THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 3A
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014
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ASSAULT FROM PAGE 1A
Caboni said the CARE coordinator was an important role to fill, and the provost allocated resources to get someone quickly. He said the position is temporary and will be reevaluated at the end of the year.
"One of the things that was clear is that the investigative process is confusing and overwhelming and so ensuring that complainants, victims, respondents, all have someone to assist them with navigating the process is something that we heard early on," Caboni said.
The OCR said it strongly encourages that universities have confidential reporters, but currently, the University has none.
However, in a discussion with task force members, Chrisry Heikkila, executive director of GaDuGi SafeCenter, said the CARE coordinator position does not meet the definition of a victim advocate. A policy states all University employees are required to report incidents of sexual harassment, including sexual violence, to IOA and the position serves the dual role of supporting both the victim and the perpetrator through the investigation process.
"OCR wants students to feel free to seek their assistance and therefore interprets Title IX to give schools the latitude not to require these individuals to report incidents of sexual violence in a way that identifies the student without the student's consent," it said in a Title IX Q & A on its website.
Doan said addressing prevention and education is a bigger undertaking that will take more time. She said currently, prevention and education measures are not centralized, and there is minimal communication or awareness among different people.
Doan said although national statistics say one in five women are sexually assaulted during their college careers and task force members have heard many personal anecdotes from
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, a University spokeswoman, said in an email that "the task force was given the climate surveys in October. When they will be distributed to campus hinges on [the Office of Institutional Research and Planning's] capacity to send them out."
Doan said the task force is reviewing the climate survey drafted by IOA and developing recommendations to maximize the efficacy and validity of it. Doan said the biggest challenge for the task force is gathering and sifting through information and figuring out what recommendations would be most effective.
student victims, that they don't have statistics specific to the University or other climate information.
"There a lot to get our arms around and the challenge is acquiring all of this information, making sure we're talking to all of the relevant people, and getting the right information," Doan said.
WHAT ELSE MUST BE DONE
Since Jan. 1, IOA has received 161 complaints, of which over 75 percent are related to sexual assault, battery, harassment, stalking and dating and domestic violence. Currently, approximately 41 cases related to Title IX are open.
Murphy said because of the increased discussion, more survivors are coming forward despite the fear that nothing will be done.
"These women are going forward knowing that nothing will change, but they're doing it because they want there to be a paper trail and they want there to be a conversation and they want to stand up anyway," Murphy said.
Once a 2014 climate survey is released to students, information collected will be sent to groups including the chancellor's task force and the Emily Taylor Center. Doan said the task force will gain insight about the specifics of sexual violence on campus from the
Barcomb-Peterson said the CARE coordinator office will move to Watkins in early January to provide students more anonymity and accessibility. In the spring, the CARE coordinator "will be focused on making the campus more aware of the position and building a sense of trust with the campus community."
Rose-Mockry said they will use the information to direct programming and create informational resources, like websites and flyers or pamphlets for students.
survey that is a challenge to get elsewhere.
In order to educate men on campus and encourage them to ask for consent, report sexual assaults and support victims, IOA was awarded a $25,000 grant in the fall from the Kansas Health Institute. According to Caboni, the programming is still being discussed.
The task force is drafting a formal University partnership for victim support with the Ga-DuGi SafeCenter and the Willow Domestic Violence Center. They are also going to make a recommendation for a clear consent policy. They hope to have all of their recommendations to the chancellor by April.
"I think that that will be an important on-going effort during the course of this year and years to come," Caboni said.
"We hope that [the memorandums] being in progress while we are drafting the official recommendations will contribute to some of them going into effect," Murphy said. "I don't foresee all of them going into effect; there's just not a way for that to happen. But that doesn't mean that we can't make recommendations about what we think is best and point out where the holes are."
as we go about doing Title IX investigations they also do not get in the way," Caboni said. "We want to make sure that we're all aware of the work that each entity is doing and doing it in such a way that complainants and victims are treated with care."
According to Caboni, the Office of General Counsel is drafting a formal partnership with the Lawrence Police Department so investigations don't interfere with one another.
"We want to make sure that
Kehrwald, who previously handled the sanctioning of students involved in the reporting process, has left his position. According to Barcomb-Peterson, Jane Tuttle, assistant vice provost of student affairs, and Joshua Jones, student conduct coordinator, will be responsible for Kehrwald's work until a replacement is hired. The candidates were interviewed the week of Dec. 1 and Barcomb-Peterson said the position will be filled early next spring.
"An adequate solution and an adequate response... involves institutional change. It involves education and prevention.It involves cultural changes."
ALESHA DOAN Co-chair, chancellor's task force
"The ongoing conversations need to keep happening," Rose-Mockry said. "I think we all need to be creative because some people will come to conversations specifically about this topic, but some won't. So we need to be a little more creative about how we engage those students as well."
The Emily Taylor Center has plans to bring in several speakers, host events and encourage discussion next semester, which it will schedule after the office moves to Wescoe Hall. The center will also work with many offices on campus to promote national Sexual Assault Awareness month in April.
Student initiatives include the new member sexual violence education program that the
Greek Task Force has created. The program will be part of new member orientation and will include sexual violence education and information on how each house handles sexual violence. They plan to pilot the program in a few chapters next semester so it can be in place for the next academic year.
According to Thomas, the Greek Task Force also hopes to start a peer-to-peer program that would involve pairing sororities and fraternities to talk to each other about sexual violence and relationships between members.
Doan said there is no quick fix and that solutions will have to address multiple aspects of the issue of sexual assault in the University community.
"This is a student-led effort and I think a student-to-student component like that can be very,very helpful." Thomas said. "I think as long as it remains student led I think there will be very few challenges with implementation."
The Kansan submitted an Open Records Act requesting a tabulation of policies violated and sanctions implemented from IOA and Student Conduct since IOA's creation in 2012. The Kansan is waiting to hear back from the records custodian with a clear fee estimate
Kappa Sigma remains on interim suspension after a Nov. 24 hearing to determine the fraternity's status. The investigation of the Sept. 28 incident is ongoing because the fraternity is not fully cooperating with the University, Caboni said.
William Noah McCoy, a University student, and John Jossie, who were charged with rape on Oct. 9, have a scheduled hearing through the District Court on Dec. 16 to move forward with the case.
"An adequate solution and an adequate response involves multiple levels," Doan said. "It involves institutional change. It involves education and prevention. It involves cultural changes."
Edited by Paige Lytle
Enrolling early doesn't necessarily mean you pay early. Did you know that if you enroll now for spring classes, your tuition bill isn't due until February 15?
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