HF 2669

1st Engrossment - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 04/09/2018 04:29pm

A bill for an act
relating to higher education; imposing a sexual harassment reporting requirement
on the University of Minnesota; requesting that the Board of Regents amend
harassment policies at the University of Minnesota; amending Minnesota Statutes
2016, section 135A.15, subdivision 6.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 135A.15, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Data collection and reporting.

(a) Postsecondary institutions must annually
report statistics on sexual assault. This report must be prepared in addition to any federally
required reporting on campus security, including reports required by the Jeanne Clery
Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, United States
Code, title 20, section 1092(f). The report must include, but not be limited to, the number
of incidents of sexual assault reported to the institution in the previous calendar year, as
follows:

(1) the number that were investigated by the institution;

(2) the number that were referred for a disciplinary proceeding at the institution;

(3) the number the victim chose to report to local or state law enforcement;

(4) the number for which a campus disciplinary proceeding is pending, but has not
reached a final resolution;

(5) the number in which the alleged perpetrator was found responsible by the disciplinary
proceeding at the institution;

(6) the number that resulted in any action by the institution greater than a warning issued
to the accused;

(7) the number that resulted in a disciplinary proceeding at the institution that closed
without resolution;

(8) the number that resulted in a disciplinary proceeding at the institution that closed
without resolution because the accused withdrew from the institution;

(9) the number that resulted in a disciplinary proceeding at the institution that closed
without resolution because the victim chose not to participate in the procedure; and

(10) the number of reports made through the online reporting system established in
subdivision 5, excluding reports submitted anonymously.

(b) If an institution previously submitted a report indicating that one or more disciplinary
proceedings was pending, but had not reached a final resolution, and one or more of those
disciplinary proceedings reached a final resolution within the previous calendar year, that
institution must submit updated totals from the previous year that reflect the outcome of
the pending case or cases.

(c) The reports required by this subdivision must be submitted to the Office of Higher
Education by October 1 of each year. Each report must contain the data required under
paragraphs (a) and (b) from the previous calendar year.

(d) The commissioner of the Office of Higher Education shall calculate statewide numbers
for each data item reported by an institution under this subdivision. The statewide numbers
must include data from postsecondary institutions that the commissioner could not publish
due to federal laws governing access to student records.

(e) The Office of Higher Education shall publish on its Web site:

(1) the statewide data calculated under paragraph (d); and

(2) the data items required under paragraphs (a) and (b) for each postsecondary institution
in the state.

Each postsecondary institution shall publish on the institution's Web site the data items
required under paragraphs (a) and (b) for that institution.

(f) Reports and data required under this subdivision must be prepared and published as
summary data, as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 19, and must be consistent with
applicable law governing access to educational data. If an institution or the Office of Higher
Education does not publish data because of applicable law, the publication must explain
why data are not included.

new text begin (g) By October 1 of each year, the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota
must submit a report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees
with jurisdiction over higher education policy and finance. In addition to the data on sexual
assault incidents described in paragraph (a), the report must include equivalent data on
incidents of sexual harassment, as defined in the board's policy on sexual harassment. The
report is subject to the requirements of paragraph (f).
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA; APPEAL PROCESS FOR SEXUAL
MISCONDUCT FINDINGS INVOLVING EMPLOYEES.
new text end

new text begin The Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota is requested to amend its sexual
misconduct policies to:
new text end

new text begin (1) provide a process for accused university employees and their victims to appeal
findings of the university's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action before an
impartial decision-maker; and
new text end

new text begin (2) require the office, at the conclusion of a sexual misconduct investigation, to provide
notice to accused university employees and their victims of any appeal rights.
new text end