USU implements new online reporting system

Utah State University students are now able to report instances of discrimination and academic and sexual misconduct in a more thorough and streamlined fashion thanks to the university’s implementation of a new reporting software.  

The software is called Maxient, and, according to the director of the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office Stacy Sturgeon, it is the first of its kind on USU’s campus. Prior to Maxient, she says, students were able to email complaints about misconduct to the appropriate university offices, but their online reporting options ended there.

“This system will allow for students, faculty or staff to report in a way they didn’t have before,” Sturgeon said.

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Eric Olsen told the Statesman in an email that both he and Director of Student Conduct Krystin Deschamps heard about other institutions using the software, which spurred their interest in what it could do for USU.

“[Krystin Deschamps and I] heard about Maxient at various conferences we attended,” Olsen wrote. “As we spoke with colleagues from other universities, they spoke highly of the company and product.”

USU will join a host of 600 other colleges and universities, which, according to Maxient’s website, use the software every day to keep track of issues related to student conduct and wellbeing.

As it stands at USU, the software allows students to identify themselves or report anonymously, and to provide as little or as much information about their specific incident as they see fit.

Intuitively, anonymous reports won’t allow Sturgeon’s office to directly remedy a student’s situation. Such reports will, however, provide statistics that will help to improve campus security and educational efforts in targeted areas.

“We say it’s anonymous and it is. We want to allow for that type of reporting,” Sturgeon said. “I would rather someone report anonymously and have me figure out what it is I can do, than to feel that they can’t report because they’re afraid.”

In addition to easing the reporting process for students, Sturgeon believes the software will improve communication among offices that handle misconduct on campus — ultimately benefiting students by enabling campus entities to provide students with resources and information that fit their individual needs.

“We are a fairly large campus with lots of organizations and offices that handle different kinds of conduct, concerns, academic issues or academic help,” Sturgeon said. “What Maxient allows for is a centralized database that allows [the organizations and offices] to communicate.”

Following a review of the way the university handles sexual assault reporting, the software appears to be the first step toward improving the reporting process for students who allege they are victims of sexual assault.

In its “Recommendations from Inquiry on Sexual Assaults” release on Aug. 24 — which served as the product of the in-house review — the university announced that it would implement the Maxient software as a way to “improve recordkeeping and linking between records maintained by distinct offices.”

The university made good on its promise and Maxient went live for student, faculty and community use shortly thereafter on Aug. 26.  

Despite its swift implementation, the process of looking into software programs and eventually obtaining the Maxient software has been underway for quite some time.

Beginning in 2014, Olsen says, he and Deschamps began looking into various software programs. After gaining administrative support, Olsen and Deschamps fixed their sights on Maxient.

“We received administrative support to enter into a purchase agreement in 2015 and then started working with the USU Information Technology team and Maxient,” Olsen wrote in an email to the Statesman. “Because there are so many aspects that have to be customized for USU it has taken the better part of a year to get us to where we could go live.”

Olsen says he is excited about the software because it is a huge step for the university in improving the process of reporting any kind of misconduct.

“All members of the campus community will easily be able to report concerning behavior online. This represents an exciting change,” Olsen wrote. “For the first time all units on campus are using the same reporting and tracking system.  This is one of the main features that will allow us to better serve students.”

At its heart, the excitement and implementation of the new Maxient software is about students. And now that it is live, Sturgeon says, it has the potential to give power to an individual in a time when they very well may feel powerless.

“It gives them a way to feel empowered to report and provide information and know that the information will be taken seriously,” Sturgeon said.

The Maxient software interface can be found at: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?UtahStateUniv&layout_id=2