"Adam Goldstein" Archive

WFU committee working to implement new Title IX regulations

Wake Forest University has established a Title IX 2020 Implementation Task Force led by Vice President for Campus Life Penny Rue and Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives Kami Chavis. 

The group, which held its first meeting on June 3, was established following changes announced in early May by the U.S. Department of Education regarding how colleges and universities must handle sexual-assault and sexual-harassment complaints. The new regulations increase protections for accused students and employees and take effect Aug. 14.

Among the most notable changes, institutions must now hold live hearings and allow cross-examination when deciding sexual-misconduct complaints. The new federal regulations are the first regulatory revisions in 45 years to the federal gender-equity law and will also limit the scope of complaints colleges and universities are required to investigate. 

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Update on Title IX Office

The following announcement was e-mailed to faculty and staff from the Office of the Provost on Jan. 22 on behalf of Kami Chavis, associate provost for academic initiatives, associate vice president and professor of law:

Good morning, Wake Forest faculty and staff,

Late in 2019, Wake Forest announced that Tanya Jachimiak, Director of the Title IX Office/Title IX Coordinator and Section 504 Coordinator, had agreed to become Associate Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX Education and Compliance at Michigan State University. Tanya has been a respected and cherished member of our campus community for over six years; her professionalism, integrity, and commitment to fairness are the hallmarks of her legacy.  She has played a central role in the university’s efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault, and it is vital that we hire a knowledgeable and equity-minded leader to assume these responsibilities. The university has engaged Isaacson, Miller to assist with this important search.

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Newly reconstituted review committee formed for Code of Conduct for students

On Feb. 6, the Division of Campus Life announced a new development in its revision process for the Code of Conduct for students.  Matt Clifford, associate dean of students, emailed this announcement to undergraduate students:

As a reminder, this year, the Wake Forest community has an important opportunity to contribute to and shape the Code of Conduct. In the fall, our office engaged the community in a period of public review and comment on suggested revisions to the Code. During the period, we received 42 comments, held six public listening sessions, and attended numerous other meetings with students, faculty, and staff.

This spring, a newly reconstituted review committee will consider comments that have been submitted and make recommendations for a final document. During the comment process, I heard the desire to have more faculty and student voices on the group. Our new group is composed of five students, five faculty, and four staff. I am pleased to share that the following individuals have agreed to serve on the Code of Conduct Review Committee:

  • Virginia Hamilton, student
  • Lizzy Woods, student
  • Isabella Ryan, student
  • Phillip Yurchenko, student
  • Maria Cortez-Perez, student
  • John Dinan, faculty
  • Erica Still, faculty
  • Rian Bowie, faculty
  • Michael Pisapia, faculty
  • Pat Lord, faculty
  • José Villalba, staff
  • Tanya Jachimiak, staff
  • Matt Clifford, staff, chair, ex-officio
  • Adam Goldstein, staff, ex-officio

The committee’s work will focus on the primary areas where feedback was offered. Our goal will be to understand the principles that have been shared in comments and find a balance that supports our community’s values and ideals.

As always, our website is the primary source of information about the revision. If you have any questions about this process, please contact me at cliffomw@wfu.edu.

Matt Clifford,
Associate Dean of Students, Student Conduct

Categories: Inside WFU

A message from Dean of Students Adam Goldstein and Interim Chief Diversity Officer José Villalba

This message was emailed by Wake Forest Communications and External Relations to students, faculty and staff on Oct. 3 on behalf of Dean of Students Adam Goldstein and Interim Chief Diversity Officer José Villalba:

Dear Wake Forest Students, Faculty and Staff,

As a follow-up to President Hatch’s acknowledgement and condolences for those impacted by the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, we wanted to make sure the entire campus community received the supportive message below written by James Raper, director of the University Counseling Center.

We anticipate The Office of the Dean of Students, Office of the Chaplain, student organizations and others will share information soon about plans currently in the works for recognizing the Las Vegas incident.

Adam Goldstein
Dean of Students

José Villalba
Interim Chief Diversity Officer

Look for helpers

 The heartbreaking news of a mass shooting in Las Vegas drives me to reaffirm our role as being a supportive resource to the WFU community.  You do not need to identify as a survivor or know a victim of violence to experience the emotional and physical effects of violent action.  The impact of violence and terror can be immediate for some, and for others can not appear until some time has passed.  For some, talking about the event, acknowledging the resulting feelings, and focusing on helping others can assist with reducing the negative emotional impact of violence.  Talking with a mental health professional can also be a useful step in moving through the pain.

Our mental health services are available for all WFU students, and we invite you to view our Diversity Statement as one affirmation of our commitment to providing nonjudgmental listening and care.  We also remain available as colleagues to Wake Forest staff and faculty who would benefit from consultation as we all continue the work of supporting one another and growing together.

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Dean Goldstein: Revisions to the Student Code of Conduct

The Office of the Dean of Students is seeking comment from students, faculty and staff about suggested revisions to the University’s Student Conduct of Code. Information about how to participate is provided in the following recent message sent to Campus Life staff and the Campus Life Partners Committee by Adam Goldstein, dean of students and associate vice president of Campus Life:

Dear CL Staff and Partners,

You may have started your day with a cup of coffee, a bowl of fruit, and a copy of today’s Winston-Salem Journal.  If you did, you would see a beautiful article about our new Campus Recreation facility, student excitement about the environment that’s been created, and our own excitement about what the facility represents in our larger vision for Wellbeing at Wake.

You will also see an article about concerns students/faculty are expressing about the suggested revisions to our Student Conduct Code.  This article centers on concern about the minimum behavior we expect of students with regard to disruption.

The main message I hope you will take away and share with others is this: We really do want student, faculty and staff feedback. We hope everyone will feel comfortable sharing it with us as part of our planned public review process, which Associate Dean Matt Clifford proactively outlined in an email to the campus community last week. Here’s how people can make their voices heard:

  • Feedback is encouraged on our Conduct Code Revision website where specific wording can be engaged and/or principled disagreement can be voiced.
  • We are holding a series of Open Forums about different sections within the proposed Conduct Code revision, during which the revision process is outlined, and specific changes are identified and explained.
  • We are also going to specific groups/areas to listen to concerns and engage in discussion about the complexity of the issues within each behavioral expectation.

We are intentionally operating with transparency and are seeking thoughtful feedback from community members. We anticipate robust discussion about what we should minimally expect of all undergraduates at the University.  In fact, that’s what this process has been designed to facilitate.

This process has been ably designed and led by Matt, and he has done an excellent job involving students, faculty, and staff to get us to where we are today.  As we enter this phase of the public review process, which runs through Dec. 1, Matt will continue to guide our community discussion about these issues.  Please let Matt or I know if you have any ideas or concerns, and please do encourage students, faculty, and staff to review and comment on the student Conduct Code by following the link below.

Sincerely,

Adam Goldstein, PhD
Dean of Students and Associate Vice President
Campus Life

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