OPHD Hasn't Released an Annual Report Since 2015

Rishi Deka / The Triton

The UC San Diego Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination (OPHD) has not released an annual report since 2015, when they discontinued the report format.

According to the OPHD website, annual reports aim to “inform the university community about the character… [and] the work performed by OPHD.”

Annual reports include complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination filed by OPHD in coordination with other departments on campus, such as the UC San Diego Police Department and CARE at the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC).

According to OPHD Director Elena Dalcourt, “OPHD discontinued the old form of the annual report. The last year this form was used was 2015. OPHD is in the process of creating a new format for an annual report to more strategically support their efforts and mission.”

“We are experiencing a significant increase in the number of complaints compared to two years ago,” Dalcourt told The Triton.

Dalcourt claimed OPHD estimates a total of 630 complaints received in the 2017-18 school year, a 252 percent increase compared to the 2015-16 year complaint count of 250. However, The Triton cannot verify these numbers without the release of the annual reports.

OPHD does not yet have an estimated time as to when new reports will be published.

If you are in need of support services, please consider calling the following resources: CARE at the Sexual Assault Resource Center, (858) 534-5793 or sarc@ucsd.edu. After hours: 858-534-HELP

CARE at SARC is located on the fifth floor of the Student Services Center and is available to UCSD students, faculty, and staff.

Center for Community Solutions (CCS), San Diego County’s rape crisis and domestic violence agency, (888) 385-4657

National Sexual Assault Hotline, (800) 656-HOPE

Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD), UCSD’s Title IX office tasked with investigating sexual harassment and sexual assault between students. You can report incidents anonymously by using the report bias web form, calling (858) 534-8298, or emailing ophd@ucsd.edu.

Orianna Borrelli is a Staff Writer for The Triton. You can follow her at @orianna_b.