September 10, 2020

Dear Members of Our Campus Community,

UC Santa Barbara is committed to maintaining and enhancing a safe, supportive, and respectful community where all individuals can live, learn, and work together in an atmosphere free of discrimination and harassment.

In keeping with these principles, I am writing to reaffirm our commitment to preventing sexual violence and sexual harassment, and to reinforce our campus and systemwide policy and procedure. We would also like to share information regarding the revised policy version and systemwide response frameworks that became effective August 14, 2020.

An important part of our campus efforts includes mandatory reporting requirements, comprehensive training for staff and faculty, and confidential support services. Please review the detailed information below from our UC Santa Barbara Title IX and Sexual Harassment Policy Compliance Office.

Preventing sexual violence and sexual harassment is a responsibility we all share, and enhancing our university’s culture of safety, respect, and accountability is an ongoing commitment of our entire community. Please join me in reaffirming our commitment.

Sincerely,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor

Key Information from UC Santa Barbara’s Title IX & Sexual Harassment Policy Compliance Office

A revised Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy (SVSH Policy) has been released from the UC Office of the President. As of August 14, 2020, they are effective. In summary, the key revisions of the SVSH policy include:

  • An explanation of a subset of prohibited conduct that is now covered by the Department of Education (DOE) regulations, including the time, location, context and definition of the conduct;
  • An explanation of the newly designated DOE Grievance Process if the conduct falls within certain criteria, the differentiation of conduct that falls within the previous Title IX policy and process, and the instances of cases that involve both DOE-covered conduct and other prohibited conduct.

The regulations are complex, and, as a result, the SVSH Policy is also complex. The above overview summarizes the major changes within the updated policy. To further clarify these changes, the University has developed initial FAQs that are available here, and will be updated as appropriate. The CARE Office continues to offer confidential support to UC Santa Barbara students, faculty, and staff affected by sexual harassment or sexual violence. Contact the CARE Office at 805-893-4613.

If you have questions about how the policy might be applied to a particular incident or you have other questions that are not answered by the FAQs, please contact me at ariana.alvarez@ucsb.edu. Additional information is available on the UCSB Title IX website.

Kind regards,

Ariana Alvarez
Title IX Officer