A new California law orders the California State University (CSU) system to update sexual harassment policies in accordance with recommendations from a state auditor last year.
Recommendations include speedier investigations, updated policies, better communication with stakeholders, and disciplinary actions.
The new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 15, follows a series of high-profile sexual harassment cases in recent years that brought negative attention to CSU—with 23 campuses, about 56,000 employees, and nearly 460,000 students—including incidents at the Fresno, San Jose, and Sonoma campuses.
“By implementing AB 1790, we can make our California State Universities safer for students and faculty by ensuring sexual harassment and assault allegations don’t slip through the cracks,” Mr. Connolly said in legislative analyses of the bill.
A CSU spokesperson said the guidelines—16 laid out by the auditor in a report published in July 2023—will be implemented.
“The CSU shares the legislators’ interest in ensuring all students and employees across our 23 universities are protected from discrimination and harassment,” CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith told The Epoch Times by email July 16. “It is one of our highest priorities.”
She said discussions are underway to follow through and meet timelines set for compliance, with some changes due this month.
“We are actively working to meet and where possible exceed the recommendations and become a national leader in building a culture of care and trust through greater training and consistent and compassionate practices for handling and resolving complaints,” Ms. Bentley-Smith said.
Included in the guidelines is a need to create clear expectations for handling allegations and investigations. Timeliness needs to improve, with dates and timelines trackable and documented in spreadsheet software, according to the audit.
The CSU is also ordered to amend its sexual harassment policies, as they are currently more relaxed than federal guidelines.
The auditor wants complainants and the accused to be informed of status updates and recommends standardized formats across campuses for managing information.
“Prompt discipline” should be strengthened to “ensure that campuses adequately address problematic behavior,” the audit found.
And the CSU will now create policies that prohibit writing letters of recommendation for employees found responsible for sexual harassment.
“These efforts would help CSU better protect its students and employees from sexual harassment,” the audit said. “We believe that strengthening the Chancellor’s Office’s guidance and oversight related to preventing and addressing sexual harassment is critical to resolving the problems we identified.”
While the chancellor’s office argued last year that limited funding and resources could inhibit the university’s ability to implement the guidelines, the auditor’s report said compliance “would not be unduly burdensome.”
The report found that the university “has not adequately or consistently addressed some allegations of sexual harassment.”
Of 40 cases reviewed by the auditor, 11 were closed without formal investigation and lacked adequate rationale for the decision. The cases the university investigated were found to have “significant deficiencies ... which raised questions about their outcomes.”
One case—in which a male faculty member was ultimately found responsible for sexual harassment, sexual violence, and stalking—was delayed so long that the statute of limitations passed.
Calling for increased oversight and best practices, the auditor said administrators are responsible for such inadequacies in recent years.
Some faculty members agreed with the audit and said they felt conflicts of interest were possibly at play.
“The reality is that there are too many cross interests and power dynamics at play on each campus that lead to inequitable situations and solutions. The fox can no longer guard the chicken coop,” the California Faculty Association—representing 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches—said during an August 2023 hearing by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
Other university employees also said the guidelines are needed to protect those who work and study at the university.
“California has a responsibility to hold the CSU accountable for the pervasive sexual harassment issues across its campuses,” the California State University Employees Union, representing 36,000 non-faculty workers across all campuses, said in legislative analyses. “Students, faculty, and staff deserve to live, work, and learn in a safe environment.”
Additionally, a students’ group said the new law will help improve safety on campuses.
“As students, we emphasize the urgency of enacting AB 1790 to prioritize the safety and well-being of all members of the CSU community,” the California State Student Association said in legislative analyses. “This bill represents a crucial opportunity to ensure transparency and accountability in addressing systemic failures.”
