Many changes are coming to Ball State with the passing of the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which went into effect March 2014. This will be the first school year where all requirements need to be met.
The Campus SaVE Act is a law passed under the Title IX policies, which prohibits discrimination based on sex.
The Campus SaVE Act amends the Clery Act of 1965, which addresses sexual assault policies on university campuses. It requires universities to be more transparent about acts of sexual violence and guarantees rights for victims of sexual violence. It also sets standards for disciplinary measures and requires the university to educate students on sexual violence.
Under these new requirements, the university has rewritten the sexual harassment and misconduct policy.
The university has added a mandatory program for all new students to educate them about rape, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.
This program, called Think About It, will cover school policies on sexual harassment and violence, as well as the definitions of consent, sexual assault, domestic violence and dating violence, according to Ball State’s website. It will go over the dangers of drugs and alcohol and disciplinary actions the school may take for violations of policies, as well.
The course comes in two parts, the first of which is already available to new students. The second will become available about eight weeks after classes start.
Katie Slabaugh, Title IX coordinator for Ball State, said the Board of Trustees and the university government structures reviewed and adapted a new sexual misconduct policy for the upcoming school year.
“It expanded the policy a great deal, which I think is a good thing because it means a lot more layers of elaboration, definitions and specificity, “ she said. “Even though it takes time to read it and digest it, it doesn’t leave anything unanswered for people.”
Slabaugh said while Ball State had policies on many of the required topics already, the university revised them to fit with the new requirements.
In addition to the course and the revision of policies, Ball State added a sexual misconduct board comprised of eight to 10 faculty and staff members. A rotation of three board members will review each case.
Michael Gillilan, director of student rights, said the job of the sexual misconduct board is to look at cases where the accused said they did not commit what they were accused of.
“[The board] will review the final report and provide an opportunity for the complainant and the accused student to make statements to them,” Gillilan said.
He said the board will then make a decision on whether there is enough information to convince them that there has been a violation of the sexual misconduct policy.
“If there is, then they find the student responsible and will then recommend a sanction to me,” Gillilan said. “Then I will finalize everything and provide both students with a notification of the decision.”
The board will see any case that falls under the sexual misconduct policy — everything from sexual assault, harassment, stalking and domestic and dating violence.
But Gillilan said it wasn’t enough to just make a new policy.
“The policy and procedures by itself will not make the institution stronger,” he said. “But I do think that if we do a good job communicating these new policies and educating students and faculty and staff on their rights or responsibilities, it will contribute to a healthier, safer and more effective learning environment.”
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