University Council Coverage: January 27 Meeting |
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February 2, 2016, Volume 62, No. 21 |
At the January 27 University Council meeting, there was a discussion of Penn’s protocols for bringing and responding to complaints about sexual assault or misconduct and other Title IX issues. The discussion began with comments from a panel of five Penn people whose offices provide resources and services.
Sam Starks, the executive director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, spoke first and pointed out that he is also the University’s Title IX coordinator. As such, he is responsible for coordinating Penn’s efforts to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities. See http://www.upenn.edu/affirm-action/titleix.html
Jessica Mertz, director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education (Almanac September 16, 2014), explained that the position she has held since 2014 was created as a result of the Commission on Student Safety, Alcohol and Campus Life (Almanac February 18, 2014). Previously she had chaired the University-wide Penn Violence Prevention Committee. She listed numerous prevention efforts such as Thrive at Penn, Speak About It, SAVA (student anti-violence training), PAVE (peer educators), the It’s On Us campaign, MARS, Vagina Monologues and advisory groups. There is also an array of various resources on campus to respond to those in need of help, such as SART (sexual assault response team), PWC (Penn Women’s Center), CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) and the Chaplain’s Office, among others. She said it is essential to help students understand how to be an active bystander and how to intervene. Students do not need to make a report to get support and use resources. See https://secure.www.upenn.edu/vpul/pvp/
Patricia Brennan, director of Special Services in the Division of Public Safety, stressed that her primary function is to provide confidential ‘options counseling’ 24/7, for not only students, but for faculty and staff, with no geographic boundaries and support for those who have been a victim of interpersonal violence. Her unit is not part of the Penn Police, and can provide support for those who wish to remain anonymous but can also take formal police reports. See https://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/about/special-services/sensitive-crimes/
Deborah Harley, Penn’s new sexual violence investigative officer (Almanac December 1, 2015), gave an overview of the process that would be followed by her office if one enrolled Penn student were filing a complaint about another: both parties would be interviewed, a full investigation would be followed by a report and a determination of whether or not a Penn policy has been violated and what sanctions, if any, should be imposed. The burden of proof is a preponderance of evidence. Either party could still request a hearing. See http://www.upenn.edu/svio/
Karu Kozuma, associate vice provost for student affairs, said that it is important to educate all members of the Penn community about the many resources available and to empower everyone to grapple with these complex problems that can have complex solutions.
President Amy Gutmann pointed out that a fact that surfaced from the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct (Almanac September 29, 2015) is that a great many Penn students reported that they do not know where to turn in a crisis in spite of the many options available. Dr. Gutmann stressed that if in doubt about which office might be useful, the Penn community needs to remember only one phone number—for the Penn Helpline: (215) 898-HELP. That number is now on the new contact-less PennCards.
Provost Vincent Price added that in situations that involve faculty, they would currently go through the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty, Anita Allen, but eventually all cases will probably go through the Office of the Sexual Violence Investigative Officer.
Resources that are available for Penn faculty and staff include not only those of the Special Services Unit and Affirmative Action/Title IX Officer, but also the Employee Assistance Program through Human Resources that provides free, confidential counseling and referral services. Call Penn Behavioral Health 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1 (888) 321-4433 or visit http://www.pennbehavioralhealth.org/resources.aspx
The deadline to sign up for the next Open Forum at Council’s February 17 meeting is February 8. Email ucouncil@pobox.upenn.edu
See Almanac (January 26, 2016) for details.
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