Report 2017-125 Recommendations

To ensure prompt resolution of sexual harassment complaints against faculty respondents, the Office of the President should amend the appropriate policies to require that the chancellor or designee issue a final decision about discipline within 14 calendar days following receipt of the tenure committee's recommendation. This change should take effect by July 2019.

To ensure prompt resolution of sexual harassment complaints against faculty respondents, the Office of the President should do the following:

After the Academic Senate develops written requirements to specify exact time frames, complete an annual review of all cases involving Senate faculty to determine the length of time the adjudication process lasted. If an adjudication process takes longer than the time frames specified, the Office of the President should work with the Regents and the Academic Senate to develop further measures to enforce a more prompt adjudication process. The Office of the President should complete its first review by October 2020.

To ensure that the campuses impose appropriate disciplinary sanctions and to determine whether any additional remedies need to be provided, the Office of the President should modify university policy to ensure that campus coordinators consult on the appropriateness of the discipline for respondents found to have violated university policy. This policy change should take effect by July 2019.

To ensure that campuses administer the informal process correctly for complaints alleging conduct that would violate university policy, by July 2019 the Office of the President should identify required elements for capturing the agreement between a complainant and respondent to use the informal process and require the campuses to integrate these required elements into their processes.

To ensure that campuses administer the informal process correctly for complaints alleging conduct that would violate university policy, by July 2019 the Office of the President should identify required elements for communications that inform a complainant and respondent of the informal and formal processes available to address the complaint, as well as what to expect of each process, and that also inform the complainant of his or her right to end the informal process at any time by requesting the formal process. The Office of the President should require the campuses to integrate these required elements into their processes.

To ensure that campuses administer the informal process correctly for complaints alleging conduct that would violate university policy, by July 2019 the Office of the President should modify university policy to require that the campus office either participate directly in the resolution with the respondent and responsible campus officials or that the campus office receive written confirmation from the responsible campus officials describing the resolution and documenting that it took place.

To ensure that campuses retain adequate and consistent documentation for complaints they handle through the informal and formal processes, the Office of the President should determine the types of documents campuses should retain. The Office of the President should consider the types of complaint information, correspondence, and interview notes that would be necessary when determining a campus's response to a complaint. The Office of the President should modify university policy to include these requirements, and they should take effect by July 2019.

To ensure timely completion of investigations, the Office of the President should modify university policy to address investigation extensions. The policy changes should include, but not be limited to, defining good cause for an extension as material or unforeseen circumstances directly related to the complaint, specifying a standard extension period, requiring that an extension be requested and granted before the initial 60 business-day period expires, and specifying the time frame within which a campus must notify the parties about each approved extension. The policy should also outline examples of the material or unforeseen circumstances that could warrant an extension and specify the number of extensions available for an investigation before requiring approval from the systemwide coordinator. The changes should take effect by July 2019.

To ensure that the campuses send complete notifications at the start and end of an investigation, the Office of the President should identify required elements for the campuses to include in these notifications and require the campuses to integrate these required elements in their notifications by July 2019.

To ensure that the campuses are using the administratively closed classification correctly and consistently, the Office of the President should modify university policy to include criteria for identifying and classifying complaints as closed. These criteria should identify the circumstances in which it is appropriate to close cases and the documents that campuses should retain. The criteria should also define what services campuses should provide to complainants and detail the type of communication campuses should provide to them. These modifications should take effect by July 2019.

To ensure that the systemwide office has appropriate direction and the systemwide coordinator has the necessary authority, the Office of the President should work with the systemwide coordinator to develop a strategic plan for the systemwide office that delineates how it will approach achieving consistency systemwide. This plan should also ensure that the systemwide office updates university policy to comply with federal and state requirements and best practices, that it reviews and approves local procedures for compliance with university policy, that it oversees campus Title IX activities, and that it improves the university's use of campus data on sexual harassment complaints. The Office of the President should grant the systemwide coordinator the authority needed to enforce the desired plan, and it should develop the plan by December 31, 2018.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

A statement that the policy applies to third parties.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

A statement that the policy applies to online behavior or social media that may affect an individual's educational experience.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

A statement that the university may initiate a complaint.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

The date that identifies or defines the start of an investigation.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

The allowable length of an extension for an investigation and what constitutes good cause for an extension.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

An explanation of how a campus can protect confidentiality when implementing interim measures.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

An explanation of what information a campus can keep confidential and what information it must disclose.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

The requirement to give the complainant the right to end the informal process and begin a formal process.

To ensure that university policy complies with best practices, the systemwide office should amend that policy by July 2019 to incorporate the following provision in addition to the other changes that it has already agreed upon in its resolution with OCR:

Procedures to ensure that the informal process provides prompt and equitable resolution of complaints.

To address any patterns or systemic problems of sexual harassment, the systemwide office should do the following by July 2019:

Continue to improve and finalize the data collection process, including identifying data points that campuses should gather for each complaint and data points for tracking repeat respondents.

To address any patterns or systemic problems of sexual harassment, by July 2019 the systemwide office should work with each campus to develop and implement processes and data reports to assist the campus in regularly identifying patterns and systemic problems related to sexual harassment and in instituting sexual harassment prevention education and training in those areas that need it.

To address any patterns or systemic problems of sexual harassment, by July 2019 the systemwide office should work with each campus to implement ongoing data quality control processes in order to ensure sexual harassment complaints data are accurate and complete.

To address any patterns or systemic problems of sexual harassment, by July 2019 the systemwide office should identify and review campuses' complaints data to identify outliers in their use of the formal, informal, and administratively closed processes.

To ensure that each campus hires the most qualified individuals to perform Title IX-related functions, the systemwide office should, in consultation with the campuses, develop a list of key Title IX positions and the associated minimum and desirable qualifications. The systemwide office should ensure that effective July 2019, each campus follows those qualifications when hiring new staff.

To ensure that all investigators and staff performing Title IX-related functions have necessary and consistent training, the systemwide office should amend university policy to take effect July 2019 to make clear the Title IX training requirements. The policy should specify the number of training hours required of each investigator and staff member, the period within which the training must be completed, and the minimum number of training hours within each period.

To ensure that all investigators and staff performing Title IX-related functions have necessary and consistent training, the systemwide office should amend university policy to take effect July 2019 to make clear the Title IX training requirements. The policy should specify the topics that the training must cover and the minimum number of training hours required on each topic.

To ensure that all investigators and staff performing Title IX-related functions have necessary and consistent training, the systemwide office should amend university policy to take effect July 2019 to make clear the Title IX training requirements. The policy should set training topics and the requisite number of hours by topic that new employees must complete and the period within which the new employee must do so.

To ensure that all investigators and staff performing Title IX-related functions have necessary and consistent training, the systemwide office should amend university policy to take effect July 2019 to make clear the Title IX training requirements. The policy should require that each campus develops and implements processes to track staff training.

To ensure that all investigators and staff performing Title IX-related functions have necessary and consistent training, the systemwide office should amend university policy to take effect July 2019 to make clear the Title IX training requirements. The policy should specify that the systemwide office will monitor each campus to ensure it adheres to the training requirements.

To achieve prompt resolution of sexual harassment complaints against faculty respondents, the Regents should ensure that the Academic Senate further defines its bylaws with written requirements for the Privilege and Tenure Committee (tenure committee) that specify exact time frames for completing the phases of the disciplinary process. The following change should take effect by July 2019:

Require that a hearing be scheduled to begin within 60 calendar days from the date the chancellor files charges with the tenure committee unless the committee chair extends this time frame for good cause, which the written requirements should define.

To achieve prompt resolution of sexual harassment complaints against faculty respondents, the Regents should ensure that the Academic Senate further defines its bylaws with written requirements for the tenure committee that specify exact time frames for completing the phases of the disciplinary process. The following change should take effect by July 2019:

Require that the tenure committee issue a recommendation within 30 calendar days of concluding the hearing. The written requirements should define when a hearing is considered concluded.