BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2654
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|Author: |Bonilla |
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|Version: |March 28, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 8, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: Postsecondary education: Equity in Higher Education
Act
SUMMARY
This bill expands the information to be included in a
postsecondary educational institutions' written policy on sexual
harassment to include information regarding complaint processes
and timelines, and on and off-campus resources, and further
requires that the written policy be made available on the
institution's website.
BACKGROUND
Existing state law establishes the Equity in Higher Education
Act (Act) to prohibit a person from being subjected to
discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity,
religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that
is contained in the statutory definition of hate crimes, in any
program or activity conducted by an educational institution that
receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or
enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid.
(Education Code § 66270)
Existing law also establishes state policy that all persons,
regardless of their sex should enjoy freedom from discrimination
of any kind in the postsecondary educational institution of the
state and requires each such institution to have a written
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policy on sexual harassment, to display the policy in a
prominent location, as specified, to provide the policy to
students and faculty, as specified, and to require that the
policy appear in any publication of the institution setting for
the rules, regulations, procedures and standards of conduct for
the institution. (Education Code § 66281.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Expands the notice requirements relative to written
policies on sexual harassment required of postsecondary
educational institutions in California. It requires that
the written policy:
a) Include information on the complaint
process.
b) Include information on the timeline for
the complaint process.
c) Include information on resources both
on and off campus.
d) Be available on the institution's
Internet website.
2) Identifies potential mandated costs, likely associated with
the application of the bill's provisions to the California
Community Colleges.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, it is
important that students and faculty have easy access to
each higher education institution's policy. A simple
posting of such policies online can markedly improve
access. The bill also recognizes that students should be
made aware of community resources and organizations which
assist with issues of sexual harassment. This is especially
important in the event that a student does not feel
comfortable pursuing campus established remedies or finds
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those avenues ineffective. According to the author, in
light of recent incidences of sexual misconduct at the
University of California, it is important that both
students and employees are aware of campus harassment
policies and resources.
2) Related state audit. In June 2014, the Bureau of State
Audits (BSA) issued a report, Sexual Harassment and Sexual
Violence: California Universities Must Better Protect
Students by Doing More to Prevent, Respond to, and Resolve
Incidents. The BSA examined two University of California
(UC) (UC Berkeley and UCLA), and two California State
University (CSU) (CSU Chico and CSU San Diego) campuses and
found that while staff in key roles receive adequate
training on this topic, other employees who may be the
first point of contact do not. In addition, none of the
universities provided its sexual harassment policy to all
employees at the start of each year nor is the policy
posted where large numbers of students can see them. The
report included recommendations that the universities post
their policies in additional prominent locations frequented
by students and properly distribute and post their policy
on sexual harassment.
This bill would specifically require posting of the sexual
harassment policy on the institution's website and the
provision of information on related complaint processes,
timelines and on and off-campus resources.
SUPPORT
UAW Local 5810
OPPOSITION
None received.
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