September 20-25, 2024
2024 Violence Risk Assessment for Title IX Focus Week

Erin Agidius brings over 10 years of comprehensive experience in Title IX, Civil Rights, and Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity compliance and investigations in higher education.

Prior to joining TNG, Agidius led the Office of Civil Rights and Investigations at the University of Idaho where she coordinated and monitored institutional federal compliance under Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/504. She managed a strong team, conducted comprehensive civil rights investigations, and customized programming on related topics for audiences with varying skills, knowledge, and expertise. She’s also guided multiple committees and task forces on topics of threat assessment and management, security and compliance, DEI initiatives, and more.

Prior to her role as director, she built connections as the Interim Director and Deputy Director of the Human Rights Access and Inclusion office. Through those relationships she successfully campaigned for the university to invest in professional investigators and reorganize existing offices to create a more sustainable and effective culture of compliance. Her experience as a student conduct administrator forged her foundational understanding of relational connection and throughout her tenure in higher education, she’s raised awareness of resources by relying on those strong relationships to enhance university policies, practices, and programs.

Agidius is dedicated to advancing community-wide programs to prevent, reduce, and remediate all forms of discrimination. When not working tireless for equity at work, she does so in her spare time as a member of the Moscow Human Rights Commission, the Latah County Coordinated Community Response Task Force, and the Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse board of directors. She is a certified Greet Dot and Stop the Hate trainer and holds a certification in civil mediation from the Northwest Institute for Dispute Resolution. Compliance and equity are core to her ethos.

Agidius holds a J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law and a B.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Idaho with minors in Sociology, Business, and Spanish.

Aaron Austin (he/him/his) is a father, husband, and educator who has had the opportunity to serve students at multiple colleges and universities.  He has experience with a variety of Student Affairs areas, and throughout his career has presented to numerous students, employees, families, and community partners on topics ranging from policy implementation to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Most recently, Aaron served as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.  During his time in this role, he had a supervisory portfolio that included the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Housing & Residence Life, Student Conduct & Community Standards, Student Involvement, Fraternity & Sorority Life, Campus Activities, Campus Recreation, and Student Government.  Aaron was a vital member of the WSU CARE Team (Case Management & Behavior Intervention), Title IX Committee, and the Bias Incident Response Group.   

Aaron is interested in the intersection of race and identity in relationship to Behavior Intervention/Threat Assessment and looks for opportunities to engage in these conversations to ensure practitioners are aware of the biases they bring to the work.  Further, Aaron has spent the last few years as a Student Affairs administrator which allows him to see issues from that perspective. A native Kansan, Aaron earned his Bachelor of Music Education and minor in American Ethnic Studies from Kansas State University; his M.Ed. from Arizona State University – Tempe; and his Ed.D. from Texas Tech University.

Kayleigh Baker is a Consultant with TNG and has extensive experience overseeing Title IX compliance and Civil Rights investigations. Baker has served in interim management roles for both higher education and K-12 institutions and frequently works with clients in need of short-term or long-term crisis management services.

Baker routinely delivers training to Title IX practitioners in the field while also managing her own caseload as an external Investigator and Decision-Maker for TNG clients. Prior to her work in higher education, Baker was an Assistant District Attorney and regularly instructed law enforcement officers on civil rights issues. Baker has continued to collaborate with law enforcement and District Attorneys on the intersection between their obligations and Title IX regulations.

Prior to working with TNG, Baker served as a Title IX Investigator at The University of Alabama and as the University of North Alabama’s first full-time Title IX Coordinator. While there, Baker served on the university’s CARE Team and Clery Committee while also being heavily involved in the institution’s transition to NCAA Division I athletics. In that role, Baker was responsible for primary prevention programming and has facilitated training opportunities for thousands of students and employees on Bystander Intervention, reporting obligations, consent, and more.

Baker holds a B.S. in Political Science and Business Economics from Ball State University in Muncie, IN, and a J.D. from The University of Alabama School of Law.

Mandy Hambleton is an educator with over a decade of progressively responsible behavior management experience, including roles in student conduct and academic integrity, behavioral intervention and case management, and Title IX compliance at multiple higher education institutions.

She has extensive experience in policy and process development including both public-facing policies and internal standard operating procedures, templates, and forms. She often teaches courses on informal resolution, DEI, and the intersection of BIT and Title IX, as well as those with an approach based on applied learning.

Hambleton is also frequently sought by her peers for her creativity in training curriculum development, applied learning exercises, and facilitation. She has a breadth of experience in alternative dispute resolution/conflict resolution processes and practices and is a highly skilled informal resolution facilitator and trainer for all types of complaints, including those falling under Title IX. An accomplished writer, content developer, editor, and facilitator, she serves as the TNG Director of Content Development responsible for managing and contributing to the development and refinement of print publications, training materials, new course development, and member resources for TNG, ATIXA, and NABITA.

Prior to joining TNG, Hambleton served as the Title IX Director at Florida State University where she managed Title IX compliance strategies and programs for three domestic and four international higher education sites, as well as a K-12 charter school district. Hambleton has a proven capacity for developing new and restructuring existing staff teams and offices for building trust in people and processes, increasing effectiveness, and establishing brand recognition.

She holds a B.A. in English – Professional Communication from Winthrop University and an M.S. in Higher Education from Florida State University.

Alisha Carter Harris is a Senior Consultant with TNG and has extensive experience in civil rights/equal opportunity compliance and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives. Her experience is based primarily in higher education but Carter Harris is also well-versed in the financial services industry.

Prior to her arrival at TNG, Carter Harris served as an Employee Relations Partner at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. where she investigated employment-related complaints made by employees of all levels across the firm. She has also served as Associate Director of Equal Opportunity/Deputy Title IX Coordinator at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas. As Associate Director, Carter Harris assisted with the administration of the nondiscrimination program for UNT, most notably by conducting workplace and education investigations of alleged discrimination and harassment. As Deputy Title IX Coordinator, she assisted with Title IX compliance through policy development, oversight of student investigations, training, and advising faculty, staff, and administrators on matters related to sexual misconduct. Carter Harris has held similar administrative positions at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and California University of Pennsylvania in California, Pennsylvania.

Carter Harris holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and an M.S. in Legal Studies from the California University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a certificate in alternative dispute resolution from the University of North Texas.

W. Scott Lewis, J.D. is a Managing Partner with TNG, LLC. (“TNG”), a national multidisciplinary risk management consulting and law firm with more than 5,000 education-sector clients, 35 executive and support employees, and a roster of 25 attorneys and consultants who are at the forefront of the field in their areas of expertise. He is a co-founder and advisory board member of the Association of Title IX Administrators (“ATIXA”) the leading industry association for Title IX compliance, with over 5,000 active school and college members. In 2009, Lewis co-founded The National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (“NABITA”), an organization of 1,200 members dedicated to school and campus violence prevention, intervention, and mental health resources. and was president of ASCA.

Lewis has worked with the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women and the Department of Education’s Offices of Civil Rights as a trainer and consultant, training staff and investigators. He was a consultant to the Office of the Vice President and the White House Task Force on issues of Sexual Misconduct, as well as a core member of the United States Olympic Committee’s Task Force that proposed and created the United States Center for SafeSport, both of which he consults with and trains. He also consults with and trains numerous sports organizations and governing bodies at all levels from High Schools to Olympic Level athletes, trainers, coaches, and staff, including working with the NCAA and NJCAA.

Makenzie Schiemann is the President of NABITA and a Partner at TNG. Her areas of expertise include policy and program development for behavioral intervention teams, case management, and victim advocacy, strategies for chairing behavioral intervention teams, research and assessment, and strategic planning for comprehensive educational and awareness programming.

Schiemann has previously served as the Director for Student Outreach and Support, the Director for the Center for Victim Advocacy, and the Chair of the Students of Concern Assistance Team for three years at the University of South Florida. In these roles, she developed comprehensive protocol manuals for both the case management program and the victim advocacy department which aligned with best practice standards and served as a model for other institutions in the development of their policies. In this role, she also developed and implemented a comprehensive violence prevention campaign. Prior to working at the University of South Florida, Schiemann served for six years as the Director of Outreach Services and Health Promotion at Eckerd College where she oversaw the case management program and chaired the Intervention Team.

Prior to her ten years spent in higher education, Schiemann taught 8^th grade in the Kentucky K-12 public education system. In this role, she also served on the school’s Crisis Response Committee, developing strategies for preventing and responding to crisis incidents including school-wide behavioral trends, acts of physical aggression, and active shooter scenarios.

Schiemann holds a B.S. in education from Ashland University, an M.S. in education psychology, community counseling from Southern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, higher education administration at the University of South Florida.