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Office of the Provost

Faculty Trolling Support

The Provost’s Office and the Office for Diversity and Inclusion have developed a coordinated approach that helps faculty access guidance when they are targeted (trolled) on the basis of their scholarship. These trolling events primarily occur on social media, via email, and phone calls. In limited instances, trolling can extend to physical locations such as an office or home address (via mail, vandalism, or unannounced appearances). These are troubling instances and the University takes these seriously.

If you fear for your physical safety, please contact UConn Police directly, at (860) 486-4800.

If you wish to report an instance of trolling, please email provost@uconn.edu and provide a brief summary of the incident. The Provost’s Office will notify a variety of key offices, including the Offices of Public Safety, University Communications, General Counsel, and Diversity and Inclusion. This will heighten awareness of these incidents and give faculty a direct contact for guidance across several domains.

A few tips:

  • Do not engage directly with trolling messages; this is a simple and effective means to diminish interest in targeting you. If there’s not additional fuel to keep the fire going, these antagonists tend to move on, albeit with the possibility that they or others might at later points still refer back to you in passing or whoever they first targeted.
  • For your social media accounts, consider turning your account private, minimizing your posts for several days, and blocking tagging in media.
  • If you continue to receive additional messages or other contact, please continue to report these to the Provost’s Office. Depending on the scale of contact, this may prompt additional action (such as equipping your department’s office with a prepared statement to respond to any phone calls or emails on the issue).
  • Utilize the university’s EAP services, which includes counseling support and referral services that you may find useful in processing this event. More information is available from Human Resources, at https://hr.uconn.edu/employee-assistance-program/.