Resolving Sexual Violence Allegations: OCR Guidance and the Law

The numbers are enough to make higher education officials everywhere take notice, and take action. 

According to the National Institute of Justice, 20% of women and just over 6% of men experience sexual assault during their college years.

On April 4, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR), distributed  a “Dear Colleague” letter to all federally funded colleges and universities, detailing their responsibilities regarding sexual violence allegations, under Title IX requirements.

The Practical Advice You Need

How do these OCR standards and expectations affect your institution? 

How do you develop an effective and legally sound response to sexual harassment and sexual violence allegations?

Learn the answers to these questions and more in this 90-minute seminar designed to bring you up to date on the OCR position, clarify key issues and help you develop the strategies you need to respond to sexual violence allegations.

Analyzing the OCR Position

Pavela and Swinton review the key points of the OCR’s recent “Dear Colleague” letter, including:

• The lower standard of proof for campus investigations, compared to criminal cases
• Your institution’s obligations regarding off-campus student harassment
• Why mediation is not appropriate under Title IX
• Essential interim steps to protect victims of sexual violence
• OCR expectations for fair and timely resolution of sexual violence complaints.

Resolving Sexual Violence Allegations: OCR Guidance and the Law tackles the topics you need to address, such as:

• Legal definitions of sexual harassment, sexual violence, express or implied consent
• “Due process” standards set by the courts for public and private institutions and the courts
• Legal standards in the Title IX “deliberate indifference” cases
• The implications of “automatic expulsion” policies
• The essential elements of preventive education.

Who Should View

Individuals in the following positions will find this video online seminar particularly helpful:

• Conduct officer
• Sexual harassment coordinator
• Associate director of housing
• Director of housing
• Dean of students

Practice Applying the Principles

To further enhance your response to sexual violence and sexual harassment, you’ll receive a copy of a comprehensive case study and a written introduction to the OCR “Dear Colleague” sexual violence letter, as well as a six-page OCR Mandates checklist which will focus your compliance efforts.

Learn From the Experts

Gary Pavela and Daniel Swinton are authorities in the areas of law and student conduct. Over 1,000 colleges and universities subscribe to Pavela’s law and policy newsletters. Currently teaching in the University of Maryland’s honors program, Pavela has been a fellow at the University of Wisconsin Center for Behavioral Science and the Law, a faculty member for the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C faculty member and staff attorney for the State University of New York—Central Administration. He served on the Board of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, received the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ “Outstanding Contribution to Literature and Research” award in 2005, and in 2006 was named the University of Maryland “Outstanding Faculty Educator” by the Maryland Parents' Association. He has an M.A. in intellectual history from Wesleyan University and a law degree from the University of Illinois.

Swinton has presented nationally on sexual misconduct on college campuses, legal issues in student affairs and higher education, student conduct policies and procedures, mediation and behavioral intervention teams. A member of the Tennessee Bar, he is the current president and a former board member of the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA).  He is Assistant Dean and Director of Student Conduct & Academic Integrity at Vanderbilt University, where he oversees all academic misconduct for undergraduate students and all non-academic misconduct. He has a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, and a law degree and undergraduate degree in History from Brigham Young University.

TO ORDER: Resolving Sexual Violence Allegations: OCR Guidance and the Law
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