Description of Training
The NWATIXA (an independent, non-profit association), is committed to providing high quality, affordable education and training for K12 and higher education professionals in the northwest region (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, & Washington) with Title IX responsibilities. As such, NWATIXA will be hosting a 4-day Title IX Investigators' Training at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon on September 26 - September 29, 2016. We will be offering both Athletic and Sexual Assault tracks. The individual tracks will be combined on the first and last days of the training to 1) train on issues with a high relevance to participants in both tracks and 2) to develop a community of practitioners who can network and support one another in this work. The middle two days of training will be dedicated to more track-specific issues. Relevant case study work for each track will run throughout the training giving participants hands-on, practical experience, in addressing issues that fall under the purview of Title IX on their home campus or within their home districts.
DETAILED SCHEDULE
REGISTRATION AND HOTEL INFORMATION
Training Tracks
Higher Education Track
K12 Track
Policy/Procedures
Legal Requirements & applying the requirements
Neurobiology of Sexual Assault
Trauma-informed questioning techniques
Working with local police & outside agencies
Investigatory frameworks
Working with a claimant
Working with a responding party
Working with witnesses
Gather and evaluating evidence
Assessing credibility
Cultural Competencies
LGTBQIA Competencies
Working with Athletics
Program equity
Minors on Campus
Case Study Work
Preparing and writing a report
Findings and sanctions
Adjudication processes
Policy/Procedures
Legal Requirements & applying the requirements
Neurobiology of Sexual Assault
Trauma-informed questioning techniques
Working with local police & outside agencies
Athletic Facilities
Booster Clubs
Fund Raising/Concessions
Participation - Female/Male/Transgender
Student Interest - Adding sports
Best practice for conducting Title IX site visits
Case Study Work
Title IX complaint how to address/avoid
Cultural Competencies
LGTBQIA Competencies
Preparing and writing a report
Findings and sanctions
Adjudication processes
Training Faculty
Julia Dunn
Juli Dunn is the Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Administrator at Whitman College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Juli has worked at the Walla Walla, Washington-based Whitman College since 1993, first as the College's first certified athletic trainer providing preventative and rehabilitative care to Whitman's student-athletes, and later as Director of Academic Resources overseeing academic advising, tutoring, study skills series, mid-semester deficiency and academic probation advising, disability support services and more. Today, her role as Associate Dean of Students includes the oversight and implementation of retention, leadership and mentoring programs, oversight of pre-major advising and supervision of the Academic Resource Center Director. She is also the primary Student Conduct Administrator at the college. As Whitman's Title IX Administrator, Juli proactively educates the campus community on Title IX laws and matters and is the College’s point person for all cases of sex or gender-based harassment, discrimination, or assault. Juli previously served as the College’s lead Title IX investigator. Juli received her B. A. from Whitworth College and her M. A. from The Ohio State University.
Gail Farmer
TAMARA GREENFIELD KING, J.D.
Tamara L. King joined Washington University in St. Louis in 1999 as the University’s Judicial Administrator and Director of Judicial Programs. In her role as Judicial Administrator, Ms. King worked with students, faculty, and staff to establish and uphold the University’s campus wide community expectations. In April 2014, she became an Associate Dean of Students and Deputy Title IX Coordinator working to help students learn while engaged in the student conduct process. In February 2009 Ms. King became the first African-American to serve as President of the Association for Student Judicial Affairs (ASJA/ASCA). The Association is the premier international organization serving student conduct professionals on college campuses. She has been on faculty for the ASCA Gehring Academy since 2003. She has served as the Chair of the 2013 and 2014 Donald Gehring Academies for ASCA. This leadership role allowed her to develop the national curriculum and training for student conduct and Title IX professionals throughout the country and Canada.She has dedicated her higher education career to educating and training higher education professionals. She presents information to professional staff at colleges and universities around the country on a variety of topics, including: the student conduct process, diversity issues, academic integrity, ethics, proactively promoting student conduct resources on campus, formal case adjudication, file maintenance, sexual harassment and misconduct, and the role of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and race related to sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. She enjoys consulting and helping college administrators comply with the myriad of legislative mandates.Prior to her work at Washington University, Tamara practiced law for ten years (1988 to 1998) and served as a criminal prosecutor, on a part-time basis, for six years (1992-1998) in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. In 1992, she was appointed the first African American ever to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Simultaneously, she started her own law practice in Easton, Pennsylvania with a concentration in the areas of small business practice, real estate, domestic relations, and personal injury law.She serves as a Deputy Title IX coordinator for students. In addition, she designs and presents, along with other colleagues, on sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, sexual assault, and Title IX for faculty, staff, and students.
Gail Farmer has worked at Central Washington University since 1999. She was the Director of Wellness for 13 years and became the institution’s first Sexual Assault Response Coordinator in 2001. For the past four years Gail has been the Manager, Equal Opportunity and Deputy Title IX Coordinator at CWU conducts Title VII, Title IX and other employment investigations and provides extensive training to the campus community on matters related to civil rights.
Elizabeth Kristen, J.D.
Elizabeth Kristen is the Director of the Gender Equity program and a Senior Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center. Ms. Kristen also serves as the Director of the LAS-ELC’s Fair Play for Girls in Sports Project (https://las-elc.org/fair-play-for-girls-in-sports). Ms. Kristen has worked at the LAS-ELC since 2002 when she was awarded a two-year Skadden Fellowship for a project related to advocating for those with hidden disabilities in the workplace. Ms. Kristen has litigated numerous cases involving Title IX athletics at the high school level, including the landmark case Ollier v. Sweetwater for which she was selected as a California Lawyer of the Year. Ms. Kristen served as lecturer at Berkeley Law School from 2008-2013 and was chosen as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School in 2012-13. In 2015, she was selected as a Ford Public Voices Fellow. Prior to working at LAS-ELC, Ms. Kristen served as a law clerk for the Honorable James R. Browning on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
LEAH MERRIFIELD
Leah Merrifield is Washington University’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement and St. Louis College Readiness Initiatives, and is the founding director of the Washington University College Prep Program. Launched in 2014, the College Prep Program is a multi-year initiative designed to help talented but underserved St. Louis area high school students prepare for and complete a college education at a selective four-year college or university. Previous Washington University positions held by Merrifield include serving as Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Diversity Initiatives, Director of Community Relations, and Director of MBA Student Services at the John M. Olin School of Business. Leah Merrifield is a long-serving member of the Washington University Judicial Board and the University Sexual Assault Investigative Board. In addition, she is a member of Barnes Jewish Hospital’s Nominations, Diversity and Governance Board committee, has served on the board of the St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council, and is a founding board member and past president of the board of College Bound Saint Louis. Merrifield received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and her Master of Education degree from The University of Texas at Austin.
Stephanie Whaley
Originally from Montana, Stephanie N. Whaley attended Seattle University for her undergrad and Michigan State University for her graduate work in Student Affairs Administration. Prior to working at Gonzaga University, Stephanie served as a Title IX Investigator and Trainer for 3.5 years at the University of Alaska Anchorage before becoming the Title IX Coordinator at GU in in June of 2015, Stephanie has been working professionally in Higher Education since 2007 and has a significant background in Residence Life and Housing, Crisis Response and Management and Title IX.
MACKENZIE WILFONG, J.D.
Mackenzie Wilfong earned her Bachelors of Arts from OU where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, she received her Juris Doctorate degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. Following law school, Mackenzie practiced litigation at Spencer Fane Britt and Browne a national law firm in Kansas City where she specialized in Education and Employment Law, practicing in both Kansas and Missouri. After leaving private practice, she joined the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights as an enforcement attorney investigating allegations of harassment and discrimination in educational institutions in a five state region, including Oklahoma. Mackenzie has worked at OSU in several capacities including Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX coordinator. Currently Mackenzie is the Associate General Counsel for the Board of Regents of the Oklahoma State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges.
CHRIS WILSON, PSY.D
Dr. Chris Wilson is a licensed psychologist and nationally recognized speaker and trainer from Portland, Oregon. For the past fifteen years he’s worked with victims and perpetrators of crime, as both a group and individual therapist. He currently has a small private practice of individual clients, provides psychological evaluations for the Oregon Department of Human Services, and trains audiences nationwide on a variety of issues including sexual assault, domestic violence, and the neurobiology of trauma. His audiences have included judges, attorneys, community and campus law enforcement officers, college and university administrators, victim advocates, and mental health professionals. He’s provided trainings for organizations including the US Department of Justice, the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, the US Office for Victims of Crime, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute. Dr. Wilson is a trainer for the US Army’s Special Victims Unit Investigation Course, and two nationally recognized programs: Legal Momentum, providing training for the judiciary, and the You Have Options Program, providing training for law enforcement on the Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview, the only known victims specific interview technique to integrate neuroscience, designed by Chief Russell Strand of the United States Army. Prior to obtaining his doctoral degree in clinical psychology, Dr. Wilson was first a Resident Assistant (at both the University of Oregon and Lewis & Clark College), and then a full time Resident Director for two years at Wake Forest University. In his first three years of graduate school Dr. Wilson continued to work in Residence Life and House, serving as a Resident Director at Pacific University, where he obtained his degree. He was recognized at both the North Carolina Housing Officers annual conference and South Eastern Association of Housing Officers annual conference with top presenter awards and provided training at variety of other institutions including North Carolina State University, and East Carolina University. In his spare time he roots for his childhood hometown Boston Red Sox and current hometown Portland Timbers.