Jessica Price
Interim Sexual Harassment Prevention Officer and Title IX Coordinator
Title IX Office
What is your role at UCLA?
Interim Title IX Coordinator. I oversee UCLA’s response to complaints of gender discrimination, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. I supervise Title IX investigators, coordinate with campus partners to ensure the delivery of sexual harassment prevention training to thousands of students, staff and faculty each year, and oversee an office tasked with acting to eliminate sexual harassment, prevents its recurrence, and address its effects.
Before joining UCLA, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
I worked at Blockbuster video. It was fantastic. We got to talk about movies all the time. They let employees rent five videos a week for free. That was before the days of Netflix.
How do you balance your career at UCLA and family?
Connecting with friends and loved ones after work, and minimizing my commute, have been key! I also play tennis and flag football. It’s important to stay healthy.
What was your first impression of UCLA? Has it changed at all over the course of your time at UCLA?
My first day, I was in awe of the incredible beauty of the campus combined with the vibrant community of scholars in pursuit of learning. To this day, I love stepping outside of work every day and being reminded of the beautiful campus where we work. I continue to be more impressed by students who are eager to learn, eager to push for positive social change, and who are the reason we’re here.
What’s your favorite aspect of your job?
Knowing that everything I do matters, being faced with difficult decisions each day that can be tough but that can really make a difference, being challenged intellectually and emotionally, and being grateful that I have the chance to be a part of doing the right thing.
When are you the most productive and why?
In the morning, before the phone starts ringing.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? What is your proudest moment at UCLA?
Enhanced collaboration and communication to let the campus community know we’re there for them. That includes creating a Staff Case Management Team that brings together campus partners regularly so that we can better collaborate, translating our outreach letters into mandarin and Spanish, and issuing statements of support to our campus community. I worked with the LGBT Campus Resource Center and TransUP to issue a statement in support of transgender members of the UCLA community, located here: https://equity.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/LetteronTranssupportandaffirmationofpolicyforUCLA-3.14.2017.pdf, and I issued the State of Title IX message, located here, https://equity.ucla.edu/news-and-events/state-of-title-ix, to the entire campus to better explain what our office does, in the spirit of transparency and accountability. So much has happened that I’m really excited about!
If you could change one thing about UCLA, what would it be?
I would build better trust for the Title IX office. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing if you’re hearing from the Title IX office. In fact, it can be an opportunity to proactively work together to make our campus community a better, safer place.
Tell us about someone who has mentored or influenced you the most in your career path. In what way did he/she/they shape your decisions?
Dean Martha Minow at Harvard Law School. She’s incredibly strong, courageous and supportive.
What do you think is the most important quality you need to have for success in UCLA or in general?
Aptitude for collaboration, flexibility, and courage.
What would you tell someone who is applying for a job in UCLA?
Collaboration is key to success in campus leadership.
Share with us something about you that most people don’t know but you would like them to.
I’m very much an introvert. At the end of the day I’m super happy if I’ve got a good book. I realized only recently how much of an introvert I am, and it’s important for folks to recognize how they best reenergize. Introverts can be great team players, great partners, great negotiators.
How has AMG impacted your professional growth and development?
AMG has introduced me to fantastic partners and sources of support. AMG has made me feel like UCLA is invested in my professional development. I’m a big fan of AMG!