University of Iowa names members to employment practices review committee

The University of Iowa is moving forward with a review of its employment practices prompted by a high-profile courtroom defeat and subsequent $6.5 million settlement, naming on Thursday committee members charged with choosing a firm to conduct the review.

The 14-person committee - which includes Monique DiCarlo, sexual misconduct response coordinator and deputy Title IX coordinator in the Division of Student Life - will pick 'one or more outside consulting firms to conduct an external review of university employment practices as defined by the Iowa Civil Rights Act,” according to a UI news release.

The firm or firms will be paid out of the UI's general education fund, as 'this is a university-wide review,” according to UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck.

A date for the group's first meeting has not been determined. The committee is not bound to make a decision by a specific date, and Beck said its meetings will not be open to the public, as the committee does not meet the definition of a government body under the state's open meetings laws.

Among the group's first jobs is writing a request for qualifications to solicit proposals from interested firms. The committee - which includes faculty, staff, student, health care, and administrative representatives - also will define evaluation criteria they'll use in choosing one or more consultants.

Once they've written the request, the university will share it through its online bidding system.

'The RFQ process allows the committee to interview potential bidders and provides greater flexibility to assess the consultants' qualifications,” according to the news release.

The university announced plans for the review after a Polk County jury on May 4 found the institution discriminated against former UI associate athletics director Jane Meyer, 57, awarding her $1.43 million.

Meyer, who worked in the UI athletics department from 2001 to 2014, sued the university, the Board of Regents, and the state for discrimination, also alleging administrators retaliated against her when she complained about the firing of her longtime partner, Tracy Griesbaum, the former UI head field hockey coach.

Griesbaum also sued, and that case was scheduled for trial June 5 in Polk County. But the university May 19 announced settlements with both women, agreeing to pay a total $6.5 million. The UI, in making the agreements that concluded the cases, did not admit to acts of discrimination or retaliation.

In next steps announced in May, the university detailed plans to hire a firm for the external review, which will include three phases. The first will look specifically at the UI athletics department; the second will include all UI academic and operational units; and the third will focus on UI Health Care.

Co-chairing the committee, per Thursday's announcement, are Peter Snyder, professor of internal medicine and president of UI Faculty Senate, and Erin Brothers, senior sponsored research specialist in the Division of Sponsored Programs. Brothers is past president of UI Staff Council.

Committee members are listed below.

FACULTY

Tonya Peeples, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering and associate dean in the College of Engineering

Shelly Campo, associate professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health and the Department of Communication Studies, and associate dean in the Graduate College

Peter Snyder, professor of internal medicine and president of UI Faculty Senate

STAFF

Erin Brothers, senior sponsored research specialist in the Division of Sponsored Programs and past president of UI Staff Council

Matt Watson, application developer for Health Care Information Systems

Nadine Petty, director of the Center for Diversity and Enrichment

STUDENTS

Nicole Jardine, past secretary of Graduate and Professional Student Government

Titus Hou, executive assistant in University of Iowa Student Government

UI HEALTH CARE

Ellen Chambers, deputy counsel for University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Alan Reed, professor and chief of the Division of Transplant and HPB Surgery

Jana Wessels, associate vice president in Human Resources

ADMINISTRATION

Sarah Hansen, associate vice president in the Division of Student Life

Monique DiCarlo, sexual misconduct response coordinator in the Division of Student Life

Christina Bohannan, professor in the College of Law

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