KPU Releases Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy

Policy will address the prevention of and response to sexual misconduct at the university
Alyssa Laube, Associate Editor

As mandated by the provincial government, Kwantlen Polytechnic University published an official sexual violence and misconduct policy for all members of the university community in late April.

The document is designed to “support the University’s commitment to establishing a safe and respectful learning and working environment,” taking into account the existence, prevention, and response to sexual misconduct on-campus or online, if relevant to university business.

Students, employees, and board members are all included within the scope of the policy, which focuses heavily on how cases will be handled by the university, and and also how to prevent them. There are nine principles that guide it, many of which place an unprecedented amount of responsibility on KPU.

For instance, campuses must be an environment “where Sexual Violence and Misconduct is not tolerated, and where members of the University community feel safe to report possible violations of this Policy.” That includes providing support services and confidentiality for survivors and respondents in a timely manner, conducting fair investigations of violations of the policy, investing in “ongoing sexual violence education, awareness and prevention programming” that is inclusive, and reviewing the policy once every three years—or at the will of the Minister of Advanced Education—including consultations with students and employees.

The policy marks an enormous step forward for KPU as a safe space for those who depend on it for a career, education, and community. Prior to its release, drafts of the document were posted online for comment by KPU students and employees. On-campus groups such as feminist collective Women Organising Opportunities for Women also contributed to making it more comprehensive.

A list of procedures for dealing with sexual violence and misconduct—including a list of definitions, a more detailed account of university responsibilities and how to report incidents of sexual violence and misconduct, and victim and respondent protection and confidentiality—was also released. It specifies that KPU President Alan Davis must “report to the Board on the implementation of the Policy” every year, and that “The President’s Advisory Committee on Sexual Violence and Misconduct will remain active to provide ongoing oversight of the Policy and Procedures for one year following approval.”

Jane Fee, KPU Deputy Provost & Vice Provost Students, says that the University was already working on a sexual violence misconduct policy in 2015, before the province made it mandatory. For that reason, the Board was “in a good position to be ready.”

That being said, there was still considerable consulting and revising done for the policy leading up to its publication.

“A lot of the changes were related to the definitions,” says Fee. “There was a great deal of input on those, and there was a good deal of change relating to how much information actually went into the procedures, vis-a-vis how much of it will be information that’s available on the website. I guess a third type of change was in trying to be very, very clear on the difference between a disclosure, a complaint, and a report.”

As for implementation of the policy, Fee says that the university will be working with the Kwantlen Student Association on an annual consent campaign, and is “looking towards mapping out” bystander training for KPU community members. They will also be hiring a sexual violence prevention and programs manager “that will really be a person who will be at KPU full-time to work on education and training programs” sometime in the fall.

“A policy is just a policy, as far as I’m concerned,” says Fee. “The real work around the policy is the implementation of all of the elements that come after the approval process. Really that’s the heavy lifting. Towards that end, our president’s advisory group is going to stay together for at least one year to continue in that important work of ensuring that the implementation of that policy goes smoothly.”