BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1778
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Date of Hearing: March 15, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1778
(Quirk) - As Introduced February 3, 2016
SUBJECT: Postsecondary education: sexual assault and sexual
violence training
SUMMARY: Requires, in order to receive state funds for student
financial assistance, the governing boards of the community
colleges, the California State University (CSU) Trustees, the
University of California (UC) Regents, and the governing boards
of independent postsecondary institutions to conduct annual
training of their employees on the employee's obligations in
responding to and reporting incidents of sexual assault,
domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking involving
students.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the governing board of public, private, and
independent postsecondary educational institution that
receives public funds for student financial assistance to
compile records of crimes on campus, make crime records
available upon request, and to disclose a reported Part 1
violent crime, sexual assault, or hate crime, to the local law
enforcement agency where the campus is located. (Education
Code Section 67380, 67383)
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2)Requires, under the Kristen Smart Campus Safety Act, UC
Regents, CSU Trustees, CCD governing boards, and independent
colleges that meet specified conditions to enter into specific
written agreements with local law enforcement agencies
regarding the coordination and responsibilities for
investigating Part 1 violent crimes which occur on campus.
(EDC Section 67381)
3)Requires public postsecondary educational institutions to each
adopt, and implement at each campus or other facilities, a
written procedure or protocols to ensure, to the fullest
extent possible, that students, faculty and staff who are
victims of sexual assault committed on grounds maintained by
the institution or affiliated student organizations, receive
treatment and information. The written procedures or
protocols must contain specified information. (EDC Section
67385.)
4)Requires public postsecondary educational institutions, and
requests UC, in collaboration with campus- and community-based
victim advocacy organizations, to provide as part of campus
orientations, educational and preventive information about
sexual violence and to develop policies to encourage students
to report any campus crimes involving sexual violence. (EDC
Section 67385.7.)
5)Requires public and independent postsecondary institutions, as
a condition of receipt of student aid funds, to adopt a policy
concerning campus sexual violence, domestic violence, dating
violence, and stalking that includes specified components and
standards, including an "affirmative consent" standard for
determining whether consent was given by both parties to
sexual activity. Establishes a preponderance of evidence as
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the evidentiary standard for determining if sexual
violence/harassment occurred. (EDC Section 67386)
6)Requires, under the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus
Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act),
public and private postsecondary educational institutions that
participate in the federal financial aid program to disclose
information about crimes on and around campuses. (20 U.S.C.
section 1092(f))
7)Requires, under federal Title IX (20 U.S.C. sections
1681-1688), public and private postsecondary educational
institutions that participate in the federal financial aid
program to establish certain rights for victims of sexual
assault, including:
a) Institutions are responsible for immediately and
effectively responding to any sexual harassment or violence
that creates a hostile environment. The institution must
eliminate the harassment or violence, prevent its
recurrence, and address its effects. Regardless of whether
a student chooses to file a complaint with the institution,
the institution is responsible for investigating and taking
appropriate steps to resolve the situation. A criminal
investigation does not relieve the school of its duty under
Title IX.
b) Institutions must have and distribute policies against
sex discrimination; the policy must state that inquiries
concerning Title IX may be referred to the institution's
Title IX coordinator or to the Office of Civil Rights
(OCR).
c) Institutions must have a designated Title IX coordinator
and notify students and employees of the name and contact
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information for the Title IX coordinator. The coordinator
is responsible for overseeing all complaints of sex
discrimination, which include harassment and assault, and
identifying and addressing patterns or systemic problems.
d) Institutions are required to have and make known the
procedures for students to file complaints of sex
discrimination, and procedures must provide for prompt and
equitable resolution of sex discrimination complaints. All
complainants must have the right to present his or her
case, including the right to a full investigation, to
present witnesses and evidence, and to an appeal process
(available to both parties).
e) Establishes a preponderance of the evidence standard
(more likely than not) when determining if sexual
harassment or violence occurred.
f) Provides complainants the right to be notified of the
outcome of the complaint, including the sanction.
Complainants cannot be required to abide by a nondisclosure
agreement.
g) Authorizes grievance procedures to include voluntary
informal methods (such as mediation) for resolving some
types of sexual harassment complaints. However, mediation
is not appropriate in cases involving allegations of sexual
assault.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, "when
students experience sexual violence they are likely to report
the incident to a trusted coach or resident advisor at their
campus, unaware that this person may not be adequately trained
to appropriately report and support the victim. The unfortunate
truth is that although certain staff is trained to respond to
and report student incidents of sexual violence to the
appropriate officials, not all college campuses suitably train
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every staff member who will interact with a student to do this.
The lack of all-inclusive, annual training may lead to
mismanagement of these incident reports, or worse, may
inadvertently discourage students from reporting these
incidents."
Background. In June 2014, the California State Auditor's
2013-124 report, entitled, Sexual Harassment and Sexual
Violence: California Universities Must Better Protect Students
by Doing More to Prevent, Respond to, and Resolve Incidents,
concluded that California's educational institutions were not
properly educating students and training faculty and staff
sufficiently on response and reporting of incidents on campus as
mandated by Title IX and the Clery Act. The auditor made a
series of recommendations to include the expansion of staff
training, the improvement of access and content for student
education, the enhancement of communication with students, and
the evaluation of summary data collected in order to better
identify trends and inform strategies to address incidents on
campus.
California's postsecondary education institutions report that
they have taken steps to address the concerns raised in the
audit reports and to respond to statutory changes and regulatory
guidance by improving processes and outcomes on their campuses.
Both the UC and CSU have updated their sexual harassment and
assault policies, initiated mandatory prevention and response
trainings for all students and employees, and established
confidential victim advocate offices on every campus. The CSU
and UC have appointed systemwide officers charged with ensuring
Title IX compliance. .
UC policy appears consistent with this bill. The UC Policy on
Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment issued on January 1, 2016,
requires, among other provisions, for each campus to conduct
"mandatory annual training and education, about Prohibited
Conduct and how conduct can be reported, to all students,
faculty, and other academic appointees, and staff in accordance
with applicable State and federal law, and University policies."
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CSU policy appears consistent with this bill. CSU Executive
Order 1096, revised June 23, 2015, requires, among other
provisions, mandatory annual training for all employees that
includes the rights and responsibilities of each employee
relating to the CSU policy and the employee's duty to report.
CCC and independent college policies may differ among campuses.
Committee staff was unable to verify whether this bill is
consistent with existing community college or independent
university policies. The CCC Chancellor's Office convened a
Task Force on sexual assault in the spring of 2014, and in May
of 2015 the Task Force reported to the Board of Governors (BOG)
regarding the findings of a survey of CCC policies and
practices. According to the information presented at the CCC
BOG meeting, of 46 responses from colleges and districts, 56%
reported that they provide ongoing sexual assault prevention and
awareness programs for employees.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on File
Opposition
None on File
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Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960