Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
NCHERM Assists the University of Virginia in Revising Sexual Misconduct Policies and Procedures
A landmark shift is happening with respect to college and university conduct policies and grievance procedures as a result of the OCR Title IX Dear Colleague Letter released in April, which finally clarifies a wide range of critical issues pertaining to campus sexual violence.
In the years to come, the issuance of this Dear Colleague Letter will come to be seen as a watershed moment in advancing victim’s rights on college campuses, and in recognizing the influence that Title IX wields in defining best practices for campus response to sexual violence.
Campuses including Yale and Stanford have recently announced changes in many areas; including policy, grievance procedures, standards of proof, and appeal rights for victims. For these campuses and many others, including the University of Virginia, revisions were underway before the issuance of the Dear Colleague Letter, which provided additional impetus for changes and clarity on what types of changes were needed.
NCHERM has had a long-standing relationship with the University of Virginia, providing annual training on sexual misconduct to the UVa Sexual Misconduct Board, investigators and advocates since 2005. Brett A. Sokolow, Esq., NCHERM’s Managing Partner has also had the opportunity to play a role in the revision of the UVa Sexual Misconduct Policy and Grievance Procedures released at the end of May.
This revision process engaged a wide range of stake holders in a thoughtful and informed dialogue about how to produce policies and procedures that were not only compliant with Title IX, but would create a roadmap of best practices as a model for the field of higher education. UVa invited and encouraged extensive public commentary on drafts before finalizing its revisions.
In addition to providing consultation during the revision process, NCHERM made public comments on the UVa policy and procedures in draft form. NCHERM has posted those comments on its website, and at this link: http://www.ncherm.org/documents/UVaSexualMisconductPolicyProcedures-PublicComment-5-25-11.pdf
By posting its edits and comments, NCHERM hopes not only to provoke thought on critical issues, but also to showcase the process by which NCHERM provides policy and procedural consulting services to college and university clients.
For more information on NCHERM’s policy and procedure revision services, please contact NCHERM Executive Director Cori Sokolow, M.Ed., at cori@ncherm.org or 610.993.0229.
From August 2nd-5th, 2011, NCHERM will be hosting the first-of-its-kind Campus Title IX Coordinator Training and Certification Course in St. Louis, MO. Featuring an exceptional faculty of eight nationally-recognized Title IX experts, this event is more than half full already. Register today at: http://www.ncherm.org/webinars.html#stlouis
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
NCHERM Reaction to the OCR Title IX Dear Colleague Letter on Campus Sexual Violence
(Link to the full version online at:
http://www.ncherm.org/documents/NCHERMReactiontotheDearColleagueLetter4.6.11.pdf)
For Immediate Release
NCHERM applauds the release on Monday by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of a Dear Colleague letter giving higher education greater clarity on how Title IX impacts on campus sexual violence.
Announced with a press conference at the University of New Hampshire by Vice President Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and coupled with an announcement from the Obama White House, the spotlight on campus sexual assault clearly showed how significant a priority Title IX is for this administration.
Our hope is that this guidance will lead to policy and practice changes on college and university campuses that will more effectively empower and embrace the rights of complaints, and further the goal of an equitable result via an equitable process.
The hesitation to embrace correct standards of proof and rights such as complainant appeals, moving an accused student to alternate housing, and keeping a complainant apprised of the investigation have resulted in years of successful legal challenges to and liability for colleges and universities. We are optimistic that OCR’s action will bring about a sea change now.
Acting on the Dear Colleague letter with revised policies and practices will more effectively shield campuses from liability because it offers campuses a roadmap for delivering prompt and effective remedies to campus sexual violence.
Yet, it is important to recognize that the substance of the Dear Colleague letter is not new. With this Dear Colleague letter, OCR has not expanded Title IX. What OCR has done is finally to promulgate guidance that reflects the substance of its enforcement.
To date, that enforcement has been accomplished campus-by-campus, without public dissemination of the findings and compliance requirements. We’ve had to read tea leaves to discern OCR’s expectations. Now, we have greater clarity on a number of key issues.
To help you determine the course of your campus reaction, NCHERM has updated the free resources available on the Title IX section of our website. There you will find a series of links to recent OCR actions, announcements, decision letters and compliance resources. Additionally, the entire OCR case letter file of more than 200 Title IX findings on complaints of sexual violence against colleges and universities is now available freely available online as the result of a collaboration between NCHERM and the Center for Public Integrity to publicize these documents.
http://www.ncherm.org/legal.html
We hope these resources will be invaluable to your campus.
http://www.ncherm.org/documents/NCHERMReactiontotheDearColleagueLetter4.6.11.pdf
Visit the link above to access to extended version of this reaction, including direct links to the resources noted above, and details about four upcoming Title IX related events from NCHERM including our rapid response webinar on the OCR Guidance, two upcoming institutes on sexual misconduct, and our first-ever Campus Title IX Coordinator Training and Certification Course.
Monday, April 4, 2011
OCR Issues New Title IX Dear Colleague Guidance on Sexual Assault for Colleges and Universities -- April 4th, 2011
Today, the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague Letter as Guidance on Title IX compliance for institutions on campus sexual violence. The letter explicitly addresses hot button issues such as complainant appeals and preponderance of evidence as the standard of proof. Please access the letter at: http://www.ncherm.org/documents/OCRDearColleagueLetter4.4.11.pdf
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
College Student Stress Levels Increasing -- NY Times
ACCA President and NCHERM Consultant Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D., was quoted in the NY Times today, along with NCHERM Behavioral Mental Health Consultation Team member Dr. Perry Francis.
Brett Sokolow, Brian Van Brunt and Scott Lewis of NCHERM were all quoted in the USA Today, today on troubled students and campus behavioral intervention teams:
Brett Sokolow was quoted in another USA Today article, as well:
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