University of Minnesota weighs changes to handling of campus sexual misconduct complaints

The University of Minnesota is proposing several changes to the way it handles campus sexual misconduct complaints, such as establishing a single standard of evidence for all proceedings involving students and employees and creating a systemwide committee of panelists to serve in live hearings.

The changes, which were presented to the U's Board of Regents on Wednesday, are necessary for the university to comply with new federal Title IX regulations that take effect Aug. 14. Regents said they plan to call a special meeting later this month to vote on the proposals.

"We've been very committed to broad consultation across our university community so that we could develop together the best way to implement the required changes," U President Joan Gabel said. "The mid-August deadline leaves us a very short window to revise our policies."

The new U.S. Department of Education rules require schools to use a single standard of evidence in proceedings and guarantee every student the right to cross-examine and challenge evidence at a live hearing. But the requirement shields survivors from having to come face to face with or answer questions from the accused.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said the new regulations aim to better balance the rights of alleged victims and the due process rights of the accused.

University of Minnesota officials are proposing to apply the "preponderance of evidence" standard to all sexual misconduct matters involving students, staff and faculty. Under this standard, school officials must decide if it was "more likely than not" that a violation occurred.

Currently, the school uses this standard when deciding responsibility in cases involving students and employees. It uses a higher burden of proof, known as "clear and convincing evidence," when a faculty member challenges a termination or suspension for sexual misconduct.

"A single grievance process will also promote consistent outcomes in sexual misconduct cases across university populations," said Tina Marisam, the U's equal opportunity and affirmative action director and Title IX coordinator.

To comply with the requirement for live hearings, U officials want to create a systemwide committee made up of trained faculty, staff and students to serve as panelists. Hearing panels would have three members, one of them a professional hearing officer and the other two selected by each party from a list of available committee members. The panel would be tasked with determining disciplinary sanctions and recommendations for students and employees.

Some regents took issue with the proposal to allow each party to select a hearing panelist. Regent Michael Hsu called it "problematic," arguing that involved parties should not get to place "their own friends" on the committee.

Marisam said that conflict of interest and impartiality principles would prevent such a scenario.

"The proposal would not allow a party to select a panel member that they knew or had any relationship with," she said. Still, Marisam acknowledged community members have expressed similar concerns that parties might misinterpret the selection as having a panelist who's on their side.

Regent Mike Kenyanya commended the proposal for promoting equity, saying "there shouldn't be a situation where one party has access to an adviser and the other one doesn't."