One of the elements we are waiting on is the 2nd draft of the policy. Students for a Greater CUNY showed the first draft to some professionals in the field and they provided commentary to guide the 2nd draft. Below are what they've pinpointed that needs to be included in the 2nd draft.
Summary of Commentaries made on the CUNY Sexual Assault Policy first draft
SAFER (Students Active for Ending Rape)
•Victims of a Sexual Assault should not be mandated to report to the police, such a
mandate only reinforces a culture of silence around rape. Victims need to feel
supported, not pressured.
•Clearly defined consequences for not following the policy and for offenders of sexual
violence should be mentioned in the policy so that the University’s stance of zero
tolerance is affirmed.
•The policy should be consistently easy to read and avoid legalese terms. Instead, an
addendum of legal terms can be included at the end of the policy along with
resources for students, faculty and staff if they or someone they know has
experienced sexual violence.
• Clearly defined processes for disciplinary action for perpetrators and campus non‐
compliance should be strongly visible within the policy to back up a portrayal of
zero tolerance for such behavior.
• How often is the education supposed to occur?
• Clarify any limits of confidentiality
•Clearly outline the process for reporting‐ who are you supposed to report to first?
North Central Bronx Hospital Sexual Assault Treatment Program (SATP)
• The policy shows a reasonable effect in addressing medical and psychological
concerns, STD’s should be reflected as STI’s to reflect current medical terminology
and be more inclusive for students.
• The addendum should make a distinction between SAFE/SANE hospitals that are
within the city and those that are not, with an explanation of the difference between
the two.
• Within the legal terms and explanations section, a summary of the new NYC law for
EMS workers to take a victim to a SAFE/SANE hospital if they mention that they have been assaulted and they do not have any life‐threatening injuries that requiresEMS to take them to the nearest hospital which may not be SAFE/SANE should be included in plain language.
New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
• The policy should clearly distinguish harm reduction and prevention through a
more inclusive definition of sexual violence. Education cabut the focus should be primary prevention.
Become involved! Email us at cunypolicy08@gmail.com. We currently have an immediate need for:
* Organizations and individuals to endorse our cause (willing to sign a letter of support)
* Organizations and individuals to join Students for a Greater CUNY as a member
* A tech-savvy person that is good with website building
* Skilled writers to chronicle CUNY's progress for the students on blogs and through campus media
* Student leaders or organizations that will facilitate setting up 3 town hall meetings within the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, so public opinions can be heard on the draft of the policy.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
CUNY TASKFORCE STALLS...
And so we wait...
The Taskforce last met in October. October! The first draft of the policy was written and distributed in December for the taskforce members to critique. We did. The next physical meeting was supposed to be in January to view the second draft, plan the town hall meetings and send the document out for massive review throughout CUNY.
A January date got pushed to February. Now a February date is pushed to March, and we still don't have a definite date. Taskforce members are not responding in a public fashion, so Elischia and Jerin have done so to model transparent behavior.
Vice Chancellor Schaffer wants to hold off on the educational component that Students for a Greater CUNY presented via email, complete with a research and a contact to negotiate a price with CUNY (the content of the email will be posted in the upcoming weeks). It is imperative that Schaffer understand that the point of a CUNY Sexual Assault Policy is to create an atmosphere whereby sexual violence is not accepted. The best way to do that is by having a prevention-focused policy!
Students for a Greater CUNY is waiting to receive the updated policy that was suggested to have a mandatory prevention education model. We will then post it for your commentary.
To building a Greater CUNY!
Become involved! Email us at cunypolicy08@gmail.com. We currently have an immediate need for:
* Organizations and individuals to endorse our cause (willing to sign a letter of support)
* Organizations and individuals to join Students for a Greater CUNY as a member
* A tech-savvy person that is good with website building
* Skilled writers to chronicle CUNY's progress for the students on blogs and through campus media
* Student leaders or organizations that will facilitate setting up 3 town hall meetings within the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, so public opinions can be heard on the draft of the policy.
The Taskforce last met in October. October! The first draft of the policy was written and distributed in December for the taskforce members to critique. We did. The next physical meeting was supposed to be in January to view the second draft, plan the town hall meetings and send the document out for massive review throughout CUNY.
A January date got pushed to February. Now a February date is pushed to March, and we still don't have a definite date. Taskforce members are not responding in a public fashion, so Elischia and Jerin have done so to model transparent behavior.
Vice Chancellor Schaffer wants to hold off on the educational component that Students for a Greater CUNY presented via email, complete with a research and a contact to negotiate a price with CUNY (the content of the email will be posted in the upcoming weeks). It is imperative that Schaffer understand that the point of a CUNY Sexual Assault Policy is to create an atmosphere whereby sexual violence is not accepted. The best way to do that is by having a prevention-focused policy!
Students for a Greater CUNY is waiting to receive the updated policy that was suggested to have a mandatory prevention education model. We will then post it for your commentary.
To building a Greater CUNY!
Become involved! Email us at cunypolicy08@gmail.com. We currently have an immediate need for:
* Organizations and individuals to endorse our cause (willing to sign a letter of support)
* Organizations and individuals to join Students for a Greater CUNY as a member
* A tech-savvy person that is good with website building
* Skilled writers to chronicle CUNY's progress for the students on blogs and through campus media
* Student leaders or organizations that will facilitate setting up 3 town hall meetings within the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, so public opinions can be heard on the draft of the policy.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Importance of Meeting
First of all I would like to express my enthusiasm in having a blog that gives students a chance to ask questions about the progress of actually having a CUNY wide Sexual Assault Policy. The first thing that is important to stress every time we speak of the need of a preventative CUNY wide Sexual Assault Policy are the harrowing statistics.
· The U.S Department of Justice reported there were 248, 300 sexual assaults in 2007
· In the United States, there is one sexual assault every two minutes
· College Aged Women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted (RAINN.ORG)
Effects of Sexual Assault
· 26 times more likely to abuse drugs
· 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide
· 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol
· 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder(RAINN.ORG)
Perpetrators of Sexual Assault
· 60% of rapes/sexual assaults are not reported to the police
· Only about 6% of rapists ever spend time in jail
· 15 of 16 walk free(RAINN.ORG)
Therefore the immediacy of advocating for the policy’s passage and the educational component is vital to the reduction of such high sexual assault numbers. It is truly important for the TASKFORCE to meet regularly. Without frontline advocates, CUNY will not feel the pressure to pass, implement or the urgency of a preventative sexual assault policy. Based upon the survey conducted by Jerin and Elischa on CUNY students, 60-86% of students were not aware of their university’s sexual assault policy. Even if there is a sexual assault policy, the choice for the victim is to use the criminal justice system. If we use the statistics of the criminal justice’s response to sexual assault where 60% are not reported, we have a predominant theme, which is silence on the crime of sexual assault. Silence equals condoning sexual assault for perpetrators. As such the frontline advocates and representatives of the student body, which include and represent 400,000 students, must meet regularly to convey the message of the urgency of having a PREVENTIVE CUNY-WIDE SEXUAL ASSAULT WITH AN EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT IN PLACE.
Please respond with your views and thoughts. Thanks for reading!
· The U.S Department of Justice reported there were 248, 300 sexual assaults in 2007
· In the United States, there is one sexual assault every two minutes
· College Aged Women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted (RAINN.ORG)
Effects of Sexual Assault
· 26 times more likely to abuse drugs
· 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide
· 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol
· 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder(RAINN.ORG)
Perpetrators of Sexual Assault
· 60% of rapes/sexual assaults are not reported to the police
· Only about 6% of rapists ever spend time in jail
· 15 of 16 walk free(RAINN.ORG)
Therefore the immediacy of advocating for the policy’s passage and the educational component is vital to the reduction of such high sexual assault numbers. It is truly important for the TASKFORCE to meet regularly. Without frontline advocates, CUNY will not feel the pressure to pass, implement or the urgency of a preventative sexual assault policy. Based upon the survey conducted by Jerin and Elischa on CUNY students, 60-86% of students were not aware of their university’s sexual assault policy. Even if there is a sexual assault policy, the choice for the victim is to use the criminal justice system. If we use the statistics of the criminal justice’s response to sexual assault where 60% are not reported, we have a predominant theme, which is silence on the crime of sexual assault. Silence equals condoning sexual assault for perpetrators. As such the frontline advocates and representatives of the student body, which include and represent 400,000 students, must meet regularly to convey the message of the urgency of having a PREVENTIVE CUNY-WIDE SEXUAL ASSAULT WITH AN EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT IN PLACE.
Please respond with your views and thoughts. Thanks for reading!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Meeting minutes from second round of negotiations before the taskforce was formed
CUNY Central- 80th Street
CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy
Preliminary Meeting
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Persons in attendance: Elischia Fludd, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Jerin Alam, Hunter College, Nicolas Kanellopolous, University Student Senate Vice Chair, Frederick Schaffer, General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
Called to Order: 2:30pm
Topic: Validity of a University-wide policy
Discussion:
• Policies for the University are currently addressing some programming, but are not addressed by CUNY as a mandate throughout all of its schools.
• Vice Chancellor Schaffer would like to see where each CUNY school’s sexual assault policy is located, if available. Currently, those schools that have a sexual assault policy have it hidden beneath erudite language and other distractions on the web. Therefore, the argument could be made that students from their respective schools are not knowledgeable on their rights or the process once they report. Furthermore, the policies are not prevention focused.
Resolution: A CUNY-wide sexual assault policy is warranted and further research would be useful to obtain so that the University is better able to assess the scope of the problem as well as what services are desired by students. Orientation curriculum should be tweaked, and a possible central location for monitoring, implementing and the offering of student services is an option on the table for negotiations.
Topic: Process to obtain a CUNY-wide policy
Discussion:
• A taskforce should be formed first instead of a survey taken to assess the needs of the students so that there is a group of people that are collating the same information to use when a policy is drafted by them.
• The taskforce should contain Presidents or more than likely VP’s from the Student Development/Student Affairs offices (2), a representative from CUNY Legal (1), David Crook from Institutional Research (1), a representative from VC Moore’s office (1), and around five students, including Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd (5).
• At least one representative from the coalition of women’s centers is necessary (1) and perhaps a representative from the LGBTQ community within the current number of persons agreed to be on the taskforce (11).
• The nomination of students to the taskforce will be filtered by USS in collaboration with the two current student taskforce members and Senior VP Schaffer. Students would be considered based on geographic location, community and senior college status.
•
Meeting minutes 2
• The CUNY-wide policy should be prevention-focused rather than solely focusing on disciplinary procedures following an assault.
Resolution: The taskforce would be formed first, with a maximum of 11 members. An outside advisory role is up for negotiations, perhaps from ACLU or NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The next meeting will take place in two weeks, on August 7th at 2pm via conference call. Senior Vice Chancellor Schaffer will email a conference calling number. The goal
for the next meeting is to continue negotiations on the names of persons to participate on the taskforce.
Adjournment: 3:40 pm
Minutes submitted by: Elischia Fludd
CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy
Preliminary Meeting
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Persons in attendance: Elischia Fludd, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Jerin Alam, Hunter College, Nicolas Kanellopolous, University Student Senate Vice Chair, Frederick Schaffer, General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
Called to Order: 2:30pm
Topic: Validity of a University-wide policy
Discussion:
• Policies for the University are currently addressing some programming, but are not addressed by CUNY as a mandate throughout all of its schools.
• Vice Chancellor Schaffer would like to see where each CUNY school’s sexual assault policy is located, if available. Currently, those schools that have a sexual assault policy have it hidden beneath erudite language and other distractions on the web. Therefore, the argument could be made that students from their respective schools are not knowledgeable on their rights or the process once they report. Furthermore, the policies are not prevention focused.
Resolution: A CUNY-wide sexual assault policy is warranted and further research would be useful to obtain so that the University is better able to assess the scope of the problem as well as what services are desired by students. Orientation curriculum should be tweaked, and a possible central location for monitoring, implementing and the offering of student services is an option on the table for negotiations.
Topic: Process to obtain a CUNY-wide policy
Discussion:
• A taskforce should be formed first instead of a survey taken to assess the needs of the students so that there is a group of people that are collating the same information to use when a policy is drafted by them.
• The taskforce should contain Presidents or more than likely VP’s from the Student Development/Student Affairs offices (2), a representative from CUNY Legal (1), David Crook from Institutional Research (1), a representative from VC Moore’s office (1), and around five students, including Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd (5).
• At least one representative from the coalition of women’s centers is necessary (1) and perhaps a representative from the LGBTQ community within the current number of persons agreed to be on the taskforce (11).
• The nomination of students to the taskforce will be filtered by USS in collaboration with the two current student taskforce members and Senior VP Schaffer. Students would be considered based on geographic location, community and senior college status.
•
Meeting minutes 2
• The CUNY-wide policy should be prevention-focused rather than solely focusing on disciplinary procedures following an assault.
Resolution: The taskforce would be formed first, with a maximum of 11 members. An outside advisory role is up for negotiations, perhaps from ACLU or NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The next meeting will take place in two weeks, on August 7th at 2pm via conference call. Senior Vice Chancellor Schaffer will email a conference calling number. The goal
for the next meeting is to continue negotiations on the names of persons to participate on the taskforce.
Adjournment: 3:40 pm
Minutes submitted by: Elischia Fludd
CUNY Survey Results
Purpose of the survey:
Student taskforce members Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd re-designed the Student Development staff survey created by the taskforce into a student-friendly version on the Internet. The survey link was mass distributed to CUNY students via student, faculty and administrative contacts throughout CUNY in order to garner an inclusive-range of voices throughout CUNY about student knowledge and accessibility of CUNY campuses sexual assault policies.
The anonymous survey yielded the following key results:
Background data:
• 542 total survey responses were received from all CUNY campuses except the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, CUNY School of Law, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Kingsborough Community College and Hostos Community College.
• 386 students chose to identify their status in school (156 students skipped the question). In order of highest to lowest response rates, Seniors make up 23.8%, Juniors 22.0%, Graduate students 19.9%, Sophomores 10.4%, Doctoral students 7.5%, Freshmen 7.3%, Other 6.0% (CUNY alumni, staff, faculty, upper and lower status of current students and an exchange student to CUNY from Paris), and BA/MA students 3.1% of the data.
Knowledge of campus sexual assault information:
• Overall, 60-86% of students are not aware of the information their college has pertaining to sexual assault. Such information includes knowledge of NYS penal law, where to report a sexual assault, available counseling services for those affected by sexual assault, prevention education about sexual assault, the rights of complainants and accused and on-campus disciplinary procedures and clear sanctions for committing sexual assault.
Student satisfaction of campus information on sexual assault:
• 53.6% of students do not feel that their college provides adequate information about sexual assault.
Preferred information source for sexual assault information:
• 50-80% of students preferred information about sexual assault to be given on their college website, student handbook, in pamphlets, orientation seminar and workshops. Other specifications included emails, flyers, mandatory classes, awareness raising programs and rape crisis services.
Student taskforce members Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd re-designed the Student Development staff survey created by the taskforce into a student-friendly version on the Internet. The survey link was mass distributed to CUNY students via student, faculty and administrative contacts throughout CUNY in order to garner an inclusive-range of voices throughout CUNY about student knowledge and accessibility of CUNY campuses sexual assault policies.
The anonymous survey yielded the following key results:
Background data:
• 542 total survey responses were received from all CUNY campuses except the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, CUNY School of Law, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Kingsborough Community College and Hostos Community College.
• 386 students chose to identify their status in school (156 students skipped the question). In order of highest to lowest response rates, Seniors make up 23.8%, Juniors 22.0%, Graduate students 19.9%, Sophomores 10.4%, Doctoral students 7.5%, Freshmen 7.3%, Other 6.0% (CUNY alumni, staff, faculty, upper and lower status of current students and an exchange student to CUNY from Paris), and BA/MA students 3.1% of the data.
Knowledge of campus sexual assault information:
• Overall, 60-86% of students are not aware of the information their college has pertaining to sexual assault. Such information includes knowledge of NYS penal law, where to report a sexual assault, available counseling services for those affected by sexual assault, prevention education about sexual assault, the rights of complainants and accused and on-campus disciplinary procedures and clear sanctions for committing sexual assault.
Student satisfaction of campus information on sexual assault:
• 53.6% of students do not feel that their college provides adequate information about sexual assault.
Preferred information source for sexual assault information:
• 50-80% of students preferred information about sexual assault to be given on their college website, student handbook, in pamphlets, orientation seminar and workshops. Other specifications included emails, flyers, mandatory classes, awareness raising programs and rape crisis services.
The Original Policy Proposal with Adjustments after two negotiations before the taskforce meeting
Memo
To: Vice Chancellor Frederick Schaffer, Vice Chancellor Garrie Moore, Senior Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson
From: Jerin Alam, Hunter College and Elischia Fludd, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
CC: USS Chair Robert Ramos and USS Vice Chair Nicholas Kanellopoulos
Date: July 24, 2008
Re: CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy
Statement of the Problem: Since federal law requires colleges to have policies on sexual assault, we investigated the policies of various CUNY colleges. We found that there are significant differences among these policies that could lead to disparate treatment of both victims and perpetrators of sexual assault from one campus to another. Some policies do not address such matters as saving evidence, and most concentrate on what victims should do and not the standards of behavior expected of students and the penalties for perpetrating sexual assault.
We also found an underlying assumption that students who are victims of sexual assault should pursue the matter through the criminal justice system, a course of action some victims may not wish to pursue. Colleges need to take action to insure the safety of students in cases of sexual assault.
The National Crime Victimization Survey found that about 3% of college women are raped each academic year, usually by someone they know. The National College Women Sexual Victimization study estimates about 20 to 25% of college women are victims of sexual assault and attempted during their college years. According to research on urban commuter students conducted by professors at John Jay College, approximately 27% of female students reported having been sexually assaulted in the past year. The 19 CUNY schools, serving 400,000 students, reported only four sex offenses in their 2005 reports to the Department of Education. We know there are more incidents of sexual assault happening on campus. We want to address why they are not being reported and have a CUNY-wide policy that makes it easier for the victims and the colleges to report incidents.
Our Proposal: A CUNY-wide policy on sexual assault is clearly needed. We propose to model this policy on CUNY’s highly successful sexual harassment policy, and use a similar mechanism—campus-based boards that implement and monitor the policy. We believe this structure will be most effective, and we believe it can be implemented within one academic year.
The most important thing we would like to stress on is having input from all different communities within CUNY, from the administrators and faculty to the staff, students and alumni. We believe the most effective policy will address the needs and concerns of all the different groups within CUNY, of which students make up the largest portion. We would love to help you gather opinion from different students, such as student governments, different ethnic and religious populations, and the LGBTQ community. Many different people from the groups mentioned above would also love to offer assistance.
The chart below illustrates what we propose. We based this on successfully implemented policies at SUNY Albany, Case Western Reserve, and the University of California.
CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy Timeline Proposal
| Action | Deadline | Explanation |
| Community Assessment | November 1st | Schools from across CUNY would be surveyed to assess what services students would like to see implemented. |
| Community Input | November 1st | 1. At least 3 town hall meetings hosted by a different CUNY campus in different boroughs would be held to elicit feedback from the diverse CUNY population. 2. Each meeting would be moderated by a student leader and consist of panel of an SGA representative, and a representative from the coalition of CUNY Women’s Centers. |
| Policy Drafting | December 1st | 1. A taskforce consisting of a maximum of 8-10 persons would draft a policy that adheres to the legal standards of the Clery Act, Title IX and any other relevant legal standards, in conjunction with the needs of students. 2. The taskforce will consist of a student representative from each borough and be Chaired by an expert on Title IX compliance (1) within school sexual- assault policies. The taskforce will also consist of Ms. Jerin Alam and Ms. Elischia Fludd, or a representative designated by them. |
| Public | February 1st | Draft of policy would be placed online and distributed throughout each college’s student and faculty governing bodies for review and recommendations for revisions. |
| Policy Revisions | March 1st | 1. Taskforce will make all necessary revisions and prepare document for submission to the Board of Trustees. 2. Taskforce shall meet at least once to revise policy. |
| Policy Submission | April 1st | Final version of the CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy is submitted to the Board of Trustees. |
**Proposal adjustments based on negotiations from Preliminary July 24, 2008 meeting in order of new stages are as follows:
First step: formation of the taskforce
· Maximum number of taskforce members is 11 and includes Presidents or more than likely VP’s from the Student Development/Student Affairs offices (2), a representative from CUNY Legal (1), David Crook from Institutional Research (1), a representative from VC Moore’s office (1), and around five students, including Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd (5).
· At least one representative from the coalition of women’s centers is necessary (1) and perhaps a representative from the LGBTQ community within the current number of persons agreed to be on the taskforce (11).
Second step: Community Assessment
· Further research would be useful to obtain so that the University is better able to assess the scope of the problem as well as what services are desired by students.
**Proposal adjustments based on negotiations from the August 7th conference call with Nick Kanellopolous, VC Schaffer, Jerin Alam, Robert Ramos, Elischia Fludd, and Kristen Bowes, that are additions to the previous negotiations are as follows:
Names of taskforce members
· Names of official taskforce members that are in addition to Nick, Jerin, Elischia, Robert, Kristen, Katie Gentile Director of the Women’s Center from JJ, and Eija Ayravainen Dean of Hunter, would be sent via email so that all members are aware of one another.
Number of taskforce members
· The maximum total number of taskforce members is now 13. One slot for Public Safety and another for a VP is added.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
So there's this policy taskforce- How Can I Help?
At this point in the process, we have immediate need for:
- Organizations and individuals to endorse our cause (willing to sign a letter of support)
- Organizations and individuals to join Students for a Greater CUNY as a member
- A tech-savvy person that is good with website building
- Skilled writers to chronicle CUNY's progress for the students on blogs and through campus media
- Student leaders or organizations that will facilitate setting up 3 town hall meetings within the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, so public opinions can be heard on the draft of the policy.
Taskforce Members
Here are the current taskforce members as of February 12, 2009:
1) Jerin Alam, Hunter College student
2) Vanessa Anderson, Institutional Research
3) Eija Ayravainen, Dean of Student Affairs, Hunter
4) William Barry, University Director of Public Safety
5) Kristen Bowes, Associate General Counsel
6) Anabela Carrera, VP Student Affairs, Hunter College
7) Gilen Chan, Counsel to the President, City Tech
8) Elischia Fludd, John Jay College student
9) Katie Gentile, Director of the Women's Center, John Jay
10) Nicholas Kanellopoulos, Former Vice Chair, Univ. Student Senate
11) Garrie Moore, VC of Student Development
12) Lisa Montgomery, VP of Student Development and Enrollment Management, Hostos
13) Zina Richardson, University Director of Student Affairs
14) Frederick Schaffer, General Counsel and Sr. Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
1) Jerin Alam, Hunter College student
2) Vanessa Anderson, Institutional Research
3) Eija Ayravainen, Dean of Student Affairs, Hunter
4) William Barry, University Director of Public Safety
5) Kristen Bowes, Associate General Counsel
6) Anabela Carrera, VP Student Affairs, Hunter College
7) Gilen Chan, Counsel to the President, City Tech
8) Elischia Fludd, John Jay College student
9) Katie Gentile, Director of the Women's Center, John Jay
10) Nicholas Kanellopoulos, Former Vice Chair, Univ. Student Senate
11) Garrie Moore, VC of Student Development
12) Lisa Montgomery, VP of Student Development and Enrollment Management, Hostos
13) Zina Richardson, University Director of Student Affairs
14) Frederick Schaffer, General Counsel and Sr. Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
Students for a Greater CUNY needs YOU!
What is Students for a Greater CUNY and how can I be a member?
Students for a Greater CUNY seeks to bridge the gap between mid and upper level members of CUNY and students through collaborative projects that enhance CUNY's structure. Our first project is the establishment of a CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy.
Membership is open to students and student organizations within CUNY that are looking to enhance the CUNY community on all issues that positively affects its members and compliments the academic, personal and professional development of students.
All you have to do is provide us with your contact information: Full name, campus, phone number and email address and we will add you to our membership list.
You can email us at cunypolicy08@gmail.com.
To building a Greater CUNY,
Elischia Fludd and Jerin Alam
Co-Founders
Students for a Greater CUNY
Students for a Greater CUNY seeks to bridge the gap between mid and upper level members of CUNY and students through collaborative projects that enhance CUNY's structure. Our first project is the establishment of a CUNY-wide Sexual Assault Policy.
Membership is open to students and student organizations within CUNY that are looking to enhance the CUNY community on all issues that positively affects its members and compliments the academic, personal and professional development of students.
All you have to do is provide us with your contact information: Full name, campus, phone number and email address and we will add you to our membership list.
You can email us at cunypolicy08@gmail.com.
To building a Greater CUNY,
Elischia Fludd and Jerin Alam
Co-Founders
Students for a Greater CUNY
Monday, February 9, 2009
CUNY-WIDE POLICY MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM: COFOUNDERS REVEAL SURVEY RESULTS TO TASKFORCE
Our second press release was sent out on October 31, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students for a Greater CUNY
October 31, 2008
Media Contact: cunypolicy08@gmail.com
CUNY-WIDE POLICY MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM: COFOUNDERS
REVEAL SURVEY RESULTS TO TASKFORCE
Sexual Assault policy taskforce to improve student information on sexual assault
New York, NY- The CUNY-wide sexual assault policy movement is gaining momentum. Student taskforce members and co-founders of the movement, Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd, have kept the taskforce accountable to the students of CUNY, the largest stakeholders in the policy. Their efforts are finally paying off. The dynamic duo revealed the results of a survey of student knowledge of campus sexual assault policies that was widely distributed throughout CUNY via the Internet to the taskforce at their first meeting on October 21st.
Alam and Fludd received a total of 542 responses from 18 of the 23 CUNY campuses by distributing the link to their contacts throughout the University. Survey responses were received from Freshmen through Doctoral students, as well as a few alumni, faculty, BA-MA students and an exchange student to CUNY from Paris.
The most salient results of the survey are that 60-86% of students indicated that they are not aware of the information their college has pertaining to sexual assault, including counseling services, prevention education and disciplinary procedures for when a sexual assault occurs. Over half of students indicated that their college is inadequate in providing information about sexual assault. Moreover, 50-80% of students prefer to receive information about sexual assault through conventional measures such as in the student handbook and on the college website, but also through rape crisis services and mandatory classes.
In response to such overwhelming results, the taskforce unanimously decided to make a strong commitment to adhere to student opinions by including prevention education and training in the system-wide policy. Alam and Fludd remain optimistic that the initial draft of the policy that will be introduced in December will reflect the best interest of all stakeholders within CUNY and meet federal standards.
The taskforce will meet again in December to polish the draft of the policy before scheduling town hall meetings at CUNY campuses in different boroughs to gather feedback from the CUNY community. Alam and Fludd are collecting letters of support for the components of the policy to include the services and information students have asked for. For further information on how you can help, contact Alam and Fludd at cunypolicy08@gmail.com.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students for a Greater CUNY
October 31, 2008
Media Contact: cunypolicy08@gmail.com
CUNY-WIDE POLICY MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM: COFOUNDERS
REVEAL SURVEY RESULTS TO TASKFORCE
Sexual Assault policy taskforce to improve student information on sexual assault
New York, NY- The CUNY-wide sexual assault policy movement is gaining momentum. Student taskforce members and co-founders of the movement, Jerin Alam and Elischia Fludd, have kept the taskforce accountable to the students of CUNY, the largest stakeholders in the policy. Their efforts are finally paying off. The dynamic duo revealed the results of a survey of student knowledge of campus sexual assault policies that was widely distributed throughout CUNY via the Internet to the taskforce at their first meeting on October 21st.
Alam and Fludd received a total of 542 responses from 18 of the 23 CUNY campuses by distributing the link to their contacts throughout the University. Survey responses were received from Freshmen through Doctoral students, as well as a few alumni, faculty, BA-MA students and an exchange student to CUNY from Paris.
The most salient results of the survey are that 60-86% of students indicated that they are not aware of the information their college has pertaining to sexual assault, including counseling services, prevention education and disciplinary procedures for when a sexual assault occurs. Over half of students indicated that their college is inadequate in providing information about sexual assault. Moreover, 50-80% of students prefer to receive information about sexual assault through conventional measures such as in the student handbook and on the college website, but also through rape crisis services and mandatory classes.
In response to such overwhelming results, the taskforce unanimously decided to make a strong commitment to adhere to student opinions by including prevention education and training in the system-wide policy. Alam and Fludd remain optimistic that the initial draft of the policy that will be introduced in December will reflect the best interest of all stakeholders within CUNY and meet federal standards.
The taskforce will meet again in December to polish the draft of the policy before scheduling town hall meetings at CUNY campuses in different boroughs to gather feedback from the CUNY community. Alam and Fludd are collecting letters of support for the components of the policy to include the services and information students have asked for. For further information on how you can help, contact Alam and Fludd at cunypolicy08@gmail.com.
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STUDENTS DEMAND, CUNY RESPONDS: CUNY TO CREATE PREVENTION-FOCUSED SEXUAL-ASSAULT POLICY
Our first press release was sent out on October 17, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students for a Greater CUNY
October 17, 2008
Media Contact: cunypolicy08@gmail.com
STUDENTS DEMAND, CUNY RESPONDS: CUNY TO CREATE
PREVENTION-FOCUSED SEXUAL-ASSAULT POLICY
Students Survey Despite Taskforce Opposition
New York, NY - College sexual assault is a major concern for colleges and universities around the country. Institutions of higher education address how they care for the psychological wellness and physical safety of their students through their sexual assault policies, thereby meeting federal government requirements under Title IX and the Jeanne Cleary Act. Surprisingly, the City University of New York (CUNY) does not have a system‐wide sexual assault policy. In an unprecedented move, Elischia Fludd, a BA/MA student at John Jay, and Jerin Alam, a CUNY Baccalaureate student with home college at Hunter, negotiated with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Frederick Schaffer, for a democratic and transparent process to create a comprehensive, prevention‐focused policy for the more than 300,000 members of CUNY.
A task force has been assembled to create this comprehensive, prevention‐focused sexual assault policy with a commitment that it will be readily accessible to all CUNY members within one academic year. Fludd and Alam make up two of four student leaders on this dynamic, all‐inclusive, taskforce of 12 that represents CUNY’s community and senior colleges, Student Development personnel, faculty and staff researchers, the Department of Public Safety, General Counsel staff, and the Council of Presidents.
Fludd and Alam’s first challenge as members of the taskforce arose this month when some members of the taskforce decided to conduct a survey of Student Development office staff at each CUNY school to assess what services and information students are currently receiving pertaining to sexual assault. The decision of the taskforce was made without a formal meeting of all the members, and despite urgent student requests to maintain the integrity of the proposed transparent process by including a survey of students. Few task force members expressed similar concerns. Fludd and Alam believe that the task force needs to know what services and information students are actually receiving more than what the various schools believe they are doing. Students are the largest stakeholders in gaining a uniform sexual assault policy, and their opinions need to be heard. So Fludd and Alam are surveying CUNY students themselves.
As part of their commitment to keeping the taskforce accountable to the students of CUNY, Fludd and Alam re‐constructed the originally dense survey to create a student‐friendly version on the Internet. Fludd and Alam will voice the student opinions that they gather through this process at the first taskforce meeting. To access the survey, go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CFmGoE44OXJ96y3E9_2f3ebw_3d_3d
The taskforce is scheduled to have its first meeting on Tuesday, October 21st, at 3pm.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students for a Greater CUNY
October 17, 2008
Media Contact: cunypolicy08@gmail.com
STUDENTS DEMAND, CUNY RESPONDS: CUNY TO CREATE
PREVENTION-FOCUSED SEXUAL-ASSAULT POLICY
Students Survey Despite Taskforce Opposition
New York, NY - College sexual assault is a major concern for colleges and universities around the country. Institutions of higher education address how they care for the psychological wellness and physical safety of their students through their sexual assault policies, thereby meeting federal government requirements under Title IX and the Jeanne Cleary Act. Surprisingly, the City University of New York (CUNY) does not have a system‐wide sexual assault policy. In an unprecedented move, Elischia Fludd, a BA/MA student at John Jay, and Jerin Alam, a CUNY Baccalaureate student with home college at Hunter, negotiated with CUNY Vice Chancellor of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Frederick Schaffer, for a democratic and transparent process to create a comprehensive, prevention‐focused policy for the more than 300,000 members of CUNY.
A task force has been assembled to create this comprehensive, prevention‐focused sexual assault policy with a commitment that it will be readily accessible to all CUNY members within one academic year. Fludd and Alam make up two of four student leaders on this dynamic, all‐inclusive, taskforce of 12 that represents CUNY’s community and senior colleges, Student Development personnel, faculty and staff researchers, the Department of Public Safety, General Counsel staff, and the Council of Presidents.
Fludd and Alam’s first challenge as members of the taskforce arose this month when some members of the taskforce decided to conduct a survey of Student Development office staff at each CUNY school to assess what services and information students are currently receiving pertaining to sexual assault. The decision of the taskforce was made without a formal meeting of all the members, and despite urgent student requests to maintain the integrity of the proposed transparent process by including a survey of students. Few task force members expressed similar concerns. Fludd and Alam believe that the task force needs to know what services and information students are actually receiving more than what the various schools believe they are doing. Students are the largest stakeholders in gaining a uniform sexual assault policy, and their opinions need to be heard. So Fludd and Alam are surveying CUNY students themselves.
As part of their commitment to keeping the taskforce accountable to the students of CUNY, Fludd and Alam re‐constructed the originally dense survey to create a student‐friendly version on the Internet. Fludd and Alam will voice the student opinions that they gather through this process at the first taskforce meeting. To access the survey, go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CFmGoE44OXJ96y3E9_2f3ebw_3d_3d
The taskforce is scheduled to have its first meeting on Tuesday, October 21st, at 3pm.
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