Bias Incident Reporting & Response

Bias Incident Reporting & Response
UMD College of Education

 Have you experienced hate, bias, or discrimination?
Have you witnessed something that you think may be grounded in bias? 

You have options at both the COE and University levels to get support and take action.

The COE Bias Incident Response Team aids students, faculty, and staff who have experienced or witnessed an incident of hate, bias, harassment, and/or discrimination. 

The work of the Response Team includes: 

• Serve as liaisons with the UMD Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) and the Bias Incident Support Services (BISS) team for all trauma-informed care and reporting to other relevant campus offices
• Ensure that all incoming and current students, faculty, and staff have materials about this response team as a resource (at faculty/staff retreats, student orientations, etc.)
• Provide a welcoming space for students, faculty, and staff to share private information and experiences
• Work with ODI office on an as-needed basis to support students, faculty, and staff through whatever process they need in their particular case
• Work with BISS team to ensure that all COE leadership (deans, department chairs, etc.) are updated regularly on the number and nature of reported incidents in COE

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident, you may take any of the following steps:

1. Report the incident to a member of the COE Response Team for allyship, guidance, and support (see what COE Response Team members WILL and WILL NOT do in response to a report are below). A list of Response Team Members is at the bottom of this page.
2. Contact the COE Diversity Officer (Dr. Bridget Turner Kelly, contact information at the bottom of the page) who will document the incident for tracking purposes. Members of the Response Team will also communicate reported incidents to the Diversity Officer for tracking.
3. If and only if you are comfortable doing so, you may report the incident via the University’s Bias Incident Report Form 
4. You may also contact these offices for support at the University: Bias Incident Support Services office, the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, the Office of Student Conduct, and the Counseling Center.

All COE Response Team Members are trained on the university’s bias incident response protocol and are able to share possible next steps with you following a Hate-Bias incidents report. Possible outcomes of reporting include 1-on-1 ongoing support, engaging the person impacting others, engaging leadership to address systemic issues, and conflict resolution: 

If you come to a team member to report a hate/bias incident, they WILL:

• Listen
• Believe and trust in the experience of any individual reporting an incident
• Take seriously all incidents shared
• Support and guide individuals to the appropriate resources, reporting mechanisms, and support services on campus
• Maintain your privacy
• Submit an anonymous incident report to the UMD Bias Incident Reporting System

If you come to a team member to report a hate/bias incident, they WILL NOT:

• Contact the person/people causing harm
• Promise outcomes that cannot be fulfilled by COE and/or University
• Share your name, report, or any other information with any other members of the response team, faculty, staff, or students without your express permission, except if legally required*

*note: that under Title IX law, faculty and staff are legally bound to report any incidents of sexual harassment/misconduct and recommended to do so for incidents of discrimination to the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct.

You are NOT required to come to the COE Bias Incident Response Team to access resources and support on campus. University-level resources are always available to you, including the Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, your department chair, the Bias Incident Support Services office, the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, the Office of Student Conduct, and the Counseling Center.

Our aim is to create a support system with a clear set of options that empowers the individual experiencing harm to choose their own path to healing, reconciliation, and reparations. Our process is about integrating with - not duplicating - the resources available at the campus-level Bias Incident Support Services office. 

View the College of Education’s Hate and Bias Policy here.

COE Bias Incident Response Team Members (2022-2023)
Team members come from across the COE community and represent our various constituencies, and have participated in training from the UMD Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Bridget Turner Kelly, Associate Professor of Student Affairs and COE Diversity Officer	btkelly1@umd.edu
Janis Cornell- DeMoss, Director of Student Services	jcdemoss@umd.edu
Richard Shin, Associate Professor of School Counseling	rqshin@umd.edu
Jennifer Turner, Associate Professor of Reading Education	jdturner@umd.edu
Natasha Mitchell, Associate Clinical  Professor of School Counseling	nmitche3@umd.edu
Jennifer Amilivia,  Assistant Clinical Professor of Special Education	amilvia@umd.edu
Kelli Cummings, Associate Professor of Special Education	kellic@umd.edu
David John Toledo, Director of Finance and Administration, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology	dtoledo@umd.edu
Tara Brown, Associate Professor of  Urban Education	tmbrown@umd.edu