Georgia’s public university system moved Tuesday to centralize training for students, staff and campus police on sexual violence, along with the reporting and handling of those cases.
Critical to the effort will be hiring a system-wide coordinator to oversee how the Georgia schools handle sexual assault complaints and training. Georgia will be among the first states to create a post to supervise how all its public colleges handle Title IX, the section of federal law outlawing sexual discrimination and violence. Its action comes amid a national focus on campus sexual assault and a campaign led by the White House, which has urged schools to do more to protect students.
“We are about educating students and increasing the number of Georgians who have completed college,” university system Chancellor Hank Huckaby said Tuesday at a meeting of the board of Regents, which adopted the changes. “To continue to do this, we must provide our students, faculty and staff a safe environment, and we will apply best practices at each campus. This is a fundamental change in the way we have been operating across our system of institutions.”
Georgia's 30 public colleges and universities have largely been left to their own devices when it comes to the best campus-safety measures. The changes come after Huckaby launched a wholesale review of campus safety last August, seeking recommendations from a committee of faculty and staff, student leaders and system administrators.
The Regents also approved a separate task force, led by University of Georgia President Jere Morehead and Savannah State University President Cheryl Dozier, to combat drinking on campus. The committee recommended a separate group for that because alcohol and drug abuse play a role in issues beyond public safety and sexual violence.
The number of sexual assaults reported at Georgia colleges has been rising in recent years. Many school officials chalk up the increase to better efforts encouraging victims to come forward.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported extensively on how such cases are handled. In December the newspaper found prosecutors are failing to bring criminal charges in campus rape cases. The AJC reported earlier this year that state colleges — facing pressure from the Obama administration — are using campus judicial proceedings to expel and suspend students accused of sexual assault but their handling of the cases varies widely.
State Rep. Earl Ehrhart, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which deals with higher education funding, said he supports the move to centralize some campus-safety issues. But he said after reading the AJC’s report on campus judicial proceedings he is still considering holding hearings in the next legislative session.
“If it is a crime it needs to be dealt with in the legal system,” the Republican from Powder Springs said. “We shouldn’t be using an extrajudicial star chamber.”
Advocates for sexual assault victims praised the Georgia university system’s move to a centralized Title IX coordinator.
“It’s great they are prioritizing this and looking forward they are planning a system-wide strategy,” said Laura Palumbo, a prevention campaign specialist with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Each school is already required to have a Title IX coordinator but that person is sometimes assigned other job responsibilities as well. Federal guidance can be confusing and vague. Yet the stakes are high. Schools that fail to comply with Title IX can face the loss of millions of dollars in federal financial aid.
California created a similar coordinator position for it’s public university system last fall. There was no word on when Georgia’s University System would complete its search for the new coordinator. All of the safety initiatives were recommended to be implemented before or during the upcoming academic year.
In addition to the centralized training and Title IX oversight, the steps planned include a new website for parents and students to review campus crime reports, and campus surveys every two years to gauge progress.
“I would encourage us to consider this as part of our strategic plan and encourage institutions to do the same,” said Regent Dean Alford. “The key is to change the culture, not only at the system level but also at each institution, about how important safety is.”
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