Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 102-0325
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Public Act 102-0325


 

Public Act 0325 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 102-0325
 
SB1610 EnrolledLRB102 16432 CMG 21823 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher
Education Act is amended by adding Section 35 as follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 155/35 new)
    Sec. 35. Sexual misconduct climate survey.
    (a) As used in this Section:
    "Base survey" means a base set of common questions
recommended by the Task Force on Campus Sexual Misconduct
Climate Surveys and approved by the Executive Director of the
Board of Higher Education.
    "Student" means a person who is enrolled in a public or
private degree-granting, post-secondary higher education
institution, whether part-time, full-time, or as an extension
student, including any person who has taken a leave of absence
or who has withdrawn from the higher education institution due
to being a victim of sexual misconduct.
    "Trauma informed" means an understanding of the
complexities of sexual violence, domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking through training centered on the
neurobiological impact of trauma, the influence of societal
myths and stereotypes surrounding sexual violence, domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking, and understanding the
behavior of perpetrators.
    (b) Each higher education institution shall annually
conduct a sexual misconduct climate survey of all students at
the institution. Each higher education institution's sexual
misconduct climate survey shall include the base survey, which
the Board of Higher Education shall provide to the institution
every 2 years. Each institution may append its own
campus-specific questions to the base survey if questions do
not require the disclosure of any personally identifying
information by the students and are trauma informed. The Board
of Higher Education, in consultation with the Office of the
Attorney General, as necessary, shall review any complaints
submitted by students who believe that questions included in
the campus sexual misconduct climate survey are traumatizing.
Within 120 days after completion of a sexual misconduct
climate survey, but no later than one year after the Board of
Higher Education issued the last base survey, each institution
shall compile a summary of the results of the sexual
misconduct climate survey, including, but not limited to, the
complete aggregated results for each base survey question, and
shall submit the summary to the Board of Higher Education, as
well as publish the summary on the institution's website in an
easily accessible manner.
    (c) The Task Force on Campus Sexual Misconduct Climate
Surveys is created. The Task Force shall consist of the
following members:
        (1) the Executive Director of the Board of Higher
    Education or a designee, who shall serve as chairperson;
        (2) the Governor or a designee;
        (3) one member of the Senate, appointed by the
    President of the Senate;
        (4) one member of the House of Representatives,
    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
        (5) one member of the Senate, appointed by the
    Minority Leader of the Senate;
        (6) one member of the House of Representatives,
    appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of
    Representatives;
        (7) the Attorney General or a designee;
        (8) the Director of Public Health or a designee; and
        (9) the following members appointed by the Governor:
            (A) one member who is a student attending a public
        higher education institution in Illinois;
            (B) one member who is a student attending a
        private higher education institution in Illinois;
            (C) one member who is a student attending a
        community college in Illinois;
            (D) one member who is a representative of the
        University of Illinois recommended by the president of
        the university;
            (E) one member who is a representative of the
        Illinois Community College Board;
            (F) one member who is a representative of private
        colleges and universities recommended by the
        Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and
        Universities;
            (G) 3 members who are representatives of survivors
        of sexual assault recommended by the Illinois
        Coalition Against Sexual Assault, with one
        specifically representing survivors in rural
        communities and one specifically representing
        survivors in urban communities;
            (H) one member who is a representative of a
        non-profit legal services organization that provides
        legal representation to victims of campus sexual
        assault in Illinois;
            (I) one member who is a representative recommended
        by the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence;
            (J) one member who is a representative recommended
        by Equality Illinois;
            (K) one member who is a representative of an
        immigrant rights advocacy organization;
            (L) one member who is a representative recommended
        by the Every Voice Coalition or any successor
        organization of the Every Voice Coalition;
            (M) one member who is a researcher with experience
        in the development and design of sexual misconduct
        climate surveys; and
            (N) one member who is a researcher of statistics,
        data analytics, or econometrics with experience in
        higher education survey analysis.
    The Task Force shall hold its first meeting as soon as
practicable after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly. Administrative and other support
for the Task Force shall be provided by the Board of Higher
Education. Members of the Task Force shall serve 2-year terms
that commence on the date of appointment. Members shall
continue to serve until their successors are appointed. Any
vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Any
vacancy occurring other than by expiration of the term shall
be filled for the balance of the unexpired term. A majority of
the Task Force shall constitute a quorum for the transaction
of any business.
    Members of the Task Force shall serve without compensation
but shall be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in
the performance of their duties if funds are available.
However, the higher education institution in which a student
member is enrolled may compensate that student for
participating on the Task Force through a work-study program
or by providing a stipend to support the work of the student
member on the Task Force.
    (d) The Task Force shall develop and recommend to the
Board of Higher Education the base survey for distribution to
higher education institutions and provide the Board of Higher
Education with any related recommendations regarding the
content, timing, and application of the base survey. The Task
Force shall deliver the base survey and related
recommendations, including, but not limited to,
recommendations on achieving statistically valid response
rates, to the Board of Higher Education no less often than
every 2 years and for the first time on or before July 31,
2022. Thereafter, the Task Force shall meet in the year 2024
and in the year 2026 to review the results of the survey and to
implement updates and improvements. The Task Force is
dissolved after the completion of the 2026 base survey. After
the dissolution of the Task Force, the Executive Director of
the Board of Higher Education or a designee shall review the
base survey every 2 years to consider any feedback that has
been received and to implement improvements.
    (e) In developing the base survey, the Task Force shall:
        (1) utilize best practices from peer-reviewed research
    and consult with individuals with expertise in the
    development and use of sexual misconduct climate surveys
    by higher education institutions;
        (2) review sexual misconduct climate surveys that have
    been developed and previously utilized by higher education
    institutions in Illinois and by other states that mandate
    campus climate surveys;
        (3) provide opportunities for written comment from
    survivors and organizations that work directly with
    survivors of sexual misconduct to ensure the adequacy and
    appropriateness of the proposed content;
        (4) consult with institutions on strategies for
    optimizing the effectiveness of the survey;
        (5) account for the diverse needs and differences of
    higher education institutions; and
        (6) review the base survey to ensure that the strategy
    for gathering information is trauma informed.
    (f) The base survey shall gather information on topics,
including, but not limited to:
        (1) the number and type of incidents, both reported to
    the higher education institution and unreported to the
    higher education institution, of sexual misconduct at the
    higher education institution;
        (2) when and where incidents of sexual misconduct
    occurred, such as on campus, off campus, abroad, or
    online;
        (3) student awareness of institutional policies and
    procedures related to campus sexual misconduct;
        (4) whether a student reported the sexual misconduct
    to the higher education institution and, if so, to which
    campus resource such report was made and, if not, the
    reason for the student's decision not to report;
        (5) whether a student reported the sexual misconduct
    to law enforcement and, if so, to which law enforcement
    agency such report was made;
        (6) whether a student was informed of or referred to
    local, State, campus, or other resources or victim support
    services, including appropriate medical care, advocacy,
    counseling, and legal services;
        (7) whether a student was provided information
    regarding his or her right to protection from retaliation,
    access to school-based accommodations, and criminal
    justice remedies;
        (8) contextual factors, such as the involvement of
    force, incapacitation, coercion, or drug or alcohol
    facilitation;
        (9) demographic information that could be used to
    identify at-risk groups, including, but not limited to,
    gender, race, immigration status, national origin,
    ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, and
    gender identity;
        (10) perceptions of campus safety among members of the
    campus community and confidence in the institution's
    ability to protect against and respond to incidents of
    sexual misconduct;
        (11) whether the student has chosen to withdraw or has
    taken a leave of absence from the institution or
    transferred to another institution;
        (12) whether the student has withdrawn from any
    classes or has been placed on academic probation as a
    result of the incident; and
        (13) other questions as determined by the Task Force.
All questions on the base survey shall be optional or shall
offer the student the option to select "I prefer not to answer"
as a response on the survey.
    (g) The sexual misconduct climate survey shall collect
anonymous responses and shall not provide for the public
disclosure of any personally identifying information. No
institution may use or attempt to use information collected
through the sexual misconduct climate survey to identify or
contact any individual student on campus, nor shall the
results of the survey be used as the basis for any type of
investigation or disciplinary or legal proceeding.
    (h) There shall be established within the Office of the
Board of Higher Education a data repository for all summaries
of sexual misconduct climate surveys submitted by higher
education institutions to the Board of Higher Education in
accordance with subsection (b). The Board of Higher Education
shall ensure that the sexual misconduct climate survey data
submitted by all institutions is available to the public in an
easily accessible manner on the Board of Higher Education's
website.
    (i) Each higher education institution shall publish on the
institution's website in an easily accessible manner:
        (1) the campus level results of the survey;
        (2) the annual security report required under the
    federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy
    and Campus Crime Statistics Act;
        (3) the reports required under Section 9.21 of the
    Board of Higher Education Act; and
        (4) a link to the Board of Higher Education's
    statewide data on sexual misconduct climate survey data as
    set forth in subsection (h).
    (j) The Board of Higher Education shall establish rules
and procedures, including deadlines for dissemination and
collection of survey information, consistent with the purposes
of this Section and shall promote effective solicitation to
achieve the highest practical response rate, collection, and
publication of statistical information gathered from higher
education institutions.
    (k) Upon determination, after reasonable notice and
opportunity for a hearing, that a higher education institution
has violated or failed to carry out any provision of this
Section or any rule adopted under this Section, the Board of
Higher Education may impose a civil penalty upon such
institution not to exceed $50,000, which shall be adjusted for
inflation annually, for each violation. The Board of Higher
Education shall use any such civil penalty funds to provide
oversight of this Section and to provide funding to community
organizations that provide services to sexual assault victims.
The Attorney General may bring an action in the circuit court
to enforce the collection of any monetary penalty imposed
under this subsection (k).
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/6/2021