E-Portfolio - Law, Policy, and Governance (2)

1. Legal Aspects of Higher Education:
Sexual Assault/ Rape
Nicole Cartier
8 December 2014

2. Map of Discussion
• History of Student Conduct Codes
• Evolution of Title IX
• Legal Definitions
• Sexual Assault
• Rape
• How rape is incorporated into institutional conduct codes
• Laws Affecting Student Conduct Codes
• Applicable laws: Duty of Care, Due Process, and others
• Federal funding
• Mandatory Accreditation Process
• Best Practices

3. History of Student Conduct Codes
• No Standard History
• Student conduct code histories vary by institution and institutional type
1(United States Department of Education: Office for Civil Rights, 2014)
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
• “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL)
• Issued on April 4, 2011 by Office for Civil Rights
(OCR)
• Institution’s responsibility to respond promptly
and effectively to sexual violence
• Is, essentially, a guiding document
• Discusses requirements such as policies needed
in student conduct codes, a designated Title IX
coordinator, adopted and published grievance
procedures, and more1
http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_women/DI/2011-
12/images/TitleIX.jpg

4. Legal Definitions
•
• “Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs
without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of
sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible
sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape”2.
•
• “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body
part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without
the consent of the victim”3.
• *Rather than including a definition for rape in student conduct codes,
institutions often have a sexual misconduct policy, which encompasses
rape.
2(The United States Department of Justice, n.d.); 3(Federal Bureau of Investigation: Uniform Crime Reporting, 2014)

5. Laws Affecting Student Conduct Codes
• Duty of Care
• Case law example: Mullins v. Pine Manor College4
•
• Federal Funding—specific to sexual assault/ rape
• Compliance with Title IX
• Response required5
4(Mullins v. Pine Manor College, 1983); 5(United States Department of Education: Office for Civil Rights, 2014)
http://www.gustitislaw.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/09/Due-Process-of-Law.jpg

6. Mandatory Accreditation
• Section 3.7:
• “In exercising its fiduciary responsibility, the governing board assures that
senior officers identify, assess, and manage risks and ensure regulatory
compliance”6.
• Section 3.14:
• “Through its system of board and internal governance, the institution ensures
the appropriate consideration of relevant perspectives; decision-making
aligned with expertise and responsibility; and timely action on institutional
plans, policies, curricular change, and other key considerations”6.
• Relating to Section 10.5, institutions must publish:
• Rules and regulations for student conduct
• Procedures for student appeals and complaints6
6(New England Association of Schools and Colleges: Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE), 2011)

7. Best Practices
• Intentional Programming
• Program, program, program . . . Saturate the community
• Passive and Active
• Prevention initiatives7
• Training7
• Title IX
• Compliance
• One Policy, One Process Approach  What might be ‘up and coming?’
• Affects student conduct codes
• “ . . . it serves the best practices of the civil rights approach with an emphasis on
meaningful remedies, social justice, [survivor] empowerment and advocacy,
comprehensive investigation and prompt, humane, non-adversarial resolution of
everything from bias incidents to stalking, to rape and intimate partner violence”8.
7(Council for the Advancement of Standards, 2012); 8(Association of Title IX Administrators, n.d.)

9. References
• Association of Title IX Administrators. (n.d.) Model policies. Retrieved on
December 7, 2014 from https://atixa.org/resources/model-policies/
• Council for the Advancement of Standards. (2012). Sexual assault and
relationship violence prevention programs. In Council for the
Advancement of Higher Education (Ed.), CAS professional standards
for higher education (8th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation: Uniform Crime Reporting. (2014).
Reporting rape in 2013: Summary Reporting System (SRS) user
manual and technical specification. Washington, DC: Law
Enforcement Support Section (LESS) & Crime Statistics
Management Unit (CSMU).
• Mullins v. Pine Manor College, 449 N.E.2d 331 (Mass.
1983) http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/389/389mass47.html

10. References
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges: Commission on
Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE). (2011). Standards of
accreditation: Standards (effective July 1, 2011). Retrieved from
https://cihe.neasc.org/standard-policies/standards-
accreditation/standards-effective-july-1-2011#standard_nine
• The United States Department of Justice. (n.d.). Sexual assault. Retrieved
from www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault#sa
• United States Department of Education: Office for Civil Rights. (2014, April
29). Questions and answers on Title IX and sexual violence.
Washington, DC: The Assistant Secretary.