Our Team and Training

Office of Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance

 Coordinating response

COA’s Title IX Team coordinates our response to reports of sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, stalking, and intimate partner violence (dating and domestic violence) and receive specific training in order to respond to inquiries, incidents, and concerns.

Reports and inquiries can be made directly to the Title IX Coordinator. All non-confidential reports from faculty, staff, or RA team will be reported to this position. If you feel you have been subjected to sexual misconduct or discrimination, you should seek assistance as soon as possible.

If you have any questions regarding Title IX, sexual misconduct, or the information on this site, please contact any of these offices for more information:

Title IX Coordinator

Puranjot Kaur, pkaur@coa.edu, (207) 288-5015, ext. 5614, office on the third floor of Deering Common.

Deputy Title IX Coordinator

Zach Soares, zsoares@coa.edu, (207) 801-5663, office in Thorndike Library

Confidential Resource Advisor

Pamela Gagnon da Silva, LCPC, pgagnon@coa.edu, Counseling Office in Deering Common

Title IX Team

Nick Jenei, njenei@coa.edu, (207) 801-5672, office on second floor of Deering Common
Karen Waldron, kwaldron@coa.edu, (207) 801-5727, office on third floor of Turrets
Carrie Graham, cgraham@coa.edu, (207) 801-5683, office in Dorr Museum of Natural History
Dave Feldman, dfeldman@coa.edu, (207) 801-5709, office on second floor of Turrets Annex
Palak Taneja, ptaneja@coa.edu, (207) 801-5704, office CHE 109

Compliance training

In order to serve as an effective resource, our Title IX Coordinators, investigators, hearing board members, and appeals officers utilize training from the Student Conduct Institute. Previous training has also been with Bernstein Shur and ATIXA.

  • Affirmative consent
  • Collecting, understanding, and assessing credibility and evidence
  • No Contact Orders, emergency removals, and interim suspensions
  • Implementation and management of supportive measures
  • The appeals process
  • Understanding conflict of interest, bias, and serving impartially
  • Cultural relevance and awareness
  • Severe, persistent, and objectively offensive sex-based harassment and discrimination
  • Relevance and decorum during adjudication
  • Due process theory, history, and practical application
  • Disability law
  • Technology basics in the Title IX context
  • Neurobiology of sexual assault trauma
  • Decision-making and decision-implementation
  • Conducting effective and equitable investigations
  • Confidentiality and privacy in the Title IX context
  • Information resolutions as an option for adjudication, including mediation, restorative justice, and administration resolution
  • Conducting live hearings and cross-examination
  • The relationship between FERPA, Title IX, VAWA, and Clery
  • Employees and Title IX
  • Title IX jurisdiction
  • The varied roles of the advisor

  • Title IX Compliance Learning Path