The Committee on Standards Sexual Assault Review Committee report recommended 12 improvements for the College's sexual assault disciplinary procedures to the Dean of the College's Office, Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson said in a campus-wide email on Monday. The report recommends that the College clarify its definitions of serious sexual misconduct and the possible repercussions of such actions.
Students are encouraged to read the committee's report and provide feedback to the Dean of the College's Office, Johnson said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
The College hired Sexual Assault Awareness Program Coordinator Amanda Childress earlier this summer to help reduce the incidence of sexual assault on campus, Johnson said. The College is currently in the process of hiring a second SAAP coordinator, she said.
Committee chair Kate Burke, assistant dean of the college for campus life, said she hopes the recommendations will spark dialogue among students.
The recommendations aim to improve communication and help students including alleged victims and those accused of sexual assault understand what resources are available to them in the disciplinary process.
The 12 suggestions enumerated in the report fall into two categories: those applicable before an incident occurs, and those that explain how incidents are handled, Johnson said. She said her experience in student affairs compels her to seek a "comprehensive approach" to addressing sexual assault.
The committee, comprised of three students, two faculty members and a staff member, recommended that the language of the current sexual assault policy especially in regard to terms like "sexual misconduct," "sexual penetration" and "sexual touching" be changed to explain explicitly which behaviors are prohibited.
The committee wants to "ensure that the acts of sexual penetration and more serious acts of sexual misconduct are actually delineated in the policy itself so students know exactly what we're talking about when we say serious incidences of sexual misconduct," Johnson said.
The committee also recommends that the College increase its sexual assault education efforts in order to improve sexual assault prevention, reduce the incidence of sexual assault, augment reporting and encourage awareness of the duties of the College's disciplinary process. The College should train sexual misconduct investigators including Safety and Security officers and Judicial Affairs staff members of both genders to ensure that information concerning the cases be collected efficiently and sensitively, according to the report.
Additionally, the College should train a group of existing staff members to serve as advisors and act as resources for students who report cases of sexual misconduct and for students who are accused of sexual misconduct. Under the current judiciary procedures, these students can identify an advisor from within the Dartmouth community, but these advisors have not all received special training in sexual assault cases, according to the report.
Given the challenges that a 10-week term poses, the committee proposes that the College prioritize cases of sexual misconduct when scheduling hearings, according to the report.
Students with information about a sexual assault case should be compelled to appear in the Committee on Standards' hearings at the request of the Office of Judicial Affairs, according to the report.
"[This] is a significant change from what we do currently, but some would say and I think the committee would say it is a good one because in a community where we have both pledged to do no harm and make this a safer campus environment for everyone it would make sense as part of the citizenship to actually have a system where students must come forward if they have information that would be helpful for the committee, one way or another," Johnson said.
COS members including students, faculty and staff who have been members for at least a year should be trained to make up "hearing panels" on sexual misconduct under the direction of the Office of the General Counsel, according to the report.
Additionally, sanctioning guidelines must make clear that students risk removal from the College if they engage in sexual misconduct dubbed "serious, chronic and/or egregious."
The committee recommends that those students faced with probation rather than separation from the College must undergo an education program that will be developed in the Fall term, once the College collaborates with experts on preventing sexual assault.
This development marks a change from current standards that do not require suspended students to undergo "non-curricular" activities relating to their misconduct, the report said.
Students returning to campus following suspension may do so under certain conditions established by the associate deans, including restrictions on involvement in College activities, the report recommends.
The report suggests that requests for review, filed in the event of procedural errors or introduction of new information, be addressed within two weeks. Students who file such requests while undergoing suspension or separation from the College should be made aware that restrictions can be placed on their access to campus residence halls, participation in activities or presence on campus, according to the report.
Students will be able to provide feedback on the report until the second week of October, according to Johnson.
"The hope here by giving students a lot of time to provide feedback well into the Fall term is that students really will become involved," Johnson said. "I don't think we can solve this problem as a top-down administration issue. This really has to be an on-the-ground effort where students are involved and actually helping other students."
