Senator George Mitchell, Penn State’s independent integrity monitor, released his 10th quarterly report tracking Penn State’s progress in meeting the goals of the Athletics Integrity Agreement.

In issuing his report, Mitchell also announced his resignation from his post due to personal reasons, naming his principal assistant and the lead member of the monitoring team, Charles Scheeler, as his replacement. Scheeler serves as senior counsel at Mitchell’s law firm, DLA Piper.

“It has been a pleasure for me to work with all of the parties in this matter. I am grateful to the NCAA and the Big Ten for placing their confidence in me at the outset,” Mitchell told Penn State News. “I also am grateful to the many Penn State officials, past and present, with whom I have worked. Penn State has made a determined and good-faith effort to comply with its commitments under the Athletics Integrity Agreement. This has been a challenging time for everyone involved. But I believe that as a result of this process Penn State will emerge better and stronger than ever.”

Over the past quarter, Mitchell and his team from DLA Piper made multiple visits to the university to meet with administrators and other staff members, finding that:

• Penn State’s Task Force on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harrassment published its report, which made 18 recommendations to the university related to Title IX, reporting obligations, the student conduct process, and awareness and victim resources. All of the recommendations were accepted by President Barron two weeks ago.
• The university updated its policies and procedures in reflectance of a change in the state’s child protective services law.
• Mass emails were added for communicating Timely Warnings in compliance with the Clery Act.
• New university Ethics Officer Timothy Ballliet started conducting town hall meetings for discussion on Penn State’s values.
• The university continued to implement a new Human Resources Information System.

“Penn State’s administration has remained fully cooperative throughout this time,” said Mitchell.

Scheeler will continue Mitchell’s work monitoring Penn State’s implementation of new policies related to sexual assault reporting.