Bias Incident Response
Fitchburg State University
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Our Purpose
The Office of Equal Opportunity ensures students, faculty, and staff affected by bias or a bias-related incident have access to appropriate resources and assists the university in its response in situations that may impact the overall campus climate around inclusion and belonging. All reports of bias incidents are directed to the EO Officer and/or their designee(s), who in consultation with with campus stakeholders will determine if the report is actually an EO Complaint, make necessary referrals, and determine whether a immediate response is warranted based upon the scope and/or gravity of the alleged incident. An incident dashboard with non-identifying data is available upon request and is discussed monthly at Leading for Change committee meetings.
Leading for Change Committee responsibilities:
- Serves as a resource to the campus community by referring and directing relevant parties or the incident response to appropriate campus individuals or departments.
- Reviews campus concerns for community impact, when there is no respondent evident; consider measures to remedy harm and recommend appropriately for potential implementation.
- Monitors Incident Dashboard, recognize trends, assist with tracking and collecting aggregate data, and recommend prevention and response efforts appropriately
The Leading for Change Committee does not take disciplinary action, conduct formal investigations or impinge on free speech rights and academic freedom.
What is a Bias Related Incident?
A bias incident is any behavior or act which is personally directed against or targeting an individual or group based on perceived or actual characteristics. Bias in and of itself is not necessarily prohibited. Humans are naturally inclined to favor or oppose many things. However when beliefs about or prejudice towards people or groups results in unfair or disproportionate treatment, the university takes notice. Furthermore, when such bias is based on legally protected characteristics - such as race, color, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national or ethnic origin, disability or veteran status it may amount to a violation of Fitchburg State University policy or constitute a crime (i.e. hate crime).