Syracuse University’s Office of Human Capital Development released a new set of policies on Wednesday regarding sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse.

The policies were developed with the goal of creating comprehensive rules and directions for the campus community on proper conducts and how to report suspected misconduct.

The omnibus Sexual Harassment, Abuse and Assault Prevention Policy is replacing the previous Sexual Harassment Prevention Procedures with the hopes of better handling conduct, procedure and reporting, according to a Nov. 7 SU News release.

The Joint Working Group helped develop the new policies and the Statement of Principles, which recognizes SU community members as important factors in creating a safe environment and protecting those who might potentially be vulnerable, according to the Sexual Harassment, Abuse and Assault Prevention Policy.

The goal of the Working Group is to analyze SU’s policies and the university’s responses to allegations of misconduct. The group consists of both Board of Trustee members and university administrators, such as Kal Alston, senior vice president for human capital development, and trustee Howard Phanstiel, who serves as the chairman.

Discrimination, sexual harassment and consensual relationship are described and defined in terms of the university’s standards in the policy.

The policy also summarizes the proper way to file complaints, conduct investigations and report to law enforcement agencies. Specifically, there are different procedures when filing complaints or investigations against students, faculty and staff.

A complaint from a non-community member against a community member “may or may not be appropriate for addressing via the University’s policies and procedures,” according to the policy. The Title IX Compliance Officer/Sexual Harassment Officer, Cynthia Maxwell Curtin, will determine if the complaint implicates the interests of the SU community and if it should go through SU’s internal processes, according to the policy.

Title IX is a component of a federal education law that “forbids sex discrimination in all areas of educational programs, from admissions to science and technology programs, and from career programs to athletics, including the prevention of sexually abusive conduct,” according to the release.

Curtin, the executive director of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services, will be deeply involved in policies relating to sexual harassment, abuse and assault. As Title IX officer, Curtin will also deal with issues encompassing gender equity in education, specifically in regard to sexual harassment, equity in access to programs and equity in science, technology and athletics.

The Working Group has recently developed a framing statement of principles to be used as a guide for the development of new campus policies. In August, the group released specific directions for SU’s staff and faculty to follow when dealing with actual and suspected abuse against minors.

Published on November 8, 2012 at 3:02 am

Contact Meredith: mhnewman@syr.edu | @MerNewman93