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An organization that accredits Oregon Health & Science University asked for more information about how OHSU handles unsolicited complaints and grievances about discrimination and sexual misconduct, according to a letter obtained by WW.
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, based in Redmond, Wash., sent a letter to interim OHSU president Steve Stadum on March 5, seeking more details about an unspecified matter, pursuant to its “receipt of unsolicited information policy.” OHSU “must address this issue” in a review to be completed this fall, the letter says.
The request comes after two costly investigations undertaken by OHSU in the past five years. Both were prompted by complaints that leaders of the academic medical center had been slow to respond to complaints of sexual harassment.
In 2021, OHSU paid $6.5 million to the law firm Covington & Burling LLP for a report on the administration’s response after a doctor sexually assaulted a colleague. Last year, it commissioned lawyer Scott Schneider to look into why it took OHSU a year to part ways with another doctor who allegedly took up-skirt photos of a student during class. After both investigations, OHSU vowed to do better.
“Oregon Health & Science University has undertaken two external investigations regarding sexual misconduct, discrimination, and the handling of related complaints since 2021, and the Schneider investigation identified at least some of the same issues as the previous Covington investigation,” NWCCU interim president Jeff Fox wrote to Stadum.
Accreditors needed more information “to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy and process changes in ensuring the institution’s compliance with NWCCU 2020 Standard 2.D.2.,” Fox wrote.
That standard reads: “The institution advocates, subscribes to, and exemplifies high ethical standards in its management and operations, including in its dealings with the public, NWCCU, and external organizations, including the fair and equitable treatment of students, faculty, administrators, staff, and other stakeholders and constituencies. The institution ensures that complaints and grievances are addressed in a fair, equitable, and timely manner.”
Accreditation from entities like NWCCU is crucial for colleges and universities. It’s a seal of approval of sorts, guaranteeing students that a university meets academic standards and delivers a quality education. Accreditation also makes it easier for students to transfer credits from one school to another and to get financial aid. NWCCU is a nonprofit organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
OHSU said it has made changes to its policies as a result of the Schneider report.
“At OHSU, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, bullying and sexual misconduct are prohibited, and there are serious consequence for participating in such behavior, up to and including termination,” an OHSU spokesman said in a statement. “Following the completion of the Schneider report in fall 2024, OHSU began implementing all of the report’s recommendations, including hiring seven fully trained investigators and compliance officers in our Office of Civil Rights Investigations and Compliance, and implementing new processes, trainings and policies.”
Asked if a particular complaint had prompted NWCCU to seek more information, commission vice president Gita Bangera said only that “NWCCU considers information to be unsolicited when it is received under the conditions outlined in the receipt of unsolicited information policy."
The two prior investigations were not wholly flattering.
The Covington Report found that OHSU had denied its human resources department what it needed to promptly investigate complaints of sexual assault, racism and discrimination. For five years, OHSU had no vice president for HR, the report noted.
Schneider’s report found that former OHSU president Danny Jacobs had unfairly pinned too much blame for the handling of the up-skirt matter on Dr. David Jacoby, then dean of the medical school. Jacobs dismissed Jacoby from the deanship after the incident. Schneider also found that Qiana Williams, the HR head brought in to fix issues raised by the Covington Report, likely misled investigators about a meeting she said she had with Jacoby.