Below please find a recent memorandum to Campus Presidents related to the progress of the working group charged with implementing the Board of Trustees' resolution on sexual violence prevention and response.  Please note that two town hall meetings are scheduled for tomorrow and Monday.  Additionally the draft documents are available at the link below.

November 4, 2014

MEMORANDUM

To:                   SUNY Campus Presidents

From:              Alexander N. Cartwright, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Subject:          Progress of the Working Group on the Continual Improvement of Sexual Violence Prevention Policies

Per her October 8 Memo to Presidents on this topic, Chancellor Zimpher asked me to chair a working group to implement the Board of Trustees’ October resolution on sexual violence prevention and response.

The working group is representative of all sectors of the University—comprised of presidents, chief academic officers, our faculty and student governance leaders, students nominated by their presidents, student affairs directors, university police, community college public safety, Title IX coordinators, and legal counsel—as well as highly regarded outside advocates and experts (the full list of Working Group members is available on our website).

The Working Group held its first meeting in Albany on October 27 to begin developing the five main policies referenced in the resolution. Thanks to their diligent efforts, I am pleased to post the resulting draft policies for your review, which are consensus documents that incorporate the voices of the entire Working Group (instructions for accessing the documents follows).

To ensure that this process engages the entire SUNY community, the Working Group will be hosting two webinar town halls open to all SUNY students and employees. A third meeting will be devoted to briefing and seeking input from external advocacy organizations. During these meetings, we will brief attendees on the resolution and the salient points of the newly-developed policies, take questions through Webex chat, and provide information on how participants can provide more significant comments to the entire Working Group. Due to anticipated high attendance, to participate in the Town Hall, please register in advance at the links below. Whether attending a webinar or not, any member of the SUNY community may provide input on the policies through the Working Group Comment Form.

The SUNY webinar town hall meetings will be scheduled as follows:

Friday, November 7, 2014. 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. To register, visit: http://tinyurl.com/ojpsamq

OR

Monday, November 10, 2014 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. To register, visit:  http://tinyurl.com/qen96dv

The Chancellor is dedicated to transparency in this effort and appreciates your help in disseminating this information across your campuses. Members of your campus teams who may help in communication efforts have been copied on this memo.  The 60-day period for policy development indicated in the resolution concludes on December 1, 2014, so we are grateful for your prompt action.

The draft policies can be viewed on SUNY Blue, the Microsoft Sharepoint secure collaboration platform. To access the draft policies, any member of your campus community can go to: https://blue.suny.edu/SitePages/Sexual%20Violence%20Prevention%20Workgroup.aspx and log in with their regular SUNY credentials.  Please note that these documents are in draft form, for discussion purposes only, and are subject to change before the policies can be considered final.  If for any reason a member of your campus community cannot access the policies on SUNY Blue, please direct them to e-mail preventionworkgroup@suny.edu so we can provide them with the relevant information.

If you or any members of your campus leadership team have comments they wish to share with our team directly or any questions on the ongoing efforts of the Working Group, please reach out to Jessica Todtman, Executive Director of Government Relations at Policy, at jessica.todtman@suny.edu.

Again, I want to thank you and your dedicated staffs for your continued hard work in this area. I am confident that the expertise brought to the table by the Working Group will result in policies that we can all be proud of and that will have a significant impact on campus climates and survivor support across the State.

cc:        Chancellor Zimpher Working Group Members Chief Academic Officers Office of General Counsel Attorneys Chief Student Affairs Officers University Police Chiefs and Community College Directors of Public Safety Clery Act ListServ Members Title IX ListServ Members