution:

1. Student recruitment of said populations is localized in the Office of Access and Diversity whose mission is to increase higher education access, persistence and graduation rates for underrepresented students. Additionally, programs targeting minoritized students include annual events such as the Multicultural Youth Conference, Latinos in Action Conference and numerous TRIO programs operating at the state and local levels.
2. Staff and Faculty Recruitment of minoritized populations operate in partnership between Human Resources and the Assistant Vice President for Diversity through recruitment and retention resources, hiring practices education and development of existing campus talent.

The Women of Color Coalition is a group that includes faculty and staff and provides support, engagement, professional development and networking opportunities. Additionally Weber State Hispanic Lantinx Employee Resource Group, Sankofa, Faculty/Staff Gay/Straight Alliance, a Men of Color Coalition, the first generation faculty and staff group, and the Utah Women in Higher Education Network groups.
WSU's Center for Multicultural Excellence serves students. The Multicultural Student Center is committed to planning, developing and implementing services, programs and interventions that foster the learning and personal development of the various students served. The Multicultural Student Center promotes a strong campus sense of common community and aids students in building essential skills for independent critical thinking and self-determination through in and out of classroom experiences. Furthermore, through collaborative efforts with university and community partners, the Multicultural Student Center provides educational efforts to promote multicultural sensitivity, awareness, competency, and understanding. More information can be found at: http://www.weber.edu/multicultural

WSU also has an International Student Center. The International Student and Scholar Center advises and assists international students with their personal, cultural, and academic adjustment to WSU. An orientation program is provided for all new international students each semester. Advisement is available to assist students concerning immigration related questions and concerns. Information can be found at: http://www.weber.edu/sis/

Our institution continues to scale up existing programs and resources through the College Participation and Success Committee which is charged with increasing college participation and retention/graduation for underrepresented students who are low-income, first-generation to attend college, and ethnically-diverse. The objectives that follow from this charge are to (1) Explore effective strategies aimed at increasing the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students; (2) Monitor and assess the effectiveness of outreach and retention efforts using agreed upon data collection and evaluation methods; (3) Continue to refine efforts for better coordination of college access, transition and readiness for underrepresented students. (i.e. College Access and Transition subcommittee) and (4) Facilitate collaboration among entities involved in outreach and retention efforts geared towards underrepresented students.

Gender-neutral bathrooms URL: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/e497727c5778449bb2766bb965cac56b/