Jessica Ward is a member of the Coordinator & Director Services Team at Grand River Solutions. Jessica provides Title IX and EEO coordination to schools across the country ranging from small private religious-affiliated to large public R-1 institutions. As Title IX Coordinator, she oversees institutional Title IX Compliance, ensures a fair and equitable Title IX Process, supervises and mentors Title IX staff, conducts trainings, revises policies and other relevant documentation, conducts outreach, and provides support to all parties engaging in the formal and informal Title IX grievance process. Jessica provides advising services to parties that are engaged in a Title IX and EEO formal adjudication process. Jessica also serves on the training facilitation team, which allows her to connect with colleagues across the country while educating them on Title IX process best practices. 

Prior to joining Grand River Solutions, Jessica was the Associate Vice President/Dean of Students/Title IX Coordinator at a mid-sized private university in the Midwest. In this role, Jessica was responsible for all Title IX training and compliance for students, faculty, and staff; led the Behavioral Intervention Team as the Chief Conduct Officer; facilitated student conduct and Title IX hearings; was responsible for all aspects of the residence life program; and worked closely on retention efforts. Before entering this role, Jessica served as the Assistant Director for the Office of Student Standards at a mid-sized Midwestern public university where she was responsible for training hearing panel members, conducting organizational, hazing, and Title IX investigations, and providing alcohol, drug, and bystander education. While in this role, she also served as the Coordinator for Gender and Sexual Diversity where she overhauled the Safe Zone training program and crafted a trans and differing abilities inclusive Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity. 

Although she loves the work she does daily in compliance, one of her favorite things to do is teach, which she has done since 2010. This love of educating informs her practice daily. Jess has been teaching since 2010. Jessica’s favorite course to teach is student development theory to master’s students in higher education, which she teaches at two different mid-sized Midwestern public universities. Jessica’s passion to assist students has also informed her research and publications. While a PhD student, she studied food insecurity and cultural resistance to oppression in South Africa and in the United States. She presented this research at the national conferences for ACPA and NASPA. Jessica has work published in two books, Unleashing Suppressed Voices on College Campuses: Diversity Issues on College Campuses. Vol. 2 (2021) and Fraternities and Sororities in the Contemporary Era: A Pendulum of Tolerance (2019). 

Jessica earned her Doctor of Philosophy from Indiana State University in Leadership in Higher Education. Her dissertation title was “The Lived Experiences of Transgender Higher Education Professionals.” Jessica earned a Master of Higher Education Administration from the University of Kansas and a bachelor’s in rhetoric and political science from Georgia College and State University.   

In her free time, Jessica loves attending baseball games. She travels to new baseball stadiums each year either watching an MLB team or the Savannah Bananas with her spouse. They are avid dog lovers, and their pups boss them around daily, but they would not have it any other way. Jessica loves theater and is often listening to the music from the last musical she saw.