“What am I supposed to do again when someone tells me they’ve been sexually assaulted?”
Casey Drobnick heard this question dozens of times in University of Oregon dorm halls. It was common for resident assistants like Drobnick to ask. Again. And again.
The 21-year-old UO junior didn’t know she was a mandatory reporter until summer 2011. No written policy, no explanation, she said. “No one knew what they were doing,” she said. “It was so unclear.”
Drobnick, like her fellow RAs, didn’t know about decades-old laws that require UO employees to report to the administration any case of sexual assault they are aware of. She didn’t know because no one told her.
After the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights outlined in April 2011 ways schools and universities can minimize sexual violence, the UO reevaluated its sexual violence policies to make sure it is in compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
Drobnick, who helped form the Survivor Empowerment Alliance in 2011 and worked frequently with UO administrators on mandatory reporting requirements, said she still has a hard time understanding the protocol. She isn’t alone.
UO law professor Cheyney Ryan first expressed his concern about UO’s compliance with Title IX in 2009 to administrators in dozens of emails. The law requires universities to adequately train students and employees to know how and where to report a sexual violence case.
Ryan, who specializes in ethics law and conflict resolution, suggested UO administrators require professors to include information about sexual harassment and assault on the syllabi. He also said sending frequent emails to all students, faculty and staff about the policies would be a quick fix.
“It would take five minutes,” Ryan said.
Ryan worked as a consultant in resolving a federal case against Yale University in 2011 for failing to comply with Title IX. Yale created one department that handles cases of sexual violence, unlike the UO, which has more than two.
Yale also created a Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Center with counselors on call for 24 hours.
“It’s a model,” Ryan said.
Mandatory reporters are required to report cases of sexual violence to the UO’s Office of the Dean of Students. The dean of students then reports to the Title IX coordinator, who is responsible for investigating sexual violence cases.
Not until 2011 did the UO hire a Title IX coordinator — a position required for all universities under Title IX.
“As we were looking more critically at our compliance in 2011, there were queries, ‘Well, who is the Title IX officer?’” said Penny Daugherty, director of UO’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. “Given that this is the office that deals most clearly with discrimination, it was logical that I would be the Title IX officer. It’s become part of my role.”
Daugherty said the UO has multiple websites and brochures to inform students and UO employees about the reporting policies. The UO’s Organizational Development and Training department also offers a three-hour sexual harassment training session each term to about 20 UO employees.
The training is not mandatory. Daugherty said she is working to change that.
Still, Drobnick isn’t convinced websites and brochures are the best way to reach students. She said most students she talks to don’t even know about the Office of Affirmative Action.
“Unless it’s the main part of uoregon.edu all year-long, it’s not going to reach people,” Drobnick said. “Unless it’s emailed to all the student body, it’s not going to reach them. It’s not enough.”
Anne Laskaya and Louise Bishop share Drobnick’s concerns. Laskaya and Bishop serve as co-chairs of the UO Faculty Advisory Council — a group that meets confidentially with the UO president and provost to discuss various university-related issues. Bishop, who teaches literature in the Robert D. Clark Honors College, said the UO’s multiple websites and brochures about reporting policies don’t seem to reach students.
“One of the things that’s necessary for Title IX compliance, is it’s not simply having information available,” Bishop said, “but it is about having education. There has to be what I would call a proactive effort. Having real education and not just stuff available on the website is what needs to happen.”
Requiring faculty and students to take a yearly online training course, she said, seems like a “no brainer.”
Bishop said she and Laskaya have looked closely at Yale’s new policies. With a new UO president, she said, she hopes to see some change.
Daugherty said a 12-page draft detailing UO’s sexual violence reporting policies is under administrative approval. It’s the first time the administration has outlined all of its reporting policies in one document, which is required under Title IX.
“Is there room to improve? There’s always room to improve,” Daugherty said. “Is it helpful to understand where people feel there are gaps? It’s very helpful to understand.”
Drobnick said she’s disappointed with UO’s handling of sexual violence policies. Administrators have worked on the 12-page draft since February 2012. The complete draft was supposed to be published by fall term.
“Where is it? It’s still not finished,” Drobnick said. “It’s still not done.”