According to data just released by the Department of Education, 91 percent of colleges reported ZERO incidents of rape in 2014.
…Um, what?
We *wish* these statistics weren’t too good to be true. After all, how can institutions proactively working end campus sexual assault if the severity of the problem isn’t recognized? Read AAUW’s analysis.
Live Blog: Making New Campus Sexual Assault Regulations, Day 5
What You Need to Know
Analysis: Today we kicked off the final two days of the negotiated rulemaking for the VAWA Amendments to the Clery Act, also called Campus SaVE, and are watching closely to see what rules colleges and universities will have to follow to implement the law. Overall, the tone was cordial and consensus seemed (possibly) attainable. But that doesn’t mean the day wasn’t without fireworks over draft language on reporting, compliance, and definitions.
The good:
- Most negotiators seemed to want to find compromise. No one played the “I can’t agree to consensus with this in there” card… yet.
- The group has found agreement around a definition of stalking that I think works for everyone. In the first sessions the negotiators talked about stalking a lot, so the agreement indicates good work by the committee. But we haven’t gotten to the section about counting stalking reports – which might raise some issues.
- Although negotiators failed to avoid the same conversation from the February session around dating violence – again highlighting that most negotiators do not agree on what is a dating relationship – there was actually loose agreement around a definition of the term this time.
The bad:
- There is a clear divide on some topics between a compliance-focused approach and a transparency-focused approach (doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive). Case in point: schools will be disclosing information about the sanctions they levy and the protective measures they use following disciplinary proceedings around dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Under the draft language, schools should list all sanctions and protective measures they use. Negotiators representing schools worried whether schools would be firmly held to that list and even, somewhat unbelievably, worried whether they would be punished for adding a sanction or protection not on the original list. The moment of levity on this came from the Department of Education, which pointed out that going above and beyond is not a problem. The Department said the goals here are to help students know what options they have and to find the schools who are bad actors. The compliance focus really has the group struggling to see the forest for the trees.
Still waiting on:
- Tomorrow negotiators will finish conversation around the term “advisor of their choice” and that the accuser and accused can bring one to proceedings. In addition, they’ll need to finish disciplinary proceedings, get to counting crimes, and approve all of the language changes proposed today. Ultimately, negotiators will be asked if they have achieved consensus on the draft language. You can learn more about what that means and where we go next, here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html. As always, follow along with our live blog tomorrow.
Read the live blog below.
Live Blog: Making New Campus Sexual Assault Regulations, Day 3
What You Need to Know
Analysis: Day 3 the of the negotiated rulemaking around the Violence Against Women Act amendments to the Clery Act (also known as Campus SaVE) proceeded a bit differently from the first two days – negotiators had a draft rule to work from, and consensus-building was clearly on their minds. If you’re just joining us and wondering what negotiated rulemaking is, you can learn more here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html.
A few things came up:
- Getting the definition of stalking correct is tough. How it interacts with Clery Geography came up several times and finding a way to ensure stalking is captured accurately in statistics is still in flux. Generally no sides on this, though — everyone around the table wants to get it right.
- There was some hesitation about setting a definition of consent in this regulation, but that riff mostly stemmed from university counsel concerns. The Department of Education explained a desire to ensure statistics are consistent across schools.
- The statistic reporting tool (a chart) is complicated and there’s still confusion (and resistance) around expanding it. The new law asks that we learn about more crimes on campus, specifically domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking– but this is being called “double counting” by some negotiators.
- Finally, confusion lingers around reporting for Clery statistics purposes and confidentiality. The Department of Education made clear, however, that there’s a lot of room to improve the draft or provide additional info in a regulation preamble.
We will be back at 9 a.m. tomorrow for day four!
Follow the day four live blog »
Catch up on Days 1 and 2: You can read our summary analysis or review the entire transcript.
Read the live blog below.
Live Blog: Campus SaVE Rulemaking, Day 2
What You Need to Know
Analysis: The second day of the negotiated rulemaking for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) amendments to the Clery Act concluded today after about seven hours of mostly in-depth and issues-focused conversation. The group discussed the following key aspects of the new law: counting and reporting formats, disciplinary proceedings, training officials on campus, the simultaneous and in-writing notification of involved parties, appeals requirements, nondisclosure agreements, outcomes of proceedings, a definition around applicable jurisdiction, and technical changes from the law. You’ll have to read the liveblog below for details on each topic, but there was some agreement on ways forward in creating rules. Excellent news early in the negotiated rulemaking process. Overall, there were good suggestions from negotiators to balance the needs of survivors with schools’ concerns.
While conversations were going on today, the Department of Education updated their website to include the resources negotiators were using. Great news for all of us following along. Be sure to check out the issue papers in particular and see how the conversation below matched up with points raised there.
We’ll be back on February 24 when negotiators will have draft regulatory language in front of them for consideration. In the meantime, if you’re following along and have questions or concerns about what’s being discussed, email us advocacy@aauw.org or shoot us a tweet @AAUWPolicy.
Read the Live Blog Below
Live Blog: Campus SaVE Rulemaking, Day 1
What You Need to Know
Analysis: Today we were in the audience for the first day of the negotiated rulemaking around the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) amendments to the Clery Act. Ultimately, these provisions will help schools reduce campus sexual assault and violence. Negotiated rulemakings are an interesting process (learn more here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html) and the day started with a bit of housekeeping – three new alternate members were added to the panel (one additional nominee was not), the group agreed to consensus procedures, and an agenda was worked out.
The rest of the day was devoted to figuring out the new terms that need definitions, and discussing concerns around statistical reporting. You can check out a picture of the big whiteboard of terms (ever expanding) in the liveblog for a sense of what was on negotiators’ minds. When it comes to data collection, there was a bit of disagreement and we’ll be watching this closely. Some negotiators don’t support reporting incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking separately from the current Clery crime categories, which include crimes like aggravated assault and burglary. Students and administrators might then lose the ability to assess the scope of these problems on campus, making it harder to put an end to them. We will be back Tuesday at 9 a.m. for day two.
Read the Live Blog Below