Formal Review: Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy

Dear Colleagues,

The Office of the President invites comments to the proposed revisions to the Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy (“SVSH Policy”). The SVSH Policy has been revised to address critical concerns identified through feedback received earlier this year from faculty, staff, and students from across the system. In addition, changes have been made as required by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) in its February 2018 resolution agreement with UC Berkeley and recommended by the California State Auditor in its June 2018 report on UC’s response to SVSH complaints.

The key issues addressed by the proposed revisions to the Policy include:

• 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.

You may access the proposed redlined version at SVSH Policy (redlined draft) and the current version of the policy at SVSH Policy (current)

Employees covered by this policy who wish to provide comments on the proposed revisions may submit them to Evelyn Cheng, Systemwide Title IX Program Coordinator (evelyn.cheng@ucop.edu), no later than Monday, December 17, 2018.

Thank you,

Jo & Denise

Jo Mackness, Interim AVC-HR
Denise Oldham, Title IX Officer & Director, Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination

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