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The Faculty Senate passed its resolution to revise the draft of the university's sexual harassment policy Tuesday, sending the policy back to SIU President Glenn Poshard's office for consideration.
The senate passed a resolution containing 10 amendments, which it compiled after 60 faculty members responded to a survey written by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
The resolution stated the main concerns among faculty included: sensitivity to the concerns of sexual harassment targets, complainants and their witnesses, fairness to accused parties, protection of the university and consistency with the law.
Mary Lamb, vice president of the senate, said she thinks the overall resolution will have a major impact on the Board of Trustees' final decision about what is included within the policy.
"In the past, it was felt due process wasn't offered to anyone in a sexual harassment case," Lamb said. "It was about the board's rights but now it's about the rights of the accuser and the accused."
Lamb said she was disappointed with some results of the survey but was happy the faculty would have a voice in the new sexual harassment policy.
The resolution had some amendments of its own before the senate agreed to pass it.
In one amendment to the resolution, the senate agreed to remove the word "physical" from the phrase "Decisions to (ban a person from campus) during an investigation or an appeal shall be made only if the accused poses an immediate and direct physical threat to abuse."
James Ferraro, an associate professor of physiology, suggested the committee add the definition of sexual harassment from the Illinois Human Rights Act.
Ferraro said it makes sense to follow the legal language used by the Illinois legislature.
"Why reinvent the wheel?" Ferraro asked. "We should use the definition of sexual harassment, verbatim, as given in the state law."
The senate debated the proposal before Mark Amos, an associate professor of English, urged the senate to pass the resolution no matter what decision was made. The senate agreed to add the amendment to the resolution.
Amos, chair of the senate's governance committee, said the senate had one last chance to make its voice heard.
"This is the strongest statement we are going to make," Amos said. "If we wait any longer, we will miss our chance."
Lamb said the biggest victory of the resolution was taking power away from the compliance officer. She said before the resolution, the compliance officer would have sole control over all sexual harassment cases.
Another amendment suggested the accused and accuser would have access to the reports of the investigation. People involved in sexual harassment cases would also have the right to present their own appeals in front of a three-person panel if the senate's changes are implemented.
Lamb said the resolution is only a suggestion at this point, and other campus groups must still submit reports to the president's office. While the Board of Trustees will have the final say, Lamb said she hopes the proposal does not go unnoticed.
"The compliance officer was the judge and jury over anyone accused of sexual harassment," Lamb said. "This resolution gives people their rights back, so I think it will be taken seriously."
The original deadline was Nov. 1, but no new deadline was set after Poshard and interim Chancellor Sam Goldman decided more discussion was necessary.
Jeff Engelhardt can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 268 or jengel@siu.edu.
