Issues Under Review

Dear Colleagues:

A systemwide review is being conducted to consider the proposed revisions to UC Presidential Policy on Sexual Violence & Sexual Harassment.

The key revisions are described as follows.

• A fuller explanation of what the policy covers, such as acts committed by and against third parties, and how the Title IX offices will evaluate reports to decide whether to initiate a resolution process;
• Changes to the definitions of conduct prohibited by the policy, including sexual assault, relationship violence, and retaliation;
• Enumeration of the specific procedures UC will use to investigate and adjudicate reports;
• A more detailed description of the informal (Alternative Resolution) process, and parties’ rights in that process;
• Addition of a 30 to 60 day timeframe for Alternative Resolution, and extension of the timeframe for the Formal Investigation process from 60 days to 90 days;
• Provision for the Title IX officer to initiate investigations despite the absence of an identifiable, individual respondent or, alternatively, the lack of a specific complainant;
• Revisions to the Frequently Asked Questions, including the removal of certain questions; and
• References in several places to guidelines developed by the Systemwide Title IX Office. CSA recommended that we better define and codify some of our policy-related practices, and agreed that could be done in separate guidelines, if referenced in the policy.

The review materials include a cover letter from Title IX Coordinator Taylor and redlined and clean copies of the proposal. Each document is bookmarked. A link to the review materials is provided in the resources box.

Faculty who wish to comment are welcome to do so. All comments received by November 21, 2018 will be included in the review materials for Senate Council consideration. 

Robert Horwitz,
Chair
Academic Senate, San Diego Division