SAN FRANCISCO - The state auditor says California's public universities need to do a better job of educating students about campus sexual harassment and violence policies and then keeping those who bring complaints informed about the status of their cases.
California State Auditor Elaine Howle concluded in a report issued Tuesday that the four universities her office studied — UC Berkeley, UCLA, Cal State Chico and San Diego State — have generally adequate procedures for responding to individual incidents.
But Howle says faculty and staff members who might be the first to hear about an assault are not being sufficiently trained and that policies for reporting complaints are not always prominently displayed on campus, as required by state law.
The schools have acknowledged the auditor's findings and say they plan to address the auditor's findings.
In response to the report, San Diego State University released the following statement:
“We appreciate the opportunity this audit gave us to look at our policies and procedures as they relate to the issues of Title IX, sexual assault and sexual harassment on our campus. San Diego State University is committed to training and educating our students, faculty and staff about these issues, and appropriately managing reported incidents. There is always room for improvement. The audit provides continued opportunities for this, and we will be following those recommendations.”
KPBS reporter Greg Magnus contributed to this report.
