Complying with Campus
SaVE Act
Officials at Mission College, West Valley College and the
West Valley-Mission Community College District have been working together to
implement requirements of the federal Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE)
Act, which addresses the violence individuals face on college campuses across
the country.
“At both colleges, we don’t see this as just a mandate that
we need to be in compliance with,” said Myo Myint, former interim dean of student
services at Mission College. “Instead, we welcome the opportunity to make our
campuses safer for our students, especially knowing that, in the past, society
as a whole has kind of blamed the victim in some cases. We really welcome the
opportunity this Campus SaVE Act provides to change those attitudes and
beliefs.”
The SaVE Act, an extension to the federal Clery Act, requires
that colleges, including community colleges, meet mandates in three primary areas
related to violence against individuals – transparency, accountability and
education.
With regards to transparency, colleges must disclose
incidences of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking
in annual campus crime statistic reports. They also must ensure that students
or employees are aware of their rights related to reporting a crime as well as
existing counseling, mental health and other services.
The accountability portion of the SaVE Act focuses on
disciplinary procedures covering domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault
and stalking, while the education component instructs colleges to provide programming
for both students and employees on those issues. Education programs must
include a variety of components, including prevention and awareness programs
for all incoming students and new employees, as well as ongoing programs for
students and faculty.
The District as a whole, as well as Mission College and West
Valley College, have updated their policies and administrative procedures to
reflect the new requirements. Additionally, both colleges are in the process of
deciding on the best approach to providing the necessary training for faculty,
staff and other personnel on campus.
Already, the colleges have been stepping up education
efforts with students and documenting the results. Earlier this fall, for
example, Mission College held a talk on campus about domestic violence and drew
more than 80 students, Myint said. That’s a big increase compared with previous
talks, he said.
“It’s not that this is something new, but we’re now really
documenting these things a little bit more,” Myint said.
For Victoria Hindes, vice president of student services at
West Valley College, the emphasis on prevention is a big benefit of the new
requirements. For example, she said, the college has put together a quick
prevention checklist for students, encouraging students to ask themselves a
range of questions from whether they know the characteristics of a healthy
relationship to whether they know where on campus to go for support and
assistance.
“The important part is that we want to make sure that
students are well-informed and to let them know that there are support
mechanisms in place,” Hindes said. “It produces a better informed, better
educated citizenry of students.”
Additionally, Hindes said, the new requirements will help
ensure awareness of staff and faculty. Faculty, because of their daily contact
with students, are often among the first people to whom students will report
incidents. The new requirements provide clear guidelines, she said, on exactly
how to handle these situations, which benefits both students and those who work
with them.
To learn more about each college’s efforts, visit: westvalley.edu/services/student-right-to-know/campus-save-act.html
and www.missioncollege.org/gen_info/info_and_disclosures/index.html.