Draft Talking Points

Primary goal of HB 51 was consistency of treatment for all ?felony? level cases. New policy
accomplishes that goal. It establishes increased oversight of investigations by the System Of?ce
and provides a consistent approach for handling all conduct and sexual misconduct matters
through the same procedures. Campus Of?cials will steer away from any semblance of a
criminal proceeding

The current direction is to treat the sexual misconduct cases in a manner similar to pre?2011 
allowing the campus to address misconduct issues and protect the parties and address any
possible dangers to campus.

Speci?c points:

1.

conduct issues are being addressed by the Student Conduct Policy.

Increased System-Level Oversight of Investigations:
a. The System Of?ce is hiring 2 investigators to handle particularly dif?cult cases.

b. Schools will notify the System office of ?y cases involving alleged conduct
violations that may result in a suspension or expulsion, and Kimberly will
supervise/direct those investigations as needed.

If allegations or the preliminary investigation do not indicate that a violation is likely, the
student will not be charged. Investigators can dismiss complaints at any point if there is
insufficient evidence to support a ?nding of misconduct. The new policy also clari?es
that ?charges? are not official determinations, but indicate only there is sufficient
evidence to go to a hearing.

If charged, an accused will be adjudicated in the same manner, regardless of the nature
of the charge. All conduct hearings will be conducted through the of?ce of student

conduct.

We will avoid the use of criminal terms for sexual misconduct cases.

Differences between HB 51 and the new Policy

a. No requirement that we report all sexual misconduct cases to the police
(because want to treat all conduct allegations the same way)

b. Do not require victim participation for the case to go forward (this is required by
law see the Williams/UGA case)

The policy provides definitions of prohibited conduct to ensure we have a consistent
approach across all campuses.