O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 1
PA 21-81—sHB 6374
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING SE XUAL MISCONDUCT ON C OLLEGE
CAMPUSES
SUMMARY: This act makes various changes in laws related to dealing with
sexual misconduct (i.e., sexual assault, stalking, or intimate partner violence) at
higher education institutions. Principally, it:
1. establishes a 20-member Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate
Assessments and requires it to report to the Higher Education and
Employment Advancement Committee every two years;
2. requires the council to, among other things, (a) develop a list of data
points for higher education institutions to collect using sexual misconduct
climate assessments and (b) establish guidelines for implementing the
assessments;
3. requires higher education institutions to biennially (a) conduct a sexual
misconduct climate assessment and distribute it to enrolled students,
starting by March 1, 2023, and (b) report the results to the Higher
Education and Employment Advancement Committee; and
4. generally prohibits a higher education institution from disciplining
students or employees for violating the institution’s drug or alcohol policy,
if they, in good faith and regardless of whether they were the alleged
victim, reported or disclosed an alleged sexual misconduct incident that
occurred during, or was connected to, the policy violation.
The act also makes technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
COUNCIL ON SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CLIMATE ASS ESSMENTS
Duties
The act 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 sexual misconduct policies
and procedures; (b) the response to, and results of, a student’s reported
sexual misconduct to the 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 O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 2 of 5
for (a) achieving a high response rate to ensure statistical accuracy, (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 its required
duties.
Membership
Under the act, the council’s 20 members include the (1) Higher Education and
Employment Advancement Committee co-chairpersons, (2) public health
commissioner, (3) UConn president, and (4) Every Voice Coalition of
Connecticut staff director, or their designees. The council also includes four
appointed members and 11 designated members, as shown in the table below.
Appointed and designated members may be legislators.
Appointed and Designated Council Members
Appointed Members
Appointing Authority Number of
Appointees/Designees
Qualifications
House speaker One Expert in developing and
designing sexual misconduct
climate assessments
Senate president pro
tempore
One Expert in statistics, data
analytics, or econometrics
related to higher education
assessments
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 Three Two sexual assault or intimate O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 3 of 5
Sexual Violence partner violence victims: one
who lives in a rural community
and one who lives in an urban
community
At least one designee 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 identifies as
lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, or queer
Every Voice Coalition of
Connecticut
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 act requires appointing and designating authorities to make their
appointments by September 1, 2021, and fill any vacancies within 30 days. A
vacancy that occurs before a term expires must be filled for the balance of the
term.
Under the act, 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 act requires the Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee co-chairpersons to select the chairperson from among the council’s
members. The chairperson must schedule and hold 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. Under the act, a majority of members constitutes a
quorum to transact business. Appointed or designated members who fail to attend
three consecutive meetings, or 50% of all meetings held in a calendar year, are
deemed to have resigned from the council.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee’s
administrative staff serves as the council’s administrative staff. O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 4 of 5
Reporting Requirements
Starting by January 1, 2022, the act requires the council to report every two
years 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
implementation guidelines.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CLIMATE ASSESSMENT
The act requires each Connecticut higher education institution, by March 1,
2023, and every two years 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 act 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, as long as 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.
Disclosure Requirements
The act requires each higher education institution, starting within six months
after distributing the biennial assessment described above, to 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 sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner
violence report it submits to the committee on the assessment results. (See
below).
Existing law requires each higher education institution to annually submit
certain information about sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence to
the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee. This
information must include, among other things:
1. a copy of its most recent policies on sexual assault, stalking, and intimate
partner violence;
2. a copy of its most recent notification about the rights and options of a
student or employee who reports or discloses an alleged violation of its
required sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence policy or O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 5 of 5
policies; and
3. the number of incidences of sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner
violence reported and disclosed to the institution.
The act adds the sexual misconduct climate assessment summary results to
this list and requires institutions to submit them every two years.
INSTITUTIONAL DRUG A ND ALCOHOL POLICY VI OLATIONS AND
ALLEGED INCIDENTS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
The act 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.