A University Senate committee report supports recommendations to establish new educational policies revolving around campus LGBTQA populations, among other things.

The Senate’s Committee for Diversity will publicly detail the report Wednesday during the governing body’s first March meeting.

“We find it unacceptable that Syracuse University does not have a program in place to oblige ALL faculty and staff to be informed about sexual misconduct,” stated one recommendation by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Council, referenced in the Senate report.

The Committee for Diversity, in its report, supports that recommendation and others made by the Humanities Council.

The Humanities Council has proposed several policy ideas, including a way to “educate faculty on the ethics of interaction with students and other University members,” according to the Senate report.

Chancellor Kent Syverud, in his January campus address, said a review of the university’s policies governing faculty and student sexual relationships is a priority this spring. As the rule currently stands, faculty can have sexual relationships with undergraduates as long as they do not teach, advise or supervise them.

Syverud in January, referencing the #MeToo movement, said senators and administrators should provide recommendations on the policy by the end of the semester and said it’s important to address the issue as soon as possible.

“It’s time to reassess whether or not we have the best policies and practices in place at Syracuse,” Syverud said at the time. The chancellor also mentioned a possible policy review during a Senate meeting in December.

A report by the Senate’s committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Professional Ethics released in February stated that it had reviewed two Title IX investigations conducted by SU’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services this academic year. Those investigations were conducted after complaints were filed against faculty, according to the AFTPE report.

The Humanities Council, in one of its recommendations supported by the Committee for Diversity, stated that it found it “unacceptable” that SU not oblige faculty and staff to be informed about sexual misconduct, according to the Senate report.

The Humanities Council’s recommendations were based off of concerns regarding SU’s Campus Climate Survey, according to the Senate report.

A summary of that major survey’s results was published by the university in late 2016. The survey was developed in response to recommendations made by Syverud’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence.

Of the survey’s 5,617 respondents, 714 responders, equivalent to 12 percent, indicated they experienced a form of unwanted sexual contact. Undergraduate students, women, transgender respondents, LGBTQ respondents and respondents with a disability cited the most incidents.

The majority of respondents did not report any unwanted sexual experience, according to the summary.

While the Committee for Diversity stated that it supported the council’s ideas, it also “strongly” recommended that various diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as workgroups or task forces, create one “comprehensive document” to outline all recommendations that support streamlined faculty trainings, according to the report.

Other recommendations made by the Humanities Council included:

• Educate all faculty about conduct with LGBTQA populations on campus.

• Educate all faculty about conduct with students, faculty and staff with disabilities as well as training on unconscious biases (racial and gendered).

• Educate all faculty about the unique needs of international students.

• Invest in educating new departmental chairs and administrators on “above-mentioned topics.”

Published on March 6, 2018 at 8:30 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek