Marco Mendoza, former director of institutional equity and Title IX coordinator. Courtesy of UTD Title IX Office
Office plans to improve relationship with community
The UTD Title IX office recently appointed a new senior
director of institutional equity and Title IX initiatives. The new appointee,
Marco Mendoza, hopes to increase the transparency and efficiency of the
reporting process as well as improve the office’s relationship with the campus
community.
Mendoza was appointed on April 22, 2019, and has worked with
UTD since 2013 as director of institutional equity and equal employment
opportunity, Title IX coordinator and other roles. Mendoza received his
bachelor’s degree from McMurry University and completed his master’s in public
affairs at UTD. Before starting at UTD, he worked in human resources at the UNT
Health Science Center in Fort Worth.
Institutional equity is meant to provide students at a
university resources for equal opportunity, affirmative action and
nondiscrimination responsibilities. This relates to Title IX by providing the
resources for stopping discrimination and sexual harassment.
“A lot of what we are focusing on for the Title IX side is
outreach to the community and the entire campus, and making sure people
understand that we are here and there’s a process for reporting allegations,”
Mendoza said.
Mendoza said the department is trying to make it easier for
people to go to the website and determine what the process to file a complaint
looks like, walking people through the investigation process from start to
finish.
“Part of what I wanted to do when I came here was (to) make
sure that we had the staff to be able to deal with the amount of investigation
that comes into the office, and to respond to them more promptly,” Mendoza
said. “I want to make the process more transparent by putting information on
our website that explains the process not in a policy format, but in a more
visual format. I think that is something that could be very helpful, so that’s
something that we are already working on. In August, specifically, the month is
full of outreach efforts.”
Mendoza plans to speak with student groups around UTD, such
as meeting with sorority and fraternity life and all the chapter presidents.
Additionally, he will meet with student government representatives, who attend
Title IX group meetings and give their input to the Title IX office. The office
will also be present at the block party that kicks off Weeks of Welcome. The
goal is to have people around UTD not just view them as Title IX, but to have
more of a relationship in the campus community.
“I think that it’s a responsibility of making sure that we
have a campus that is proactive in addressing matters of sexual harassment and
discrimination. I want it to be something that people are not afraid to talk
about. When I think of the role, I don’t think of it as something that I am
solely responsible for. It’s an institutional responsibility. We’re a
department that helps people understand what Title IX is and what institutional
equity means.” Mendoza said. “We’re responsible for the process, but the
culture that we’re trying to create would be the responsibility of all of our
campus community.”