For the first time, the University of Toledo has hired an administrator whose sole duty is to tackle Title IX matters, including overseeing sexual assault reports and leading prevention efforts.

Donald Kamm, the Title IX deputy coordinator at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will start as Toledo’s director of Title IX and compliance May 2, the university said Wednesday.

UT officials pledged in April to create the position at the recommendation of law firm Ballard Spahr. The university sought the firm’s review partly in response to a former student’s plans to file a federal complaint in 2014 after she contended the university mishandled an investigation into her report that she was raped in 2013.

Mr. Kamm’s post is intended to strengthen compliance to the federal law that aims to protect from sex-based discrimination at federally funded schools.

“I’m walking onto a campus that has already addressed a lot of the harder work in terms of policy and development and trying to build the structure,” Mr. Kamm said.

The 51-year-old, who graduated from Sylvania Northview High School, received a juris doctor degree from UT’s law college in 1996. His recent career moves included working for a legal staffing and consulting firm in Chicago from 2005 to 2011, after which he took a job in the office for access and equity at the University of Illinois. UT will pay him $105,000 a year.

Toledo’s quest to fill the post was delayed because of a high demand for candidates amid the rising national concern focused on campus sexual misconduct, officials said.

The university reported five on-campus forcible sex offenses, which includes rape, for the three-year period from 2012 to 2014, the most recent statistics available. However, experts caution that many victims don’t file reports.

In 2014, a former student said she planned to file a federal Title IX complaint against UT because of how the university handled an investigation into her rape complaint.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has not opened any investigations related to sexual violence at UT from January, 2014, through Wednesday, according to a spokesman. The federal agency’s policy is to evaluate but not publicly confirm complaints.

Creating the Title IX director job marks the first time UT has devoted someone solely to those issues. Under a restructured system, three deputy coordinators will assist Mr. Kamm, whose job includes overseeing sexual misconduct investigations, making disciplinary recommendations, and championing education and prevention.

He will serve as “the voice of Title IX” for the university, giving such matters an “elevated role,” said David Cutri, UT’s director of internal audit and chief compliance officer.

“I think it will make case resolution much more streamlined and allow for, at the end of the day, a much safer university,” he said.

Mr. Kamm will report to Mr. Cutri, who is the acting Title IX director until the new hire’s arrival.

Ballard Spahr also recommended the university update its sexual misconduct policies, develop an educational campaign, and make resources available online.

Much of that has been done in the last year, Mr. Cutri said.

Streamlining the reporting process and making sure students know where to report assaults and receive confidential help is key, said Katie Hanna, executive director of the nonprofit organization Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence. This spring and summer, her agency is planning to offer training sessions for campus officials across the state on how to prevent and respond to sexual assaults.

“I think it’s very important for higher education to have dedicated resources both on campus and [off],” she said.

One of Mr. Kamm’s first tasks in Toledo will be to survey students, faculty, and others about Title IX issues. 

He also plans to reach out to other area universities and colleges and the YWCA Northwest Ohio’s rape crisis center.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published March 17, 2016, 4:00 a.m.