Nicole Monsibais, Trinity’s new Title IX and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) full-time coordinator, will be the second person on campus to fill the position. Monsibais will begin March 11, taking over for the current interim director Kateeka Harris, who has held the position the entire academic year.
The Title IX and EEO coordinator collaborates with the offices of student and academic affairs, as well as Athletics, TUPD, and the university’s General Counsel, to enforce federal and state law and policy. A committee consisting of representatives from academic affairs, HR, student enrollment and student involvement was in charge of selecting and interviewing candidates. Jim Hertel, chief human resources officer, oversaw the selection process for the new coordinator.
“We were looking for somebody that’s very collaborative … whether it’s dean of students office, whether it’s athletics, you know, students, and so we just needed somebody that was really approachable, that people would go to that had a good background, both from a sort of procedurals standpoint with Title IX,” Hertel said.
Monsibais will also be meeting with SGA, the vice presidents and the faculty senate chairs following her arrival during spring break. Andrew Wells, vice president of student affairs, served on the search committee and has served as a Title IX deputy. Wells encourages students to build relationships with Monsibais, starting with the upcoming Nacho Hour.
“I would encourage students to stop by Nacho Hour and introduce themselves to Nicole. I know she is just going to be such a fantastic addition to our community that I hope students will be able to get to know her right away,” Wells said.
One student said she hoped to see an increased presence of the coordinator for those who aren’t involved in organizations or positions that require Title IX training. Janka Rutkovszky, sophomore urban studies and architectural studies double-major, is a member of Chi Beta Epsilon as well as a Resident Assistant. Rutkovszky expressed excitement about experiencing a Title IX coordinator who will be more present on campus. Rutkovszky raised the separation of fraternities and sororities as being an important aspect of her Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) Title IX training.
“RAs, we definitely had trainings over Title IX things,” Rutkovsky said. “I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of my job scope within Title IX stuff, but I feel like some of my residents need more knowledge on that, and especially if they’re not involved in something on campus, that you have to have knowledge of it, like fraternity/sorority life or any kind of student position.”
Monsibais will be present on campus when students return from spring break. As Harris hands off the position to Monsibias, cases will be distributed between the two coordinators based on their timing. Cases that were being handled by current interim director Harris will likely be followed through by her, while new cases will fall under the jurisdiction of Monsibias.
“I am super excited about Nicole,” Wells said. “She is joining us from another institution here in San Antonio, and she was doing the work there. I mean she has a very strong current history of doing exactly what were looking for, so I think we’re really lucky.”
