2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 10a - State System of Higher Education › Chapter 185 - Administration of State System › Section 10a-55r. - Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments. Membership. Duties.

(a) There is established a Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments, which shall be part of the Legislative Department. The council shall have the following powers and duties: (1) Develop a list of data points to be collected by institutions of higher education through student responses to sexual misconduct climate assessments. Such data points shall include, but not be limited to, data regarding (A) student awareness of institutional policies and procedures related to sexual assault, stalking and intimate partner violence, (B) if a student reported sexual assault, stalking or violence to an institution of higher education or law enforcement, the response to and results of such report, and (C) student perceptions of campus safety; (2) recommend one or more sexual misconduct climate assessments that collect the data points identified by the council; (3) recommend guidelines for the implementation of such assessments, which shall include, but need not be limited to, procedures for (A) achieving a high rate of response to such assessments to ensure statistically accurate survey results, (B) protecting the confidentiality of respondents to such assessments, and (C) receiving responses to such assessments from as broad and diverse a segment of the student population as possible; and (4) perform such other acts as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the duties described in this section.
(b) The council shall consist of the following members:
(1) The cochairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and employment advancement;
(2) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, who has expertise in the development and design of sexual misconduct climate assessments;
(3) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, who has expertise in statistics, data analytics or econometrics related to higher education assessments;
(4) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be a representative of the Victim Rights Center of Connecticut;
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be a Title IX coordinator at an institution of higher education in the state;
(6) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee;
(7) The president of The University of Connecticut, or the president's designee;
(8) Two designated by the Board of Regents for Higher Education, one of whom represents the Connecticut State University System and one of whom represents the regional community-technical college system;
(9) One designated by the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, who represents the independent institutions of higher education in the state;
(10) Three designated by the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, one of whom is a victim of sexual assault or intimate partner violence who resides in a rural community in the state, one of whom is a victim of sexual assault or intimate partner violence who resides in an urban community in the state and at least one of whom is a person who is black, indigenous or a person of color;
(11) One designated by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who is a victim of intimate partner violence;
(12) One designated by True Colors, Inc., who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or a queer;
(13) The staff director of the Every Voice Coalition of Connecticut, or the staff director's designee; and
(14) Three students, designated by the Every Voice Coalition of Connecticut, one of whom is enrolled at a public institution of higher education, one of whom is enrolled at an independent institution of higher education and at least one of whom is a person who is black, indigenous or a person of color.
(c) Any member of the council appointed or designated under subsection (b) of this section may be a member of the General Assembly.
(d) All initial appointments to the council shall be made not later than sixty days after July 1, 2021, and shall terminate on June 30, 2026, regardless of when the initial appointment or designation was made. Any member of the council may serve more than one term.
(e) The cochairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education shall jointly select the chairperson of the council from among the members of the council. The chairperson of the council shall schedule the first meeting of the council, which shall be held not later than sixty days after July 1, 2021.
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education shall serve as administrative staff of the council.
(g) Members of the council who are appointed or designated shall serve for four-year terms, which shall commence on the date of appointment, except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. Members shall continue to serve until their successors are appointed or designated.
(h) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing or designating authority not later than thirty days after the vacancy occurs. Any vacancy occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term.
(i) A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.
(j) The members of the council shall serve without compensation, but shall, within the limits of available funds, be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.
(k) The council shall meet as often as deemed necessary by the chairperson or a majority of the council. Any appointed or designated member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from the council.
(l) Not later than January 1, 2022, and every two years thereafter, the council shall submit, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and to each institution of higher education in the state the (1) list of data points developed by the council, and (2) recommended sexual misconduct climate assessments and guidelines for the implementation of such assessments.
(P.A. 21-81, S. 2; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2, S. 125.)
History: P.A. 21-81 effective July 1, 2021; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2 amended Subsec. (b)(1) by adding “and ranking members” and Subsecs. (d) and (e) by substituting “July 1, 2021,” for “the effective date of this section”, effective July 1, 2021.