BEST Team

The purpose of Stetson’s Bias Education and Support Team (BEST) is to provide students with an opportunity to receive education, support, and resolution in response to perceived biases.  Our goal is to empower students to find resolutions on their own, to provide support and education when needed, to foster personal and intellectual development, and to promote resiliency.

BEST provides all students with opportunities to be heard and supported and creates space to process, gain understanding, and make a plan to resolve a situation. Although we hope all students find value in the space created for exploration and dialogue, all student’s participation in the BEST process is voluntary. Students from either side of the perceived bias are invited to be heard but do so voluntarily and engage to the extent that they are willing to.  For transparency, all reports and outcomes are reported anonymously in an annual report published on this page.

Additionally, it is important to note that BEST is a separate process from Stetson’s Code of Community Standards, Title IX, or a law enforcement investigation.  The BEST Process is non-punitive, does not come with sanctions, and does not assume wrongdoing on anyone involved in a report.  If a student submits a BEST report that falls into any of these other categories, it will be referred out to the appropriate group to process. 

Bias Education Support Team (BEST) Process

Immediate Response:

  1. Incident Report (IR) Initiated by Reporting Party
  2. Incident Report (IR) is received and recorded on Maxient
  3. On-call Team immediately manages safety issues, if needed
  4. On-call Team reviews Incident Reports (IR) for overlap of Title IX, Community Standards, or HR concerns
  5. If no overlap is present, an Incident Report (IR) is passed on to the Chair of BEST
  6. If overlap, the appropriate Title IX, Community Standards or HR procedures take the lead, but with added support from the BEST team

Guiding Principles: 

All BEST interactions are intended to foster personal and intellectual development. 

All BEST engagements are voluntary. All BEST outcomes are non-judgmental and non-punitive.

Overview of BEST Process:

  1. The chair of BEST reviews Incident Report (IR) and assigns Incident Report (IR) to BEST member
  2. Assigned BEST member makes initial contact with reporting individual or group
  3. After the Conversation with the reporting individual/group, the assigned BEST member confirms if further action is required
  4. If further action is required, the assigned BEST member continues engagement and support to the reporting individual/group and engages with the reported individual/group, providing mediation, resources and other appropriate outcomes
  5. Assigned BEST member check-in and followed to the reporting and reported individual/group
  6. Anonymized summary of engagement and outcome as it relates to the original Incident Report (IR)
  7. Monthly Actions: Meeting to discuss reports, trends, and potential initiatives
  8. Annual Actions: All Incident reports (IR) are anonymized, summarized, and made public through an annual report posted on the BEST website

 Long-Term Response:

  1. The Bias Education Support Team puts a report together that is included in the Annual Bias Incident Report and shares it with the President’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Student Government Association, Faculty Senate, Staff Advisory Committee, and the President's Cabinet.
  2. The President’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee reviews the Annual Bias Incident Report, identifies gaps, makes institutional recommendations, presents them to the Cabinet, and shares its recommendations with the University community on the website.
  3. Annual report informs ongoing educational and institutional reforms and initiatives.

Examples of Potential Report Outcomes:

The BEST member asks what the reporting student wants to see happen, here are some of the typical outcomes from reports:

  1. Discussion/mediation with the reported person(s) or groups with the reporting student present
  2. Discussion with the reported person(s) or groups without the reporting student present
  3. Support the reporting student in writing a letter/communication to the reported person(s)
  4. Generalized follow-up without attachment to a specific incident (For example- Discussion with fraternity leadership without mentioning a specific incident)
  5. University-wide educational action (For example- Student helps to co-plan a speaker or event)
  6. No action- just make a note for records

BEST Process Workflow

Bias Education Support Team Members

  1. Erin Doggette, Chair, Director of The Office of Diversity and Inclusion
  2. Michael Eskenazi, Associate Professor of Psychology
  3. Lynn Schoenberg, Dean of Students
  4. Larry Correll-Hughes, Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Student Success
  5. Jes Day, Executive Director of Residential Living and Learning
  6. Lizzie Dement, Associate Director of Leadership and Student Events 
  7. Jackson Dennis, Residential Life Coordinator
  8. Anne Eible, Coordinator for Career & Professional Development
  9. Reed Barkowitz, Hillel Program Director
  10. Todd Campbell, Jr., Director of Religious & Spiritual Life and University Chaplain 
  11. Kelcey Ferguson, Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Medicine

» Download Biased Education Support Team Reports from the 2021-2022 academic year!