The San José State Title IX and Gender Equity Office held an open forum with the finalist for the position of Associate Vice President in meeting room 3A at Diaz Compean Student Union on Wednesday morning.
SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson sent a campus-wide email in December informing the community that the university has been searching for an Associate Vice President for the Title IX and Gender Equity Office.
After nearly 5 months the community finally was able to meet the position finalist, Alexis Martinez, according to a job summary from SJSU.
Martinez currently serves as executive director of Equity and Compliance Programs and Interim Title IX Coordinator at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Martinez said she also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami teaching higher education law.
“I have both the doctorate and the JD degree so I feel like all of those experiences have shaped the work I do, the work I continue to do and look forward to doing,” Martinez said.
Interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer, Peter Lim, sent a campus-wide email that announced the Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation programs office will consolidate into one central office called the Office for Title IX and Equal Opportunity.
Martinez said coming from institutions that had separate roles between offices only caused confusion and frustration among individuals.
“I can also tell you from personal experience that having to tell someone, anyone, a difficult story multiple times,” Martinez said, “It makes you feel unheard (and) it makes you feel like you’re being passed on . . . ”
She wants to create spaces where individuals can come and share a difficult experience only once and receive the appropriate resources.
“You said I have a vision where individuals tell their stories once,” Alfredo Coria, Investigator for the Equal Opportunity University Personnel said, “What’s guiding that principle?”
Martinez said it’s both being trauma-informed and able to think about the individual’s experience as well as having to recount a difficult experience multiple times.
Being trauma-informed is when a provider or wellness staff acknowledges the need to understand an individual’s life experiences to give effective care, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
She believes in the idea of a “complete hands-off” approach to her position.
“We’re going to walk together to this space and I’m going to have you tell me what I’m allowed to say or what I’m allowed to communicate,” Martinez said
Stacey Elsibai, the manager for the Employee and Labor Relations for the Equal Opportunity University Personnel questioned Martinez about her experience with other protected statuses.
Protected classes include: ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, sex and veterans, according to the Ohio State University’s Office of Institutional Equity,
Martinez said she hasn’t had the experience of directly overseeing investigations, but because of her teaching, she has some insight.
“I think I’ve been the investigator or co-investigator on matters related to racial discrimination, disability-related discrimination, mostly on the federal side,” she said, “Then sexual misconduct in a variety of ways, whether it was Title IX or non-Title IX.”
Martinez said there are many instances where someone has had a hard time pinpointing the what or the why, which comes with the intersectionality of who a person is.
Intersectionality is the study and concept of overlapping or intersecting identities that relate to the systems of oppression or discrimination, according to Syracuse University Libraries.
Martinez said it’s important to understand and have a space where all of those intersectionalities are taken into consideration.
In 2022 and 2023, 318 reports were made to the Title IX Office, and 144 of community members either requested or received supportive measures, according to a report dashboard from SJSU’s Title IX Office.
SJSU’s Title IX report dashboard was implemented in 2023 as an interactive dashboard that shows data regarding Title IX reports and training sessions for students and staff.
Associate Director for Student Conduct and Ethical Development, Alec Matthews asked Martinez, “How can you utilize data and analytics in your work to better inform how you present yourself or how you advocate for other officers?”
Martinez spotted a challenge within her institution’s Greek life and identified patterns through the commitment to an overhaul of case management and record keeping. Through those metrics she was able to see patterns and spot what was working.
“I think it’s essential to track those things,” Martinez said. “That’s how you identify patterns but also create these moments of ‘look at what we’ve done and look how far we’ve come’.”