Grundy Reporter

University of Illinois State Senate Committee on General University Policy met Jan. 20.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Present: Chair Nicholas Burbules, Adel Ibrahim, David Lange, Melissa Madsen

Ex officio: William Bernhard

Absent: Fred Johnson Asiimwe, Jared Bastian, Maria Bonn, Mike Ward

Guest: John Bambenek (Graduate Student Senator), Rob Kar (Chair of the Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct), Danielle Morrison (Director of the Title IX Office and the Title IX and Disability Coordinator), Sharon Reynolds (Assistant Provost for Administrative Affairs), Deb Stone (Executive Director, HR Administration)

A regular meeting of the Senate Committee on General University Policy was called to order at 9:30 am with Chair Burbules presiding.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the December 5, 2019 meeting were approved as distributed.

II. PUBLIC COMMENT

No requests received.

III. CHAIR’S REMARKS

No remarks.

IV. OLD BUSINESS

GP.20.08, Resolution on Sexual Harassment Reporting

Copies of RS.20.02 (Resolution on Sexual Harassment Reporting) were distributed. John Bambenek, student senator, attended to discuss the resolution.

Bambenek noted that Title IX requires employees to be mandated reporters and the University defines an employee as anyone who receives a paycheck. The proposed resolution requests that the definition of “responsible employee” exclude all journalists associated with the University or any of its campuses.

Danielle Morrison, Director of the Title IX Office and the Title IX and Disability Coordinator, noted the University has an obligation under state law to provide resources in cases of sexual assault and the responsible employee helps to fulfill that obligation. Rob Kar, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct, commented that federal funding could also be at risk if the University does not comply with the law.

Morrison questioned if the exemption for the journalists is intended only when they are working on a story or if the exemption would include if a situation is told to them by another employee. The intent of the resolution would be in their duties as a journalist.

It was suggested that the resolution be revised to better clarify the intent.

Chair Burbules offered to work with Bambenek on a revised resolution to include the additional levels of review for mandated reporting. Bambenek will revise the resolution and share it with GP for input.

GP.20.07, Unit Bylaws Template

Copies of the draft Outline of Departmental Bylaws document were distributed. Chair Burbules asked committee members to review the document for discussion at the next meeting.

GP.20.05, Review of the Role of the Senate Executive Committee Chair and Committee

Chairs

No new discussion.

GP.19.03, Resolution to Protect Instructors from Classroom Disruption

Copies of the Classroom Management Responding to Difficult Situations document were distributed. Chair Burbules asked GP to review the document for discussion at the next meeting.

GP.19.09, Discussion of Provost Communication #27: Shared Governance for Academic Units

No new discussion.

GP.15.01, Statement on Administrative Hiring Practices

No new discussion.

GP.15.08, Tenure Review

No new discussion.

GP.17.03, Guidelines on Senate Meetings

No new discussion.

GP.19.04, Professional Employment Redesign

No new discussion.

GP.20.02, Review of Provost Communication #9: Promotion and Tenure

No new discussion.

GP.20.03, Proposed Revisions to the Statutes, Articles IX and X – Administrative Leave

No new discussion.

V. NEW BUSINESS

GP.20.09, Bias Assessment and Response Teams

No new discussion.

GP.20.10, Report of the Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct

Rob Kar, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct, Danielle Morrison, Director of the Title IX Office and the Title IX and Disability Coordinator, and Sharon Reynolds, Assistant Provost for Administrative Affairs, attended to discuss the report. Bernhard gave an overview of the review of policies concerning sexual misconduct and consensual relationships. He noted that the Office of the Provost is forming an implementation committee to address the recommendations in the Consensual Relationship Policy Task Force Report and the Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct Report. Input is being obtained from stakeholders, including GP, prior to the implementation committee beginning its work.

Lange suggested that refining policy should not always result in more administrators or growing the campus staff. Kar noted that the length of time once a complaint is received until the process is complete is lengthy (e.g., two years), so the University needs to allocate resources to ensure the appropriate staff is in place to make the length of the process more efficient. Ibrahim noted that the lengthy process may discourage some individuals from reporting instances. Morrison shared that the number of reports received by the campus has doubled since the Title IX Office was opened three years ago, so a backlog has been created due to that increase.

GP thanked the guests for attending.

VI. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 am.