University Senate

I. Summary of Amendments

a. Sexual Assault Disciplinary Procedures

i. The proposed disciplinary procedure should be amended so that the complainant and the accused student are given a list of their rights before the Hearing Panel convenes. This document should include the warning that all testimony can be subpoenaed.

ii. The proposed disciplinary procedure should be amended so that the complainant and the accused student can have an attorney from outside Columbia as his or her adviser during all levels of the proceedings. The attorney’s role in the hearing would be limited to being present for the consultation and advisement of the student. He or she would not be present as a lawyer defending a client in the traditional sense.

iii. The proposed disciplinary procedure should be amended to allow victims of sexual assault to pursue criminal, civil, and campus-based procedures concurrently. A student should not be forced to choose between first pursuing her case through the criminal justice system or through the campus-based disciplinary proceeding because such a constraint poses undesirable conflicts of interest and principle.

iv. The proposed disciplinary procedure should be amended so that an accused student has the right to appeal for a withdrawal if criminal charges have been filed and an official complaint to the University has been filed.

b. Sexual Assault Policy Statement

i. One of our first concerns for the victim should be their physical well-being. Advising the student to seek medical attention if she has been sexually assaulted should be in the policy statement, and information about where to seek medical attention should be one of the first website links.

ii. Within the Sexual Assault Policy Statement, Columbia should state that participation in the disciplinary proceedings does not protect a student from future criminal prosecution. Further Columbia should provide information about pursuing criminal charges.

iii. The proposed policy statement should add a statement about what to do if the sexual assault has involved an employee of the University and contact information for the office in charge of such complaints.

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: deferred to next meeting

RESOLUTION TO PROVIDE

A LIST OF RIGHTS TO the complainant and accused

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the proposed disciplinary procedures in the Report of the Taskforce on Sexual Misconduct so that the students involved in the complaint be given a list of his/her rights before the Hearing Panel convenes. This document should include the warning that all testimony can be subpoenaed. The Sexual Assault Policy should be amended as follows (new matter underlined and bolded, deletions crossed out):

Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault

1. The Complaint

A student institutes a formal complaint under the Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault (DPSA) by submitting a written complaint to the DPSA Administrator.

·A Columbia student who believes he or she has been the victim of sexual misconduct, assault or violence committed by another Columbia student may begin proceedings under the DPSA by contacting the DPSA Administrator by phone, email, or office visit.

·At this first contact, the DPSA Administrator will explain the procedures, provide a written copy of the parties’ rights and responsibilities, and assign to the student a DPSA Advisor to provide assistance, advice and support. The DPSA will contact the student.

·If a criminal investigation is underway or if the student has chosen to file a complaint with the police or the District Attorney’s office, the DPSA cannot be invoked until there has been resolution of these outside procedures.

·To institute formal procedures, the student needs to file a written complaint.

·A student may bring charges while he or she is enrolled in the school he or she was enrolled in at the time of the alleged violation but in no instance more than one calendar year after the occurrence. If charges are timely filed against a student who is in his or her final semester, but the hearing process has not been concluded by the end of term, the accused student’s diploma may be withheld pending a final disposition in the case. If an allegation is made, but the accused has continued enrollment in a different school within the Columbia University system, it becomes the discretion of the dean of the new school to agree to accept the allegation and refer the matter to the Office of Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault to convene a panel. If the dean does not agree, the student can pursue action outside the University.

·Only Columbia University, Barnard College and Teacher’s College students may avail themselves of the DPSA.

·Charges may only be brought against students who are currently enrolled in a school or on leave. In cases of students on leave, if the charge has been timely filed, the hearing may be postponed until the accused student has re-enrolled. Charges may not be brought against non-students, graduated students, or students who have been permanently withdrawn.

2. Notice to the Accused Student

On receipt of the written complaint, the DPSA Administrator notifies the student accused of violating the University’s Policy on Sexual Assault (PSA) of the charges which have been filed against him or her and the disciplinary procedures which will be followed.

·The Administrator will set a date for the hearing.

·The DPSA Administrator will assign a DPSA Advisor to the student accused of violating the PSA for the purpose of providing assistance, advice and support with the disciplinary process.

·The DPSA Administrator will call the student accused of violating the PSA into the DPSA Office to inform him or her of the charges. During this meeting, the Administrator will provide a written copy of the complaint, a letter stating the charges and the date of the hearing, a written copy of the DPSA procedures, a written copy of the parties’ rights and responsibilities, and a list of the possible range of penalties for a student found in violation of the policy. A student who has been found to have violated this policy may be subject to sanctions, including, but not limited to, reprimand, disciplinary probation, suspension and dismissal. A student may also be barred from certain University facilities or activities, or asked to undergo an educational program. Penalties are imposed by the Dean of the student’s school in accord with University rules. The Administrator will explain the process, describe the parties’ rights and responsibilities, and provide the name of the accused student’s DPSA Advisor.

·The DPSA Administrator will inform the student that all of the proceedings and testimony may be subpoenaed for use in a civil or criminal case and that involvement in the University’s proceedings does not protect a student from future prosecution.

·After the accused student has received notification of the complaint, the DPSA Advisor shall contact him or her.

Proponents: Student Affairs Committee

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: deferred to next meeting

RESOLUTION TO ALLOW

THE complainant AND THE ACCUSED

TO HAVE LEGAL COUNSEL ACCOMPANY THEM

THROUGHOUT THE DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

WHEREAS the “Toolkit to End Violence Against Women”, published by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, enjoins universities to “ensure that campus-based hearing procedures minimize victim trauma and maintain victims’ rights without violating the rights of the accused”, and

WHEREAS the nationally-recognized social workers, victims’ rights advocates, attorneys, and psychologists who drafted the “Toolkit” recommend, as a “best practice” in pursuit of the goal above, allowing the alleged victim as well as the accused “to have an advocate or similar figure accompany her through the [campus-based] judicial process, including legal counsel at her own expense” (emphasis added), and

WHEREAS a body of case law argues that when a student is charged with what may amount to criminal conduct, the denial “of the right to have a lawyer of his own choice to consult with and to advise him during the disciplinary hearing without participating further in such proceeding would deprive [the student] of due process of law.” See Gabrilowitz v. Newman, 582 F.2d 100 (1st Cir. 1978), 107, and

WHEREAS Professors Curtis J. and Vivian Berger of Columbia Law School have concluded that in regard to university disciplinary proceedings “the case for legal counsel is quite compelling” especially when “the hearing is ‘informal’… in the sense that evidentiary and procedural standards are ignored”. See “Academic Discipline: A Guide to Fair Process for the University Student”, 99 Columbia Law Review 289 (March 1999), 341, and

WHEREAS we must remain ever mindful of the fact that in cases of alleged sexual assault, a criminal trial may always be pending for which the statements made by both parties throughout the disciplinary proceeding can be subpoenaed, and

WHEREAS only a trained attorney can properly evaluate the effect various statements may have in a criminal case, and

WHEREAS the uncertainty generated in both student parties by their awareness of their own inability to perform such an evaluation (of the effect their statements may have in a criminal trial) may cause them to unwisely weaken the presentation of their respective case,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the proposed revision to the Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault in the following manner, to allow students who undergo a disciplinary proceeding to have an attorney at their side during the hearing for unobtrusive consultation and advice: (additions have been underlined and bolded; deletions, crossed out)

5. The Right to a Supporter

Both students are entitled to have a Supporter present at the hearing. The Supporter ~~must be~~ ought to be a member of the Columbia University community (faculty, staff or student), but may be an attorney from the outside community ~~and cannot be an attorney or a parent~~.

· Both the student bringing the charge and the accused student may decide whether or not to consult the designated DPSA Advisor after the initial contact between the Advisors and the students. In either case, the student has the right, in addition, to choose a member of the University community or an attorney from outside the University community to serve as his or her Supporter through the process. An Advisor may not serve as a Supporter, but he or she may attend the hearing as an observer.

· A Supporter may not be a witness. If the Panel believes that a designated Supporter could be called as a witness, it will request that the Supporter be replaced.

· A Supporter’s function is to support the student. During the hearing, the Supporter may in a non-disruptive manner talk quietly or pass notes to the student; he or she may not pose questions or otherwise intervene in the process.

· While the Supporter may be an attorney by training, his or her role in the hearing is limited to being present for the consultation and advisement of the student. He or she is not present as a lawyer defending a client in the traditional sense.

· The parents of the parties are not permitted to serve as Supporters or to attend the hearing or the appeal.

· Nothing in these procedures prohibits either student from consulting an attorney outside of the hearing. but neither is permitted to have an attorney present during the disciplinary hearing or appeal. While the Advisor or the Supporter may be an attorney by training, he or she is not present as a lawyer defending a client.

~~·The parents of the parties are not permitted to serve as Supporters or to attend the hearing or the appeal.~~

Proponents: Sen. Kacy Redd (Student, GSAS)

Sen. David Bornstein (Student, GSAS)

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: deferred to next meeting

RESOLUTION TO ALLOW

VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TO PURSUE

CRIMINAL, CIVIL, AND CAMPUS-BASED PROCEDURES CONCURRENTLY

WHEREAS the “Toolkit to End Violence Against Women”, published by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, enjoins universities to “facilitate students’ access to both on-campus adjudication processes and off-campus criminal justice agencies”, and

WHEREAS the nationally-recognized social workers, victims’ rights advocates, attorneys, and psychologists who drafted the “Toolkit” recommend, as a “best practice” in pursuit of the goal above, enabling “every victim to pursue campus judicial processes, civil actions, and criminal charges concurrently, without concern that one outcome will affect the others”, and

WHEREAS the National Institute of Justice study cited on page 3 of Professor Grieve’s cover letter to the Task Force report recommends the “use of protocols to coordinate the responses of campus and local law enforcement agencies” as a “promising practice” in the battle against sexual assault on campus, and

WHEREAS the Sexual Assault Policy of Lafayette College, which is upheld as exemplary in Professor Grieve’s cover letter, states in part that “sexual assault and rape are criminal acts which also subject the perpetrator to criminal and civil penalties under federal and state law… nothing in this policy shall prevent the complainant or the accused from filing a complaint with the appropriate local, state, or federal agency or in a court with jurisdiction”, and

WHEREAS a student should not be forced to choose between first pursuing her case through the criminal justice system or through the campus-based disciplinary proceeding because such a constraint poses undesirable conflicts of interest and principle,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the first section of the proposed revision to the Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault in the following manner, to allow victims of sexual assault the opportunity and power to pursue criminal, civil, and campus-based procedures concurrently, without one of them inhibiting any of the others: (additions have been underlined and bolded; deletions, crossed out)

1. The Complaint

A student institutes a formal complaint under the Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault (DPSA) by submitting a written complaint to the DPSA Administrator.

·At this first contact, the DPSA Administrator will explain the procedures and assign to the student a DPSA Advisor to provide assistance, advice and support, including with regard to off-campus law enforcement involvement. The DPSA will contact the student.

·If a criminal investigation is underway or if the student has chosen to file a complaint with the police or the District Attorney’s office, the DPSA ~~cannot be invoked until there has been resolution of these outside procedures~~ can still be invoked and the student’s DPSA Advisor will provide her with broad support in each of the procedures she has decided to invoke.

·To institute formal procedures, the student needs to file a written complaint.

·Only Columbia University, Barnard College and Teacher’s College students may avail themselves of the DPSA.

Proponents: Sen. Kacy Redd (Student, GSAS)

Sen. David Bornstein (Student, GSAS)

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: deferred to next meeting

RESOLUTION TO ALLOW

AN ACCUSED STUDENT

to appeal for A Withdrawal

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the proposed disciplinary procedures in the Report of the Taskforce on Sexual Misconduct so that an accused student has the right to appeal for a one year withdrawal if criminal charges have been filed and a complaint with the University has been filed. The Sexual Assault Policy should be amended as follows (new matter underlined and bolded, deletions crossed out):

3. The Right to a Hearing

A student charged with violating the PSA is entitled to notice of the specific charges, an opportunity to be heard, and an opportunity to appeal the disposition of the case to the Dean of his or her school. A hearing under the DPSA is not a judicial proceeding; violations of the PSA do not subject the accused student to criminal penalties.

·An accused student is presumed not to have violated the PSA.

·The respondent shall be given at least 10 days notice of the hearing except in those rare instances when it may be necessary for reasons of safety or other exigency to schedule a hearing without advance notice. In the event of such a hearing, the normal process may be suspended, though under no circumstance will the student be denied notice of the specific charge, the right to be heard and the right to appeal.

·While it is expected that an accused student will participate in the disciplinary process, he or she retains the right to decline participation; he or she cannot be required to respond to charges or to appear at a hearing. Failure to respond to charges will not prejudice the hearing panel. Similarly, the student charging the violation may subsequently decide to withdraw it. Neither of these decisions halts the disciplinary process. Once a complaint has been submitted, the Panel assigned to the case has the option to proceed with the hearing and render a decision based on the evidence provided, without or without the participation of the student bringing the complaint and/or the accused student.

·A charging student who wishes to withdraw the complaint and an accused student who does not wish to participate in the hearing process are advised to contact the Administrator to discuss their rights.

·An accused student may request from the Hearing Panel to withdraw from the University for one year if criminal proceedings are underway. If the withdrawal is granted, the deliberations by the Hearing Panel will desist for one year. After one year, the Hearing Panel will review the withdrawal. The accused student may request a one-month extension of the appeal. The accused student will not be allowed to re-enroll until the Hearing Panel has adjudicated his or her case.

Proponents: Sen. Kacy Redd (Student, GSAS)

Sen. David Bornstein (Student, GSAS)

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: defeated by show of hands

RESOLUTION TO recommend

a victim of sexual assault

seek medical attention

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the proposed sexual assault policy statement in the Report of the Taskforce on Sexual Misconduct so that a recommendation to seek medical attention is added. The Sexual Assault Policy should be amended as follows (new matter underlined and bolded, deletions crossed out):

Columbia University Policy Statement against Sexual Assault

Columbia University, Barnard College and Teachers’ College do not tolerate sexual assault of any degree and kind. The University Community is committed to fostering a healthy and safe environment in which every member of the community can realize her or his fullest potential.

Sexual assault is non-consensual, intentional physical contact of a sexual nature, such as unwelcome physical contact with a person’s genitals, buttocks or breasts. Sexual Assault occurs when the act is committed either by a) physical force, violence, threat or intimidation; b) ignoring the objections of another person; c) causing another’s intoxication or impairment through the use of drugs or alcohol; or d) taking advantage of another person’s incapacitation, state of intimidation, helplessness, or other inability to consent.

Sexual Assault is a serious problem on college campuses throughout the country. To counteract this problem, the University provides educational and preventive programs, resources for individuals dealing with sexual assault, and accessible methods of complaint resolution.

The University encourages students who believe that they have been subjected to non-consensual physical contact of a sexual nature to seek medical attention at Columbia Health Services or local medical facility. The University also encourages students to report these incidents, whether or not they choose to file an official complaint. Reporting enables the University to protect the complainant and the larger community by taking appropriate actions.

In recognition of the sensitive nature of sexual assault cases, and the difficulties inherent in reporting, the University provides students with three options in seeking recourse. To fall within the jurisdiction of the University’s administrative procedures, the alleged sexual assault must been committed by a student on a student.

A student may choose to initiate disciplinary proceedings through Dean’s Discipline, in which case s/he will file a complaint with the dean of the school of the accused student. Alternatively, a student may choose to file a complaint using the University-wide Disciplinary Procedure. This procedure, established specifically to address allegations of sexual assault, ensures that the members of the committee hearing the case will be specially trained in adjudicating sexual assault. A student who has been found to have violated this policy may be subject to sanctions, including, but not limited to, reprimand, disciplinary probation, suspension and dismissal. A student may also be barred from certain University facilities or activities, or asked to undergo an educational program. Penalties are imposed by the Dean of the student’s school in accord with University rules. The disciplinary authority of the University is vested by the Trustees in the President and the Provost and, subject to their reserved powers, in the Dean of each faculty. A student may seek to pursue a third option, the mediation of sexual assault cases, either through the University’s Ombuds Office or through the Office of Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault.

Proponents: Sen. Kacy Redd (Student, GSAS)

Sen. David Bornstein (Student, GSAS)

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: defeated by show of hands

RESOLUTION TO inform

students OF the right to file criminal charges

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the proposed sexual assault policy statement in the Report of the Taskforce on Sexual Misconduct to include information about criminal charges. The Sexual Assault Policy should be amended as follows (new matter underlined and bolded, deletions crossed out):

Columbia University Policy Statement against Sexual Assault

The University encourages students who believe that they have been subjected to non-consensual physical contact of a sexual nature to report these incidents, whether or not they choose to file an official complaint. Reporting enables the University to protect the complainant and the larger community by taking appropriate actions.

Participation in or resolution of a disciplinary procedure at Columbia University does not prohibit a student from filing criminal charges. Information will be made available to students who choose to file criminal charges.

Proponents: Sen. Kacy Redd (Student, GSAS)

Sen. David Bornstein (Student, GSAS)

University Senate Proposed: February 24, 2006

Adopted: February 24, 2006

RESOLUTION TO inform

students about theIR options

if sexually assaulted by an employee of the university

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate amend the proposed sexual assault policy statement in the Report of the Taskforce on Sexual Misconduct to include information about what to do if the sexual assault has involved a staff member and contact information for the office in charge of such complaints. The Sexual Assault Policy should be amended as follows (new matter underlined and bolded, deletions crossed out):

Columbia University Policy Statement against Sexual Assault

If a member of the community believes s/he has been sexually assaulted by an employee of the university, s/he is advised to contact ___________________ and to visit _____________ to learn about options.

Proponents: Sen. Kacy Redd (Student, GSAS)

Sen. David Bornstein (Student, GSAS)