tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post3717299207676950272..comments2024-03-27T15:44:43.564-08:00Comments on What Do I Know?: U of Alaska Joins Ranks of Top Universities - US Investigates How They Handle Sexual Assault Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-44178234547330315992014-06-01T12:27:36.406-08:002014-06-01T12:27:36.406-08:00The OCR investigation indicates that UA has seriou...The OCR investigation indicates that UA has serious problems with Title IX, sexual harassment, and other issues related to gender violence and lack of campus safety. All three major campuses--UAF, UAA, and UAS have paid large sums of money to a for-profit consulting firm that manages universities' risk of litigation, specifically including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and Title IX problems. The corporation is the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM) www.ncherm.org. NCHERM is not concerned with student safety or employee well-being; its main concern (and how it makes money) is in advising universities how to manage their reputation around these issues. Consultants from the firm visited UAA last May, and are scheduled to visit UAF for two days in July 2014. Much of UAF's and UAA's Title IX, sexual assault, and sexual harassment policy language is lifted from ATIXA, one of the NCHERM's divisions. The current revision of the student code of conduct for the entire UA system also seems to be shaped by NCHERM, which totally bypasses the principle of shared governance at our universities. When did we turn over university policy-making to outside, private corporations? And how effective has this been, given that the entire system is now under investigation by the Office of Civil Rights? Interestingly, the CEO of NCHERM, Brett Sokolow, has been criticized by Title IX activists for some comments he made in interviews posted on men's rights blogs. I wonder if the fox has been guarding the chicken house here... But even beyond that, the fact that our university system has been farming out policy-making decisions that affect students' safety and well being just makes me sick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com