The Bloomington Faculty Council convened Tuesday, voting on changes to the bylaws of the Bloomington Campus Conflicts of Interest Committee. This committee addresses financial conflicts of interest in research.
In its first meeting of the school year, the council also took on discussion regarding sexual assault policies.
The BFC responded to a recent routine investigation spearheaded by the Department of Education, which was announced earlier this year, and recent changes to Title IX.
“(Title IX) does currently require changes in some of the policies and procedures that we use to investigate, first of all, any claims of sexual assault or harassment,” said Jacqueline Simmons , vice president and general counsel for IU.
According to changes to Title IX, students seeking anonymity must be referred to a “confidential employee,” said Emily Springston, associate general counsel for IU. Confidential employees include employees from Counseling and Psychological Services , the Student Advocates Office and the IU Employee Assistance Program .
Only confidential ?employees can promise students anonymity. Responsible employees, however, are legally required to report sexual misconduct and cannot promise students anonymity, Springston said.
Responsible employees must report sexual misconduct to an IU Bloomington Title IX Coordinator, according to a handout regarding faculty response to sexual misconduct. IU-Bloomington Title IX coordinators include IUB Deputy Title IX Coordinators Carol McCord and Jason Casares and University Title IX Coordinator Julie Knost.
“It becomes the university’s legal obligation to investigate and respond according to the language found in Title IX,” Simmons said.
Also at the meeting, the COI committee added two new members, the associate dean for research spot from the School of Public Health as well as a spot for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs associate dean for ?research.
The committee also reduced the number of BFC members from four to three and granted the committee the ability to revise its own bylaws. Previously, the BFC held the ability to revise the committee bylaws.
The vote was near unanimous, save for one ?abstention.
