By
Maya Schechter
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Direction offered for students to report violations
A recently revised sexual harassment policy has been established to benefit everyone in the UA community - especially students who may not know where or how to file a complaint.
The sexual harassment policy is administered by the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office and has been revised three time since its original adoption in December 1982.
The policy begins, "The University of Arizona prohibits unlawful discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability veteran's status, or sexual orientation."
Janie Nunez, associate vice president at the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office, said the new policy clarifies where incidents should be reported if both parties are students.
The previous policy stated that incidents of sexual harassment should be reported to the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office, but now if the complaint involves only students, they should be reported through the Dean of Students office.
"The policy was just clarified so students could really understand where to go," Nunez said.
The sexual harassment policy is based on the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Education Amendments of 1972, and other laws that prohibit discrimination because of sex.
"If there any changes in federal and state laws, we will need to change our policy," Nunez said. "Right now, it complies with all the laws."
UA President Peter Likins said he is pleased with the results of the policy, after they were approved through the appropriate procedures.
"I am very pleased and quite satisfied with this policy and its end result," Likins said.
Likins added that sexual harassment is a complicated issue, and he is confident that the policy will protect both parties involved.
"We have to make sure the victims are protected, but we also have to make sure that no false allegations are made," he said.
Nunez said that there have probably been times where students have withdrawn from classes because they were uncomfortable.
She also said there may be situations when a student will wait until the end of the semester to report an incident.
"I understand that it may be hard to file a complaint, especially when their grade (in class) may be affected," she added.
Nunez said she believes the administrators have done a good job educating and informing everyone on campus about the policy.
"Awareness and education is just so important," she said.
A lot of hard work went into preparing the revision, Nunez said, and she is pleased with the positive feedback she has received from different campus groups.
INFOBOX:
UA's newly revised sexual harassment policy can be found at:
http://w3.arizona.edu/~affirm/home.html
