A federal investigation found several of the University of California, Berkeley’s policies when dealing with professor-on-student sexual assault and harassment are out of compliance with Title IX.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights reported U.C. Berkeley does not have an appropriate time frame for concluding a sexual harassment investigation.
If a professor is accused of sexual misconduct, faculty discipline will be imposed within three years of a complainant’s initial report of sexual harassment and/or sexual violence, Berkeley’s Faculty Framework states.
“As written, three years is not a reasonably prompt time frame for concluding an investigation and issuing an effective response for a complaint of sexual harassment and/or sexual violence,” the report says.
Saundra Schuster, co-founder and advisory board member of The Association of Title IX Administrators, agrees three years is not an adequate time frame for concluding a Title IX issue.
“You’re required by law to provide a prompt and effective response,” she said. “I think in no one's world would three years be prompt or effective.”
Schuster said the purpose for a prompt and effective response is to reduce as much of the impact on the victim as possible, and the institution comes to a conclusion in a reasonable time frame in order to minimize that impact.
U.C. Berkeley has entered an agreement with the Office for Civil Rights to revise some of its policies and address the report’s compliance concerns.
The agreement requires Berkeley to revise its policies and procedures so any decision regarding actions taken to prevent the recurrence of harassment, including sanctions, will be made in a reasonably prompt amount of time, the report says.