University Continues Progress on Sexual Violence Prevention, Education, Advocacy

Following the release of the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Sexual Violence Prevention, Education and Advocacy’s final report in December 2014, University leadership and staff within the Division of Student Affairs have been working to address and implement many of the workgroup’s recommendations. In addition to improvements made in the spring 2015 semester, the University has made significant progress in addressing many of the other recommendations and gaps raised by the workgroup.

Highlights of the implementation of the workgroup’s recommendations include:

• After gathering student input, the bathroom stickers were redesigned this summer and updated to include additional information and resources for students. More than 4,000 stickers were produced and distributed.
• The University has contracted with Rankin & Associates to conduct a climate survey, which will be administered to all students, staff and faculty in spring 2016.
• The Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services has worked throughout the summer updating training materials to provide greater clarification on the obligations of responsible employees.
• The Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence was formed on April 23 and held its first meeting in May. The Task Force’s planning committee has been meeting throughout the summer.
• The University is in the process of hiring a training specialist and Title IX investigator to enhance Title IX resources on campus.

New York State’s Enough Is Enough legislation, of which Chancellor Kent Syverud was an early endorser, has also provided guidelines and regulations to enhance colleges and universities’ efforts to combat sexual assault and relationship violence. This legislation amplifies the work the University has done to address sexual and relationship violence already, as well as addressing a number of the recommendations presented by the workgroup including:

• defining affirmative consent for all colleges in New York State;
• outlining resources that are deemed confidential;
• instituting a state-wide Sexual Violence Victim/Survivor Bill of Rights; and
• increasing the amount of training for students, faculty and staff.

To read more about the progress on each of the 24 recommendations, visit the Workgroup Recommendations Updates page.