The UMW Office of Title IX undergoes new staff changes

By LAURA TAYLOR

Senior Writer

Over winter break, the Title IX office at the University of Mary Washington underwent changes to employee positions, including beginning a national search for a new Title IX Investigator and assigning a new Title IX Coordinator. 

In December, President Paino alerted the University of Mary Washington community of Tiffany Oldfield’s departure to the Carolinas leaving a vacancy in her role as the Title IX Coordinator. During her time at UMW, Oldfield made significant contributions to the local and campus community with her leadership efforts in compliance, education, prevention and support. As well as being the first full-time Title IX Coordinator, she served as the Project Director for the UMW Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grant. 

The current Title IX Investigator is Stefanie Lucas-Waverly who will become the Title IX Coordinator once the search for the full-time Title IX Investigator is complete, and will support Marissa Miller in her role as the Interim Title IX Coordinator. Once a new Title IX Investigator is hired, this position will be filled by Lucas-Waverly. 

Until a new investigator is found, Miller will serve as the Interim Title IX Coordinator. Similarly to her former role, Miller plans to continue working with students, faculty, staff and community partners to support the essence of Title IX while in her interim role. Additionally, Miller plans to work closely with the Title IX team for programming and events on campus to educate and promote awareness. 

“My day-to-day is fairly new at the moment and as always, things may change when a member of our community needs support and liaison to other resources,” said Miller.

A big part of Miller’s role in her day-to-day tasks is working with others to ensure the support of the community through various different outlets. Along with individual support, the Title IX office has been updating all of its materials to reflect Miller’s role as Interim Title IX Coordinator. 

“We want to make sure individuals know who they can reach out to and how to make the contact with resources,” said Miller. “This includes updating my name on the policy, websites, bathroom stall flyers, and syllabus language.” 

Once Lucas-Waverly becomes the Title IX Coordinator, she plans to make the university’s community aware that she is available to provide resources, support and guidance to all members of the university community. 

“My goal is to continue the wonderful work Tiffany Oldfield already started as she was the university’s first full-time Title IX Coordinator,” said Lucas-Waverly. 

After Stefanie Lucas-Waverly has become the Title IX Coordinator and the Title IX Investigator position has been filled, Miller will go back to her former role as Associate Coordinator of Student Conduct and Coordinator for Prevention and Advocacy.

On Thursday March 14, the Title IX office will be hosting the Evolving Practices Conference in Chandler Ballroom at UMW to provide a multidisciplinary approach to addressing gender-based violence on college campuses. 

Miller was unable to provide contact information for Tiffany Oldfield once she left the university.