Provost Newman briefed the Academic and Student Affairs Committee on campus resources for reporting hostile classroom climates and discrimination and on steps to speed responses to reports.

Student observer Audrey Jacobs (UC Davis) urged an accountability mechanism and disaggregated reporting so the university can identify which student groups use reporting resources and which do not. Jacobs emphasized the importance of anonymity and of support services for reporters, writing: “There must be some way to provide accountability through statistics of what sort of populations are reporting and whose cases are being investigated and prioritized.”

Catherine Criswell Speer, executive director of the systemwide office for civil rights, described the local implementation officer (LEO) role as the primary point of contact for anti‑discrimination reports and said campuses have focused on responding promptly to initial reports. Amy Lee, Deputy Provost for Systemwide Academic Personnel, told the committee that under a revised disciplinary process initial assessments for faculty conduct (Academic Personnel Manual §015) will be targeted for completion within 30 business days. Speer said investigatory work generally aims for completion in roughly 60–90 business days, and full adjudication, including hearings or appeals if needed, typically can extend to around six months depending on complexity.

Regent Siris asked for data on average time to full adjudication and how many classroom faculty complaints resulted in administrative action over the past five years. Administrators said central offices do not yet have all historical case‑level outcomes compiled but agreed to provide analysis and systemwide reporting back to the committee.

The committee also reviewed implementation steps required by state law referenced in the discussion. Administrators said they had defined a set of fields campuses will report to the system office and asked campuses to begin the new reporting this fall; an annual systemwide report to regents is planned. Provost Newman and other administrators said the campuses had also received grant funding last year for campus programming to rebuild dialogue and community trust and noted all faculty and staff are required to report complaints when they learn of alleged discrimination from students.

Next steps: administrators will implement the 30‑business‑day initial assessment expectation, finalize the set of data fields for fall reporting and return to the committee with the requested metrics on timelines and case outcomes.