What's happening
This bill requires SUNY and CUNY colleges to track and publicly report campus sexual assault complaints, conduct regular anonymous surveys, and face funding penalties for noncompliance.
Why it matters
Creates a new position at every SUNY and CUNY school. someone with a background in nursing, psychology, or social work will be required to oversee Title IX compliance and manage a public, searchable database tracking all sexual assault-related complaints and their outcomes, increasing transparency and oversight.
Mandates mid-semester, anonymous surveys. about campus sexual assault at both SUNY and CUNY institutions, aiming to provide a more accurate and ongoing assessment of the problem beyond just official reports, which could influence policy and resource allocation.
Imposes meaningful financial consequences for noncompliance. if a campus fails to meet these requirements, they risk losing state funding for administration and operations (but not for student services or faculty salaries), creating a strong incentive for schools to follow through on the new transparency and accountability measures.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Track Campus Sexual Assault Reports
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Track Campus Sexual Assaults
In Assembly Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor Latrice Walker
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4374
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 11, 2019
Introduced by Sens. PARKER, BAILEY, MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to documenting campus sexual assault and related complaints at SUNY and CUNY institutions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 6433 of the education law, as added by chapter 597 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
§ 6433. Campus crime reporting and statistics. 1. Each college that receives state aid shall indicate in their campus catalog, student handbook and viewbook how to access the campus crime statistics that are filed annually with the United States Department of Education as required under Title 20 of the U.S. Code Section 1092(f). Every campus catalog, student handbook and viewbook shall state that "The Advisory Committee on Campus Safety will provide upon request all campus crime statistics as reported to the United States Department of Education."
The information in the campus catalog, student handbook and viewbook shall include the United States Department of Education's web site address for campus crime statistics and a campus phone number for a designated college campus contact who is authorized to provide such statistics for that college. Whenever an individual requests such campus crime statistics, the college shall provide a hard copy mailed to the individual within ten days of the request and that information will include all of the statistics that the campus is required to ascertain under Title 20 of the U.S. Code Section 1092(f).
2. The president or chief administrative officer of each college shall, working with the advisory committee on campus safety, take steps to inform students and prospective students of the existence of the campus crime statistics on an annual basis and other campus safety policies and procedures of the school.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05906-01-9
S. 4374 2
3. The president or administrative officer of each SUNY and CUNY institution shall appoint or designate an employee with at least a bachelor's degree in nursing, psychology or social work who shall be responsible for coordinating compliance with title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. section 1681, et. seq.) and title 20 of the U.S. Code Section 1092(f), and creating and/or managing a searchable database cataloguing the status of all complaints, reviews, investigations, and resolutions brought to such institution's attention under these provisions. Such database shall be made available on the student life web page of every SUNY and CUNY institution, and shall be accessible by an active link from such institution's home page between September first and May first of each year.
4. The chancellor of the state university of New York shall develop a standardized, anonymous survey of incidences of on-campus sexual assault that shall be distributed to each SUNY institution and shall be administered by such institutions each mid-semester. For the purposes of this subdivision, "sexual assault" shall mean any sex offense in article one hundred thirty of the penal law.
5. The chancellor of the city university of New York shall develop a standardized, anonymous survey of incidences of on-campus sexual assault that shall be distributed to each CUNY institution and shall be administered by such institutions each mid-semester. For the purposes of this subdivision, "sexual assault" shall mean any sex offense in article one hundred thirty of the penal law.
6. Failure of a SUNY or CUNY institution to comply with the provisions of this section shall result in the suspension of administrative and operations funds contributed by the state provided, however, that in no case shall such suspension result in a reduction or in any way affect the portion of such institution's budget allocated for student services and all faculty salary.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to documenting campus sexual assault and related complaints at SUNY and CUNY institutions
Purpose
To address the alarming increase of sexual assaults on public university and college campuses.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 3 requires that the president ox administrative officer of each SUNY and CUNY institution appoint or designate an employee meeting certain education qualifications with the responsibility of coordinating compliance with Title IX and XX and creating a data base cataloguing incidents, status and disposition of sexual assault incidents and to make such data available on the institution's web page by an active link between September 1st and May 1st of every year.
Sections 4 and 5 require the Chancellor of SONY and the Chancellor of CUNY to develop an anonymous and standardized survey of on-campus sexual assault incidents.
Section 6 provides that failure to comply with the aforementioned provisions will result in the suspension of state provided administra- tive and operations funds, with the exception of funds allocated to student services and faculty salaries.
Justification
In 2013 there were more than twice as many incidents of sexual assault reported as five years earlier and such offenses climbed by 40 percent overall between 2012 and 2013. The New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault reports that:
*At least 1 in 4 college women will be the victim of a sexual assault during her academic career;
*At least 80% of all sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance;
*More than 70% of rape victims knew their attackers, compared to about half of all violent crime victims;
* There are 35.3 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 female students on a campus
The NYS Office of Domestic and Sexual Violence and the NYS Office of Victim Services have reported that Intimate Partner Violence, sexual assault, and stalking are widespread on college campuses and that they may occur one at a time or concurrently. Moreover these offices report that nearly 89% of females reported experiencing at least one incident of physical or sexual aggression by the end of college and that 42% of the stalking incidences reported by college women were perpetrated by a current or former partner.
Sexual assaults on and around college campuses, are a vastly underre- ported crime. As of 2013, under new federal guidelines, colleges were required for the first time to compile and disclose the number of reports of dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking on their campuses.
This bill codifies the requirement for public universities, colleges and institutions in New York State to report these incidents. Moreover, this bill but moreover makes the reporting of incidents a consumer informa- tion tool for students in determining the institution of higher learning they will attend.
Legislative history
2017-18: S3082 - Referred to Higher Education 2015-15: S.1772 - Referred to Higher Education 2013-14: S.7954 - Referred to Rules
Fiscal impact on state
N/A
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after the bill shall become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.