LOWELL — UMass Lowell Associate Dean Oliver Ibe strolled into a staff member’s office the day before Good Friday two years ago, proclaiming how much he’d miss her during the holiday she was taking off, the staff member recalls.

The staff member, then 43, alleges that Ibe moved his hands around the sides of her waist, rubbing her, and then started to move his hands toward her lower back. The woman, his subordinate, hastily pushed him away, she said. The story is one of several listed in a wide-ranging complaint alleging inappropriate behavior by Ibe.

UMass Lowell, after investigating this allegation and others two years ago, determined Ibe violated its sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and other sexual misconduct guidelines. The university said it took appropriate disciplinary action and that the matter has been fully addressed.

The university settled with the staff member for $75,000 — a check for $49,300, and for attorney’s fees totaling $25,700.

It removed Ibe’s associate dean title and designated him as a professor of electrical and computer engineering; he remains today on the second floor of Ball Hall.

However, a group of faculty and staff learned about the allegations recently, reigniting the issue. Nearly 100 faculty and staff members have signed a petition that was sent to the school’s Executive Cabinet, asking it to remove Ibe from the campus. Faculty and staff who spoke with The Sun say they’re outraged that Ibe was not fired.

Ibe, 71, a married father of four, lives in Andover. He grew up in Nigeria and is a member of the Ibo ethnic group of the southeastern part of the country. He attended the University of Nigeria, where he majored in electrical engineering and graduated in 1975, according to his bio on the university website.

Ibe came to America in 1977 as a graduate student at MIT, where he received a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science and a doctorate in electrical engineering, according to his bio.

He joined the university in 2003 and last year was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. His research interest at UMass Lowell is mobile and converged communications. According to the university’s website, he holds 10 patents and his research has led to enhancements in cellular phone networks.

The Sun made multiple attempts to get Ibe’s comment on this story. He did not respond to voicemails and a note left at his Ball Hall office.

A Sun editor went to his posted office hours April 10. Ibe said he wasn’t declining to comment and asked the editor to come back next week. When The Sun went back during his posted office hours last Wednesday, Ibe said “no” twice and closed the door on a reporter.

Clara Orlando, the university’s director of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity and Outreach, ruled that Ibe violated the university’s sexual violence, sexual discrimination and other sexual misconduct guidelines.

Ibe made inappropriate comments to the employee regarding her race and her marital status, the director ruled. However, his comments did not rise to the level of a violation of the university’s guidelines on nondiscrimination, she wrote.

Joseph Hartman, dean of the College of Engineering, took away Ibe’s associate dean title.

“The university further directs you that you are not to engage in any further conduct that is in conflict with the university’s sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and other sexual misconduct guidelines and other equal opportunity guidelines,” Hartman wrote.

“Please be advised that future breaches of this kind will be met with discipline, up to and including the university’s right to invoke termination and/or dismissal proceedings …” the dean added in the letter.

Ibe was paid $159,893 last year, a drop from his salary that topped $200,000 in each of the previous two years while an associate dean.

On the UMass Lowell website, under the Sexual Harassment tab, it reads: “No employee, student or visitor may sexually harass any member of the university community.”

The webpage continues: “Sexual harassment is unacceptable in any workplace or educational environment. UMass Lowell has policies and support structures to enable everyone on campus to work and learn in an environment free of harassment.”

The faculty and staff petition states that the university’s efforts to build an inclusive climate — where women feel valued and are protected from discrimination — are “severely undermined when the University allows a known sexual harasser to continue to work here.”

“Not only does it send the wrong message about how seriously the University takes these issues, but it also fails to protect current and future female students, faculty and staff from this individual,” the petition states.

They requested that UMass Lowell take swift action. They want a Committee of Inquiry to investigate, and for Ibe to be suspended from professional duties, pending the outcome of the process.

The letter also states that UMass Lowell needs to review its policies and procedures related to sexual harassment to “ensure that individuals face appropriate consequences, and that those who take the risk to come forward are treated respectfully and fairly throughout.”

UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney recently responded to the petition. She reiterated that she’s “deeply committed to fostering a working and learning environment free of discrimination and harassment and take very seriously any allegation of misconduct or abuse.”

Moloney said she could not share details about the case, but assured petitioners that the university conducted a prompt and thorough investigation.

Moloney also said a complaint against UMass Lowell, filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, was dismissed last year after the parties reached a settlement.

“However, this petition demonstrates that some members of our campus community are either not aware of protective measures and systems we have in place, or believe that new standards for resolution of allegations should be adopted,” Moloney said. “We are always open to further review to ensure the best processes are in place and that the standards reflect the values of our community.”

As a result, the chancellor plans to establish a task force to study current sexual harassment policies, procedures and remedies, and make recommendations to the Executive Cabinet. The task force has not been formed yet, a university spokesperson said.

Executive Cabinet members are Moloney; Julie Chen, vice chancellor for research and innovation; John Feudo, vice chancellor for advancement; Patricia McCafferty, vice chancellor of university relations; Larry Siegel, vice chancellor for student affairs and university events; Joanne Yestramski, senior vice chancellor for finance, operations and strategic planning; and Michael Vayda, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Mignon Duffy, leading the faculty and staff small task force, responded to Moloney’s letter, saying petitioners are glad she will launch a university-wide group. She said the faculty and staff members will be the first to join.

However, she added, many in the campus community do not agree that UMass Lowell acted properly.

“The university task force was announced nearly two years after UMass Lowell uncovered that one of its tenured professors is a serial harasser, and only after the administration was contacted by the press,” the staff member making the accusations said in an email. “The fact remains that professor Ibe has kept his job while the women he harassed have been displaced or left the University. Justice will not be done until there is meaningful policy change that ensures a safe environment for the entire UML community.”

The chancellor, through a spokesman, declined to be interviewed by The Sun

In comparison, The Boston Globe published a story on April 14 about Boston University firing a tenured geology professor who was found to have violated the school’s sexual harassment policies during expeditions to Antarctica.

The staff member, though her case against the university was dismissed, still has an open MCAD complaint against Ibe as an individual. The allegations are the same. That complaint could take years to resolve. She has a mandated “conciliation” session with MCAD on May 9, according to her attorney.

The woman, who requested confidentiality, told The Sun that issues arose during her job interview. She said Ibe asked personal questions that would ensure she was a “good fit.” On her first day, she said, questions became even more personal, and sometimes sexual in nature. She requested, and was granted, a transfer across campus.

“It made me so uncomfortable, and then escalated there from words to physical touching,” the woman told The Sun recently. She said Ibe, who is married, would justify his actions based on African Ibo culture.

Another employee also reported to the university that Ibe sexually harassed her, according to redacted documents reviewed by The Sun. These women have serious concerns that this professor, who is black, will harass other women — especially black women like themselves.

“How many women does it take to be physically violated before the institution will address this issue when it comes to tenured faculty?” said the woman, whose complaints about Ibe two years ago prompted the university investigation.

“I hope we can force the university to have a difficult conversation about this and change how they investigate sexual harassment and sexual misconduct,” she added.

The staff member said she endured months of alleged unwanted sexual advances and coercion, and that she asked her family for advice over an Easter weekend. She returned to UMass Lowell in the hopes of finding other black women who had worked with Ibe.

She arranged a meeting with two black women who had worked with him, and heard what she said are similar stories. She added that she was told another black employee abruptly stopped working for Ibe.

In May 2017, the staff member and one of the women she met reported the alleged inappropriate sexual behavior to university officials.

As an alumnae of the UMass system, the staff member said working at UMass Lowell was a “dream gig.” This situation, however, quickly devolved into a nightmare, she emphasized.

The woman said she would become physically ill when driving to work, knowing she would soon see Ibe.

She said she has had panic attacks.

“I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD. I’ve gone to therapy,” she said. “This doesn’t go away.”