President issues progress report on sexual assault prevention initiatives

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As the UO wrapped up a month of events dedicated to bringing attention to the issue of sexual assault, the university reached another milestone in its efforts to prevent sexual violence and provide support to survivors.

On May 8, interim President Scott Coltrane issued a progress report to the three groups that made dozens of recommendations about how the university can better address sexual assault on campus. The university has accepted, completed or is working to implement the vast majority of recommendations, including hiring a new campus leader to address sexual assault, making student code of conduct changes and expanding student-to-student education programs.

Coltrane says that he’s created an executive team to work with the new assistant vice president and an advisory group to keep all of the recommendations moving forward and on track.

“This problem is too big for one committee, unit, vice president, or even one university to tackle,” Coltrane said. “Our approach to addressing these issues must be multi-faceted, holistic and comprehensive.”

The recommendations came from three different reports, from the President’s Review Panel, the University Senate Task Force to Address Sexual Violence, and the Division of Student Life. Some of the other actions taken in the past year and a half include:

  • New prevention and response website, printed material and a 24/7 confidential reporting hotline (SAFE.uoregon.edu).
  • Two new Office of Affirmative Action sexual violence investigators.
  • New prevention and response staff positions.
  • Addition of $15,000 for emergency survivor support.
  • New women’s self-defense credit classes.
  • Temporary student conduct code changes to improve process and accountability.
  • Additional confidential reporting options in the dean of students office and the ombudsperson’s office.
  • MOU agreement with Eugene police to coordinate investigations with UOPD and the university.
  • Auditing Fraternity and Sorority Life and publicly posting any sanctions.

Coltrane is current taking nominations for a new Sexual Assault Advisory Council. by email. For more information about the council, or the comprehensive plan visit the president’s website.