CSU Athletics Husch-Blackwell Action Plan – Implementation Status

Implementation Status for Independent Investigation Report as of February 18, 2022

Recommendation One

Develop a system for student-athletes to report concerns to an employee outside of Athletic Department (e.g., Office of Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX*), and actively encourage reporting.

(*Note, specific offices include: Office of Title IX Programs and Gender Equity, Office of Equal Opportunity, and the Department of Human Resources.)

  • The reporting system will be a web-based platform like that used by Residence Life. Just as the site from Residence Life states, we cannot necessarily guarantee anonymity, but every effort will be made to ensure best practices and anonymity will be maintained if possible and to the extent allowable by law.

Institutional Lead:

Office of the President

Status: Completed

Report Form for President’s Committee on Climate in Athletics

  • The reporting platform will be created and monitored by a committee comprised of university representatives external to the Athletics Department. Committee members will include the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs over Student-Athlete Support Services; the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative; the Chair of the Faculty Council Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics; the Vice President for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX; the Executive Director for Human Resources; and a representative from the Office of the General Counsel.

Institutional Lead:

President’s Committee on Climate in Athletics (PCCA)

Status: Completed

The Student-Athlete Information Center has been built for Colorado State Student-Athletes and their families to find information for all relevant needs in one spot. Information will be updated as it becomes available, and student-athletes should continue to look to their coaching staff and sport administrators for the most up-to-date information.

The President’s Committee on Climate in Athletics makeup and how to submit a report are shared:

  • on the CSU Athletics website Student-Athlete Information Center
  • in Student-Athlete email newsletters
  • via signage posted in the Anderson Academic Center, Training Rooms, and throughout the McGraw Athletic Center
  • The committee will be independent and impartial, empowered by the President.

Institutional Lead:
President

Status: Completed

The Student-Athlete Information Center page shows the PCCA makeup. 

  • The committee will develop a regular review process of concerns submitted to the web-based platform, will work to resolve problems that do not rise to the level of violations of policy or law, and refer complaints that signal possible violations of policy or law to appropriate university offices.

Institutional Lead:

President’s Committee on Climate in Athletics (PCCA)

Status:  Completed

  • The committee will develop a social-norming campaign that encourages reporting, educates on the reporting process, and makes clear there can be no retaliation for filing a complaint or concern.

Institutional Lead:

President’s Committee on Climate in Athletics (PCCA)

Status: Completed

The social-norming campaign is a collection of efforts to encourage reporting, educate student-athletes on the reporting options, and to make it clear there can be no retaliation for filing a complaint or expressing a concern.

Recommendation Two

Continue or supplement diversity and inclusion training University-wide, with a special focus on the Athletics Department, to advance empathy-building, racial sensitivity and cultural understanding.

  • Athletic Department employees (including leadership) staff and student athletes will receive training on the university’s discrimination, harassment and Title IX policies and corresponding laws, including but not limited to education regarding the prohibition of retaliation as soon as possible. The Vice President for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, the Assistant Director of DEI in Athletics and the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance for Athletics will identify or develop training, including the process for filing complaints and the non-retaliation policy (see more on this under Action 3 below).

Institutional Lead:

Office of Title IX Programs and Gender Equity

Status: Completed

  • All student athletes completed online interpersonal violence training in January 2021 and had individual team meetings with the Office of Title IX in February 2021.
  • All athletics staff received education from the Office of Title IX on February 23, 2021.
  • During the 2021-22 academic year, all training was conducted in-person.
  • Many campus units, academic and non-academic, including Athletics, currently provide diversity training. The Vice President for Diversity will continue and expand its work to inventory what we are currently doing campus-wide, including in the Athletics Department. The inventory will be complete by December 31, 2020.

Institutional Lead:

Office of the Vice President for Inclusive Excellence (VPIE)

Status: Active and ongoing

  • OIE training will be expanded in order to meet the goals of the recently finalized Courageous Strategic Transformation plan.  In addition to the recent reorganizing of OIE under new leadership, the assistant director of DEI for Athletics will be integrated into regular OIE staff meetings. Further organizational structure arrangements continue to be explored to best meet the needs of students and Athletics staff while fulfilling the mission of OIE.
  • An outside consultant will evaluate the efficacy of the trainings and recommend what we need to do as an institution to provide frequent, effective and regularly scheduled, campus-wide training, including in CSU Athletics, by March 31, 2021.

Institutional Lead:

Office of the Vice President for Inclusive Excellence (VPIE)

Status: Deferred

Consideration of internal organization and needs is ongoing under the leadership of CSU’s VP for Inclusive Excellence who started in August.

  • Diversity training in Athletics will be expanded as recommended by the consultant in spring semester 2021.

Institutional Lead:

Athletics

Status: Completed

In 2021 and 2022 diversity training in Athletics has expanded. This has happened in coordination and consultation with the recently seated VP for Inclusive Excellence who was hired to add her outside expertise and leadership experience to CSU, in addition to the expertise of other campus leaders in this area. Examples of added or enhanced diversity trainings include:

  • The Together Initiative of the Athletics Department organized a virtual Lunch & Learn to educate the department about ways to advance an inclusive department. Dr. Shannon Archibeque-Engle, Associate Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion (recently renamed Office of Inclusive Excellence), was the invited guest speaker.

 

  • Dr. Akilah Carter-Francique, the Executive Director for the Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change (ISSSSC) at San Jose State University, and her staff were invited to CSU to provide facilitated diversity, equity and inclusion trainings to all students and staff of the Athletics department in the Fall of 2021. Dr. Carter-Francique and her training team met with each sport team, including all student athletes and coaching staff, as well as the department’s support staff and administrative teams. As a follow-up to all training sessions, Dr. Carter-Fancique met with the Athletics senior staff to offer a thorough review of the training sessions.

 

  • Prior to meeting coming to campus, Dr. Carter-Francique and members of her training staff held virtual exploratory meetings with Athletics senior staff and the department’s Together Initiative to gain insights into the needs of the department, the desired outcomes of training, strategic approaches to facilitate learning and engagement during the campus trainings.

 

  • Dr. Albert Bimper, Sr. Associate AD for DEI, has initiated conversation with Resa Lovelace, to discuss her involvement on behalf of her consulting and DEI training company, RBL Theory, to be offered as part of future programming/training sessions. An exploratory and informational meeting was coordinated between Lovelace and the senior administrative team to learn more about how RBL Theory trainings may be organized and facilitated to meet the needs of the Athletics department.

 

  • An educational campaign in honor of the 50-year impact of Title IX since its inception in 1972 was launched in January of 2022, with an intentional strategy to engage internal and external stakeholders.

 

  • DEI library in the McGraw Athletics Building.

 

  • Staff-donated books related to DEI topics are added to a bookshelf and accessible for staff to check out

 

  • Director of Inclusion position added to Student Athlete Advisory Committee
  • Diversity training campus-wide will be expanded as recommended by the consultant in fall semester 2021.

Institutional Lead:

Office of the Vice President for Inclusive Excellence (VPIE)

Status: Active and ongoing

  • OIE training will be expanded in order to meet the goals of the recently finalized Courageous Strategic Transformation plan. In addition to the recent reorganizing of OIE under new leadership, the assistant director of DEI for Athletics will be integrated into regular OIE staff meetings. Further organizational structure arrangements continue to be explored to best meet the needs of students and Athletics staff while fulfilling the mission of OIE.
  • In the process of Strategic Transformation, we will align budget allocations with priorities, including campus-wide training.

Institutional Lead:

Courageous Strategic Transformation Steering Committee

Status: Ongoing

Recommendation Three

Amplify the University’s policy statement against retaliation within the Athletic Department.

  • The Athletics Department, in consultation with and the approval of the Office of the General Counsel and the Vice President for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, shall create a nonretaliation statement consistent with university policy that will be shared with Athletic Department employees and student athletes on a regular basis. Athletics Department leadership shall create and foster a culture of non-retaliation.

Institutional Lead:

Athletics

Status: Completed

  • Posted on the Student-Athlete Information Center
  • Included in the Director of Athletics August 2021 Ram Country Updated sent emailed to the Athletics email distribution list
  • Included in the August 2021 Student-Athlete email newsletter
  • Discussed and amplified during the department’s in-person All Staff meeting on August 18, 2021
  • A new university Retaliation and Whistleblower Protection Policy is effective as of Feb. 1, 2022. This policy will be shared annually.

Recommendation Four

Create a comprehensive Communication Plan for Actions One through Three

  • To make implementation of 1-3 known and effective, University Marketing and Communications, led by the Vice President for University Marketing and Communications, will work with communications teams throughout the University, including in the Athletics Department, to create, implement and assess a communications plan to raise awareness of the issues addressed in response to the investigation recommendations.

Institutional Lead:

University Marketing and Communications

Status: Initiated and ongoing

  • The communications plan and its effectiveness will be assessed through an annual campus survey targeted at non-student employees, student employees, students and student athletes.

Institutional Lead:

University Marketing and Communications

Status: Survey will be developed for first annual distribution in Spring 2022