Progress on The Second Charge:
In October 2017, President Ensign established the Presidential Working Group on Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct and Title IX (PWG). Our charge is limited and focused:
- evaluate the college’s Sexual Misconduct Policy to be sure it is in compliance with the 2017 Q&A on Campus Sexual Misconduct Letter from Secretary DeVos;
- present policy revisions when the Department of Education releases new regulations.
Actions Completed to prepare for the Department of Education revised regulations:
- Thursday, November 29, 2018, the Department of Education released proposed changes to the Title IX regulations: Proposed Notice of Rule Making was published in the Federal Register.
- December 13, 2018, held three sessions for faculty, staff and students: presentation. During these sessions, we provided …
- an overview of Title IX
- comparison of some of the proposed regulations and our current procedures, and
- An opportunity for our community members to ask questions and comment on the proposed regulations. Joined with a cohort of 23 peer institutions in a comprehensive response: Final Joint Response Letter to Department of Education - January 30, 2019.
NEXT STEPS re: the anticipated Department of Education revised regulations:
- PWG will inform the Dickinson community when the Department of Education finalizes the Title IX Regulations.
- PWG will incorporate, as appropriate, comments from the community gathered in December 2018 to draft a policy/procedure once final regulations are released.
- PWG will communicate the draft policy/procedure and seek feedback based on the procedures that will be established in compliance with the Title IX Agreement.
- PWG will compile comments from the feedback and incorporate into the final policy/procedure as appropriate.
- PWG will present final policy/procedure to President Ensign for approval.