Report 2013-124 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2013-124: Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence: California Universities Must Better Protect Students by Doing More to Prevent, Respond to, and Resolve Incidents (Release Date: June 2014)

Recommendation #4 To: University, California State

The Office of the Chancellor should direct all of the universities within the CSU system to comply with the recommendations in this audit report. Also, to ensure that its universities are complying with Title IX requirements, the Office of the Chancellor should conduct routine Title IX reviews. When conducting these compliance reviews, the Office of the Chancellor should determine whether universities have implemented this report's recommendations.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From January 2016

Since our last response, the Chancellor's work group and the Systemwide Title IX Compliance Officer continue to work with the campuses to assist with implementation of the CSA's 23 recommendations. Based on our most recent follow up with the campuses, they have achieved a 96% full implementation rate, with 100% completion of all recommendations expected by spring 2016. The remaining 4% involve recommendations that have been initiated but won't be completed until 2016. In addition, the Systemwide Title IX Compliance Officer conducted reviews at three campuses in 2015 and plans to conduct five more by November 2016, averaging eight campus reviews each year. Because all campuses have been asked to comply with the CSA's 23 recommendations and we have begun conducting the routine campus Title IX reviews, we consider the recommendation to be fully implemented.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2015

The Chancellor's work group and the Systemwide Title IX Compliance Officer continue to work with the campuses to assist with implementation of the CSA's 23 recommendations. Last June, we reported an estimated 77 percent implementation rate, noting our expectation that full implementation would be achieved once the fall term began and all additional training programs could be provided to students, faculty and staff. While the fall term began for most campuses in mid to late August, our campuses on the quarter system started less than two weeks ago. The work group is currently in the process of confirming with each campus that all recommendations have been fully implemented now that the fall term is underway. We will report that information very soon. In addition, our Systemwide Title IX Compliance Officer is scheduled to begin conducting the first of the campus Title IX reviews on November 4, 2015.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

The Chancellor's systemwide work group continues to work with all of the campuses to assist with implementation of all the CSA's 23 recommendations. The campuses have been working diligently and we estimate they have achieved a 77 percent implementation rate. Many of the remaining recommendations are related to actions that need to occur at or near the beginning of the academic year and as a result, we expect full implementation by the campuses within the next few months as the fall term begins. Finally, the Systemwide Title IX Compliance Officer plans to begin conducting the routine Title IX reviews in October 2015, once all the campuses have had adequate time to fully implement the recommendations and begin evaluating their effectiveness. In the meantime, we believe that the work group is fulfilling the same function as the routine reviews because the group is working with the campuses to ensure that the recommendations are being implemented.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

The Office of the Chancellor is working with all of the campuses within the system to comply with the audit recommendations. In addition, the Chancellor created a systemwide work group to coordinate with each campus in order to review current campus practices and assist with implementation of the CSA's recommendations. The Chancellor's Office has hired a systemwide Title IX Compliance Officer who started work on December 1, 2014. The Title IX Compliance Officer will be responsible for conducting routine Title IX reviews to ensure the campuses have fully implemented the CSA's recommendations.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented

The Office of the Chancellor provided additional information indicating that Title IX reviews will begin in 2016 with each campus being reviewed approximately every three years. However, because the Office of the Chancellor has yet to conduct the Title IX reviews and is still working with the universities through the work group to ensure our recommendations are implemented, we evaluated this recommendation as partially implemented.

60-Day Agency Response

The Office of the Chancellor is working with all campuses to comply with the recommendations. Toward that end, the Chancellor has created a systemwide work group to coordinate with each campus in order to review current campus practices and assist with implementation of the CSA's recommendations. Further, the Office of the Chancellor expects to hire a systemwide Title IX compliance officer before the end of the calendar year who will assume responsibility for routine Title IX reviews, including making a determination as to whether the campuses have implemented the CSA's recommendations. As noted in our June 4 response, because some of the CSA's recommendations pertain to faculty and staff represented by unions, training requirements related to those groups must be collectively bargained, which is in process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2013-124

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.