The UK community will now rely on an updated set of regulations to guide disciplinary proceedings in cases of alleged sexual assault and other similar incidents. 

President Eli Capilouto announced the changes to Administrative Regulation 6:2 were the “result of concerns and suggestions made by a variety of persons within the University Community,” in an all-campus email Monday.

Capilouto noted the most important aspects of the new policy to be:

• Both sides in a sexual assault claim have the right to an attorney during the investigation and any subsequent disciplinary hearing.

• We will continue to use the standard of “preponderance of evidence” to determine whether the policy has been violated.

• A hearing panel must be unanimous in determining that the policy has been violated. That finding can be appealed. If the panel is divided, the finding is not responsible. That finding cannot be appealed.

• Final decisions on sanctions, if warranted by the panel’s findings, are made by the Provost in the case of faculty; leadership for Student and Academic Life for students; and the University’s Vice President for Human Resources in the case of staff.  

The proposed changes are the byproduct of a year’s work done by a committee appointed by the University Senate, according to Capilouto’s release.

This committee, led by the new University Senate Council Chair Jennifer Bird-Pollan, spent time reviewing existing policies and practices dealing with cases of alleged sexual assault in order to formulate their recommendation to the administration, according to the release.

The administration said they also sought input on the policies from other campus groups, and even made their drafted regulations available to the campus community for critique in the weeks prior to the announcement.

The newest changes to the regulations go into effect today, June 18.