Iowa regents ask universities to get 'on the same page' in sex offense reporting

Iowa's three public universities did not report their campus crime statistics to the Board of Regents in the same way this year, and a regent subcommittee on Thursday requested they do so.

The issue emerged after the University of Iowa included in its crime statistics — specifically its sex offense numbers — third-party reports, like those made to residence assistants but not directly to police. Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa, conversely, only included sex offense reports made to their public safety departments.

Because the federal Clery Act requires universities track sex offense reports made to departments other than campus police, the UI in 2014 began including those third-party numbers in their annual Clery statistics 'in an effort to improve transparency,' said UI spokeswoman Hayley Bruce.

But this year, with new UI Public Safety Director Scott Beckner at the helm, the campus for the first time included those third-party numbers in its Board of Regents report. That spiked sex offense numbers threefold — from 16 in 2015 to 49 in 2016.

Within that total, UI rape reports rose from seven to 19, and its forcible fondling numbers increased from 10 to 28.

Meanwhile, ISU's sex offense numbers remained mostly flat, bumping up one from 12 to 13. UNI's numbers also stayed level, increasing from one to three on the year.

Removing Iowa's third-party reports from its 2016 sex offense statistics lowers the figure to 21 direct sex offense reports on the year. That still represents an increase, although a more modest one of 31 percent. Without third-party reports, UI police in 2016 took nine forcible fondling reports and 11 rape reports, meaning numbers stayed mostly level.

To the overall increase, Bruce said, 'The fact that reports are rising should indicate that the university as a whole is fostering an environment that makes it more comfortable for victim-survivors to report sexual assaults.'

The variances in statistical reporting prompted discussion Thursday during a Board of Regents campus safety and security subcommittee meeting. The board in the past has not specifically requested 'apples-to-apples' statistics, and staffers this year did not confirm the numbers were comparatively aligned.

But regent Sherry Bates, who heads the committee, asked they 'all get on the same page.' She directed Diana Gonzalez, chief academic officer, to work with the campuses to ensure similar issues don't arise in the future.

Jan Hanish, UNI interim vice president of student affairs, voiced concern with including third-party statistics in future board reports.

'I don't think we want to have people recreate the Clery report for this group,' she said. 'It's like an all-day, everyday job for somebody in some place.'

Hanish said campus staff members will get valid, clear, and 'realistic' information to the board.

'But we just heard all the stuff they're doing,' she said. 'We don't want to overburden with overreporting.'

When the UI in 2014 began including in its Clery reports third-party numbers — which are not investigated for reasons including lack of interest by the victim or lack of suspect information — Penn State University was in the news for sexual assault violations.

An investigation found that institutions failed to maintain accurate and complete daily crime logs, including reports in residence halls and on non-campus property.

The issue of sexual assault has consumed college campuses both nationally and locally in recent years. Both the UI and Iowa State, along with Grinnell College and Drake University in Iowa, are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for their handling of sexual assaults.

And the federal government in recent years has rolled out new rules, standards, and mandates prompting Iowa's institutions to update policies and launch initiatives aimed at improving the climate. Former UI President Sally Mason in 2014 introduced a six-point plan to combat sexual misconduct, which — among other things — increased safe-ride services, upped staffing, cracked down on offenders, and improved the website for its Office of the Sexual Misconduct Response Coordinator.

The university in the fall also released a new anti-violence plan focused on ending sexual misconduct, dating violence, and stalking. That plan referenced data the university compiled through a campus climate survey that found one in five of female undergraduates who responded reported being sexually assaulted since enrolling at UI.

The university is continuing to collect data, as fewer than 3,000 of the potential 28,787 UI students responded to that first survey.

Proposed legislation

On Thursday, federal lawmakers, including Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, renewed a push for legislation to combat sexual assault on college and university campuses. The bipartisan legislation, according to a news release, would better protect students, promote equity, and strengthen accountability and transparency by establishing new resources, new campus disciplinary requirements, and new minimum training standards for on-campus personnel.

'For the first time, students at every college and university in America will be surveyed about their experience with sexual violence to get an accurate picture of this problem,' according to the news release.

Schools that don't comply with certain requirements outlined in the bill could face financial penalties amounting to up to 1 percent of their operating budgets. The bill also would increase penalties for Clery Act violations to $150,000 per violation, up from $35,000.