Assistant Vice President, Title IX and ADA Coordinator
Dear Patriots,
Welcome to the 2023-2024 academic year! My name is Tom Bluestein, and I have the pleasure of serving as the Assistant Vice President for Equity and Access Services and as the Title IX and ADA Coordinator here at Mason. In this position, I oversee our talented team in the Equity and Access Services (“EAS”) unit within the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. EAS coordinates Mason’s compliance with various federal and state laws and regulations, including Title IX (prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or activities), Title VI (prohibits discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance), Title VII (prohibits employment discrimination), the Americans with Disabilities Act, and prohibitions of discrimination based on other various protected characteristics. If you believe that you have been the victim of any form of protected characteristic discrimination, please contact EAS.
Any process involving allegations of discrimination are serious and individuals involved in these processes likely are going through one of the most traumatic situations in their lives. The focus of EAS is to recognize this, and to ensure that we work to treat everyone equitably and with empathy, compassion, and discretion. This forms the philosophy of the EAS unit: to do our work in a trauma-informed manner that emphasizes the person’s well-being, while upholding the responsibility to be neutral, third-party stewards of established policies and practices.
As a part of our human-centered philosophy, I am excited to announce some improvements in the EAS office:
- The creation of an Anonymous Self-Reporting Form for Title IX Disclosures. This form provides the opportunity for people to anonymously self-report possible prohibited conduct under Title IX and/or Policy 1202. This form may not be used by non-confidential employees to satisfy their mandatory reporting requirement. Non-confidential employees must use the Title IX Report form (linked below).
- Increased number of training opportunities held for the larger campus community. These trainings will be focused on providing employees the opportunity to satisfy their yearly required Title IX training (that otherwise can be completed online) and will be offered throughout the year at the Fairfax campus, Mason Square campus, and Sci-Tech campus.
- EAS will have a team member at the Mason Square campus on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EAS’s office at Mason Square is located in Van Metre Hall suite 222.
- Title IX will be implementing an opportunity for individuals to provide feedback at the conclusion of their work with the office.
Many of these improvements and changes are the result of feedback provided by the Mason community. Please continue to provide feedback so that we can continue to improve our service to the Mason community!
To report alleged Prohibited Conduct under Policy 1202 (the Title IX Policy), please use the Title IX Report form. When the Title IX Office receives a report from this form, the Title IX Coordinator and team assess the report to determine if the report relates to a possible Title IX issue. If the report does involve Title IX, the Title IX team will conduct outreach to the person named in the report, typically via email. This email will include an invite to meet with a member of the Title IX team to discuss resources, supportive measures, and options for resolution. Because of the anonymity with the anonymous self-reporting option, the Title IX Office is unable to contact the reporting party. However, resources are available on the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion website on the Title IX Resources page.
Finally, please feel free to contact me at titleix@gmu.edu, by phone at 703-993-8730, or in Aquia 373 on the Fairfax campus.
Have a terrific year!
Sincerely,
Tom Bluestein