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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6374
AN ACT CONCERNING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ON COLLEGE
CAMPUSES.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various changes related to the handling of sexual
misconduct (i.e., sexual assault, stalking, or intimate partner violence)
at higher education institutions. Principally, it:
1. establishes a 22-member Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate
Assessments and requires the council to report twice a year to
the Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee, starting by January 1, 2022;
2. requires the council to, among other things, develop a list of
data points for higher education institutions to collect using
sexual misconduct climate assessments and establish guidelines
for implementing the assessments;
3. requires higher education institutions to, twice a year, (a)
conduct a sexual misconduct climate assessment and distribute
it to enrolled students, starting by March 1, 2023, and (b) report
to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee and higher education institutions on the assessment
results; and
4. generally prohibits a higher education institution from taking
disciplinary action against a student or employee for violating
the institution’s drug or alcohol policy, if he or she, regardless
of whether they were the alleged victim, reports or discloses an
alleged incident of sexual misconduct that occurred during, or
was connected to, the policy violation.
The bill also makes technical changes. 2021HB-06374-R000260-BA.DOCX
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EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
COUNCIL ON SEXUAL MI SCONDUCT CLIMATE ASS ESSMENTS
Duties
The bill establishes the Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate
Assessments within the legislative department, and requires it to:
1. develop a list of data points for higher education institutions to
collect through student responses to sexual misconduct climate
assessments, including (a) student awareness of institutional
policies and procedures on sexual misconduct; (b) the response
to, and results of, a student’s report of this misconduct to an
institution or law enforcement and (c) student perceptions of
campus safety;
2. recommend one or more sexual misconduct climate assessments
that collect the data points the council identified;
3. recommend assessment implementation guidelines, including
procedures for (a) achieving a high response rate to ensure
statistically accurate survey results, (b) protecting respondents’
confidentiality, and (c) receiving responses from the most broad
and diverse segment of the student population possible; and
4. perform other acts necessary and appropriate to carry out
required duties.
Membership
Under the bill, the council’s 22 members include the (1) Higher
Education and Employment Advancement Committee co-chairpersons
and (2) public health commissioner, (3) UConn president, and (4)
Every Voice Coalition staff director, or their designees. The council
also includes six appointed members and 11 designated members, as
shown in Table 1 below. Appointed and designated members may be
legislators.
2021HB-06374-R000260-BA.DOCX
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Table 1: Appointed and Designated Council Members
Appointed Members
Appointing Authority Number of
Appointees
Qualifications
House Speaker One Expert in developing and
designing sexual misconduct
climate assessments
Senate President Pro
Tempore
One Student enrolled in a Connecticut
public higher education institution
House Majority Leader One Expert in statistics, data
analytics, or econometrics related
to higher education assessments
Senate Majority Leader One Student enrolled in a Connecticut
independent higher education
institution
House Minority Leader One Representative of the Victim
Rights Center of Connecticut
Senate Minority Leader One Title IX coordinator at a
Connecticut higher education
institution
Designated Members
Board of Regents for Higher
Education
Two One representative each from the
Connecticut State University
System and the regional
community-technical college
system
Connecticut Conference of
Independent Colleges
One Representative of a Connecticut
independent higher education
institution
Connecticut Alliance to End
Sexual Violence
Three Two sexual assault or intimate
partner violence victims, one
each who lives in a rural and
urban community in Connecticut
At least one designee must be a
person who is black, indigenous,
or a person of color
Connecticut Coalition Against
Domestic Violence
One A victim of intimate partner
violence
True Colors, Inc. One A person who is lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, or queer 2021HB-06374-R000260-BA.DOCX
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Every Voice Coalition Three One public higher education
institution student
One independent higher
education student
At least one student who is black,
indigenous, or a person of color
The bill requires appointing and designating authorities to make
their appointments by September 1, 2021, and fill any vacancies within
30 days. A vacancy that occurs other than when a term expires must be
filled for the balance of the term.
Under the bill, members serve four-year terms, except for initial
appointments, which terminate on June 30, 2026. Members may serve
more than one term and must continue to serve until their successors
are appointed or designated.
Council members are not paid but may be reimbursed for necessary
expenses, within available funds.
Meetings and Procedures
The bill requires the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee co-chairpersons to select the chairperson
from among the council’s members. The chairperson must schedule
the first meeting by September 1, 2021. After that, the council must
meet upon the call of the chairperson or a majority of council
members. Appointed or designated members who fail to attend three
consecutive meetings, or 50% of all meetings held in any calendar year,
are deemed to have resigned from the council.
Under the bill, a majority of members constitutes a quorum to
transact business.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee’s
administrative staff serve as the council’s administrative staff.
Reporting Requirements
Starting by January 1, 2022, the bill requires the council to report 2021HB-06374-R000260-BA.DOCX
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twice a year to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee and each Connecticut higher education institution on the
(1) list of data points it developed and (2) recommended sexual
misconduct climate assessments and guidelines for their
implementation.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CL IMATE ASSESSMENT
The bill requires each Connecticut higher education institution, by
March 1, 2023, and twice a year after that, to (1) conduct a sexual
misconduct climate assessment that collects the data points the council
develops and (2) distribute the assessment to each enrolled student in
accordance with the council’s recommended guidelines.
Assessment Requirements
The bill allows an institution to use any sexual misconduct climate
assessment, including one recommended by the council or developed
by a higher education institution or a national association, provided it
collects all data points the council developed.
It requires each higher education institution to include with the
assessment a statement that the (1) respondents’ identities are
confidential, (2) students should not disclose personally identifying
information with their responses, and (3) responses cannot be used as a
basis for a disciplinary action or legal proceeding.
Report
The bill requires each higher education institution to twice a year
report, starting within six months after distributing the assessment, to
the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee on
the summary results for each assessment question.
Under the bill, each institution must also post on its website (1) the
assessment’s campus-level results, (2) the uniform campus crime
report required under existing law and (3) an Internet link to the report
it submitted to the committee on the assessment results.
INSTITUTIONAL DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY VIOLATIONS AND
ALLEGED INCIDENTS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT 2021HB-06374-R000260-BA.DOCX
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The bill prohibits a higher education institution from taking
disciplinary action against a student or employee for violating the
institution’s drug or alcohol policy if (1) he or she reports an alleged
incident of sexual assault, stalking, or intimate partner violence that
occurred during, or was connected to, the policy violation and (2) the
policy violation did not place another person’s health or safety at risk.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 22 Nay 0 (03/18/2021)