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Bias Education and Support Team and incident reporting

Augustana College is committed to strengthening a diverse, inclusive, and thriving campus community for our students, faculty, staff, and administration. Acts of bias, discrimination, and harassment violate our community principles of openness and respect, and these acts will not be tolerated. It is our shared responsibility and commitment to one another to prevent and appropriately respond to bias incidents.

What is the Bias Education and Support Team (BEST)?

The Bias Education and Support Team (BEST) offers assistance, support, and guidance to individuals impacted by bias-related incidents, connecting them with campus resources and addressing issues of harm. BEST also works to enhance the campus climate by collecting and analyzing data on bias incidents experienced by faculty, staff, and students. The team’s role is twofold: providing supportive measures for those affected and educating the campus community to ensure that Augustana College is a welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment for everyone.

Please use the BEST incident report form to report actions, behaviors, or communications that intimidate, demean, mock, degrade, stereotype, marginalize, or threaten individuals or groups based on actual or perceived identities, including age, ancestry, ethnicity, national origin, ability, sex, gender identity/expression, citizenship status, marital status, socio-economic status, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

What is a bias incident?

A bias incident is conduct, speech, images, or expression that targets a victim on the basis of actual or perceived identity characteristics, including age, ancestry, ethnicity, national origin, ability, sex, gender identity/expression, citizenship status, marital status, socio-economic status, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status or other social identities. Bias incidents may be intentional or unintentional. A bias incident does not need to rise to the level of a violation of college policy or the law to be reported and addressed.

What do I do if I have experienced or witnessed a bias incident?

First be sure you are safe and take care of yourself and others in the way that you need. Contact Public Safety if you do not feel safe. You should report a bias incident so that the Bias Education and Support Team can help connect you with resources and investigate the Incident. Reporting a bias incident can be done anonymously to help the team monitor the campus climate. Remember that while an anonymous report helps the team to gather information, there may be limited ability to respond to anonymous reports.

Important for Employees: Augustana College employees are required to report incidents of potential bias, discrimination, and harassment. Submitting an anonymous report through this form does not satisfy that obligation. All employee reporters must provide their full contact details. 

To use confidential resources, please seek support from Counseling Services and Campus Ministries. Confidential resources are not obligated to share information.

How do I submit a Bias Incident Report?

There are multiple ways that you can report a Bias Incident, including

Submitting this online form

Contacting a member of the Triage Team directly:

  • Dr. Gauri A. Pitale – Vice President for Culture and Connection (Primary Convener of BEST and Triage Team Convener)
  • Steve Wehling – Civil Rights Director and and Title IX Coordinator (Secondary Convener of BEST and Triage Team Member)
  • Laura Schnack – Associate Dean of Students (Triage Team Member and BEST member)
  • Mindy Zumdome – Director of Human Resources (Triage Team Member and BEST member)

Members of the larger Bias Education and Support Team include:

*In the event of a conflict of interest, the convener of the Bias Education and Support Team will ask any involved individual(s) to recuse themselves from all discussions involving that particular case.

What happens after I submit a report?

The Triage Team reviews every report that is made to assess the situation, including possible resources needed and college policies that may be involved. The team will work to offer support and resources on and off campus needed by individuals impacted by the incident. (See PDF of the reporting and assessment process.)

Based on the assessment, the team also works to better understand the incident through gathering evidence and meeting with individuals involved. The college also may take action to resolve the incident as appropriate through a range of options, including student conduct processes, employee conduct processes, criminal prosecution, and educational intervention. Please note that the action taken may be influenced by the wishes of the individual(s) impacted and relevant college policy.

If a reported incident is suspected to be a hate crime, it will be shared with Augustana Police and Public Safety. A hate crime is any crime committed that is motivated by bias or based on the victim's perceived membership in a specific group. Examples of hate crimes include vandalism, assault and other crimes against a person or property. In some cases, hate crimes also will be shared with the Rock Island Police Department. Hate crimes are a violation of college policy and may be handled as both a criminal offense and a violation of college policy.

BEST: Bias Education and Support Team – Fostering a Safe, Inclusive, and Welcoming Augustana College.

Additional resources

Do you wish to report a concern other than bias, discrimination, and harassment? If so, please use this reporting portal to find the right submission form.