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2015 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Higher Education

Smith (Chairman), Saslaw, McWaters, Cosgrove, Petersen

Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: January 26, 2015
Time and Place: 8:00 A.M. - Senate Room A

S.B. 712 Higher education; reporting of sexual assault, penalty.

Patron: Black

Higher education; reporting of sexual assault; penalty. Requires any faculty member, administrator, or full-time staff member employed by a public institution of higher education who through the course of his employment obtains information alleging that a criminal sexual assault has occurred to report within 48 hours such information to law enforcement. The bill provides that a person in violation of the reporting requirement is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

S.B. 734 Higher education; reporting of sexual assault, penalty.

Patrons: Saslaw, McEachin

Higher education; reporting of sexual assault; penalty. Requires any administrator or professor employed by a public institution of higher education who through the course of his employment obtains information alleging that a criminal sexual assault has occurred to report within 24 hours such information to law enforcement. The bill provides that a person in violation of the reporting requirement is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

S.B. 981 Higher educational institutions; memorandum of understanding and policies.

Patron: Favola

Institutions of higher education; sexual assault; memorandum of understanding and policies. Requires the governing board of each public or private institution of higher education to (i) establish a written memorandum of understanding with a local sexual assault crisis center or other victim support service and (ii) adopt policies that require the institution to offer to refer the sexual assault victim to the sexual assault crisis center, encourage victims to take steps to preserve physical evidence, provide clear guidance on linking victims to other community resources, provide options for victims who do not want to make an official report to make an anonymous report, and provide amnesty for victims who fear their conduct may also be questioned or who are concerned that an official report might jeopardize their academic status.

S.B. 1192 Higher educational institutions; sexual misconduct policies.

Patron: Norment

Institutions of higher education; sexual misconduct policies. Requires the governing boards of public and private institutions of higher education to adopt a sexual misconduct policy that addresses incidents of sexual misconduct involving any person or student organization associated with the institution whether occurring on or off campus. The policies must include requirements for the institution to report certain sexual misconduct incidents to local law enforcement. Institutions that fail to comply with the policy requirements (i) in the case of public institutions, are subject to a 10 percent reduction in general funds and (ii) in the case of private institutions, are ineligible to receive Tuition Assistance Grants.

S.B. 1193 Academic transcripts; suspension or permanent dismissal from institution.

Patron: Norment

Academic transcripts; suspension or permanent dismissal from institution. Requires the registrar of each public institution of higher education and certain private institutions of education, or the other employee, office, or department of the institution that is responsible for maintaining student academic records, to include a prominent notation on the transcript of each student who has been suspended or permanently dismissed from the institution for a violation of the institution's code, rules, or set of standards governing the conduct of students.

S.B. 1252 Higher education; reporting of sexual assualt; penalty.

Patron: Deeds

Higher education; reporting of sexual assualt; penalty. Requires any employee of a public institution of higher education who through the course of his employment obtains information alleging a criminal sexual assault has occurred to report within 24 hours such information to law enforcement. The bill provides that a person in violation of the reporting requirement is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, to develop guidelines that delineate the extent to which state and federal privacy laws limit the reporting requirements of the bill.

S.B. 1275 Institutions of higher education; reporting of sexual assault to DCJS.

Patron: Barker

Institutions of higher education; reporting of sexual assault to DCJS. Requires each public or private institution of higher education that has obtained any information alleging that a felony sexual assault involving a student has occurred to report such information to the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

S.B. 1326 Academic transcripts; documentation of dismissal.

Patron: Deeds

Academic transcripts; documentation of dismissal. Requires public institutions of higher education to document the dismissal of any student who has been dismissed for violation of the institution's sexual misconduct policy, student code of conduct, or institution's honor code on such student's academic transcript.

S.B. 1329 Higher educational institutions; memorandum of understanding and policies for sexual assaults.

Patron: Garrett

Institutions of higher education; sexual assault; memorandum of understanding and policies. Requires the governing board of each public or private institution of higher education to (i) establish a written memorandum of understanding with a local sexual assault crisis center or other victim support service and (ii) adopt policies that require the institution to offer to refer the sexual assault victim to the sexual assault crisis center, encourage victims to take steps to preserve physical evidence, provide clear guidance on linking victims to other community resources, provide options for victims who do not want to make an official report to make an anonymous report, and provide amnesty for victims who fear their conduct may also be questioned or who are concerned that an official report might jeopardize their academic status.

S.B. 1379 Public institutions of higher education; sexual misconduct policies.

Patron: Saslaw

Public institutions of higher education; sexual misconduct policies. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education shall certify to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia that it has reviewed its sexual misconduct policy and updated it as appropriate. The bill requires the State Council and the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish criteria for the certification process and to report to the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security on the certification status of institutions.