The Bullying and Harassment Advocacy Committee (BHAC) at UC San Diego is a graduate student support group that helps graduate students who have or are experiencing harassment, discrimination, & bullying at UCSD. The current processes to report and remedy these kinds of situations are often complicated and overwhelming. This includes official (Title IX office, OPHD, UAW) as well as unofficial methods such as: switching labs, taking a leave of absence, other measures to leave or improve the situation.
In February 2022 the UCSD GPSA Diversity Advisory Committee formally recognized the need for a separate group to address bullying, harassment, and microagressions at UC San Diego. The Bullying & Harassment Advocacy Committee was formed to involve campus partners (such as Counseling and Psychological Services) in ongoing projects such as policy development, as well as create a student-centered response group.
The charge document can be found linked here, with the main items listed below.
Purpose:
The Bullying & Harassment Advocacy Committee has formed as a Task Force to address the systemic gap in supporting student researchers experiencing bullying and harassment on our campus. This task force (Bullying and Harassment Advocacy Committee) will focus on:
Identifying existing gaps in the reporting structure/grievance process regarding bullying, harassment, and microaggressions (BHM) including those not related to a UCSD specified protected category.
Collecting accurate data on student attrition due to reported or unreported BHM. This includes instances of students changing thesis advisors, committee members, or leaving programs.
Developing an immediately actionable guide of available formal and informal resources for students experiencing BHM and seeking redress. Expected delivery of this guide by June 2022.
Developing and implementing a trauma-informed grievance process for individuals (not just students) experiencing BHM regardless of protected category. This is includes the review and implementation of UC Office of the President policies on discrimination and harassment.
BHAC is committed to protecting student privacy and confidentiality. When possible, we anonymize data and use non-UC resources to host information.
Why does BHAC use Google Meet instead of UCSD's Zoom service?
Using Google Meet allows us to keep our conversations confidential (using end-to-end encryption), and not on UC digital property. This allows students a space to discuss their situation with peers, without requiring mandated reporting.
How does BHAC ensure student data will not be shared?
Initial contact information is collected and stored in jotForm, which is only accessible by BHAC Admin. All documents are restricted access, and given a case number to minimize the use of identifying information.
BHAC is supported by a small group of full time graduate student volunteers. Please let us know if you have the time and bandwidth to help!
Admin/Advocates: Hema Kopalle, Jennifer Havens, Julia Hardy
Advocates: Lucia C contact us to apply!
Support Volunteers: Jasmine S, Ximena GA
Alumni: Bri Marsh, Alex Wenzel
To develop institutional accountability and ensure holistic student support we collaborate with the following organizations:
UCSD Graduate and Professional Student Association
UCSD Associated Students
UCSD Safe Campus Center
UCSD Counseling & Psychological Services
UCSD Case Management
UCSD Triton CORE
UCSD Care@SARC
United Auto Workers 2865
UAW Student Researchers United
UCSD Academic Senate