BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Indiana University records show there were more than 50 reports of alleged sexual misconduct by employees across all campuses from July 2015 to June 2016.
The cases were sorted into four categories: sexual assault, sexual harassment or gender discrimination, domestic violence and stalking, The Herald Times (https://bit.ly/2uhWeGZ ) reported.
Almost 50 percent of reports fell into the sexual harassment or gender discrimination category. There were two reports of sexual assault and one report of domestic violence, all of which occurred on the Bloomington campus.
Emily Springston, the university’s chief student welfare and Title IX officer, said she’s not alarmed by the number of reports because there are more than 19,000 employees across all campuses.
All of the university’s campuses except for its Kokomo location saw more reports of sexual misconduct by students than employees. The Kokomo campus had three student reports and three employee reports.
There were more reports of student sexual misconduct than employee sexual misconduct at all the campuses combined during that same time period. The Bloomington campus had the most reports of student sexual misconduct with nearly 240. More than half of those reports were for sexual assault and sexual contact.
The university system handles student and employee sexual misconduct reports differently. Student reports are reviewed by a three-person panel, and one person makes the decision for employee cases.
More than half of all reports against employees were resolved through alternative university action or response. Alternative action is used when behavior doesn’t violate a university policy, but officials still believe the behavior needs to be addressed. Alternative responses include providing consultation or facilitating conversation between those involved.
The university releases an annual report on alleged sexual misconduct by students, but doesn’t include complaints involving employees.
This is the first time the university has compiled a list of complaints against employees and made it public, Springston said.
___
Information from: The Herald Times, https://www.heraldtimesonline.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.