‘Arm’s-length’ investigator to handle abuse cases
Measure falls short of students’ demands, but union sees move as progress
Admitting that it can do more and better address the issue of campus sexual violence, McGill University’s administration is pledging to appoint a “special investigator” who, starting next fall, will handle all cases involving complaints of sexual violence or sexual misconduct.
The move comes in response to ongoing and increasingly loud demands by student leaders, who say the administration has mishandled chronic sexual violence allegations by students against certain professors in the school’s Faculty of Arts for years.
In a message emailed to students, faculty and staff Thursday afternoon, McGill provost and vice-principal (academic) Christopher Manfredi outlined the administration’s plan to appoint an investigator who will operate at arm’s length from whatever faculty, or relevant disciplinary authority, the accused person is associated with, to receive and investigate all reports of sexual violence or sexual misconduct.
“Concerns expressed in recent weeks have focused on the importance of establishing a clearly identified site, outside of any faculty, for reporting incidents of sexual misconduct and sexual violence,” Manfredi wrote.
He said the administration will also set up an ad hoc committee to examine and make policy recommendations on the issue of “intimate relationships between teaching staff and students.” That committee, which will have student representation, is to begin its work this month and submit a report to the senate within six months.
Manfredi closed his email by urging everyone to read the university’s recently developed Guidelines on Intimate Relationships between Teaching Staff and Students.
“These guidelines clarify existing regulations and policies, which will remain in place at least until the work of the ad hoc committee is complete. They remind us of the standards and expectations to which teaching staff are held in their relationships with students. Everyone is urged to read these guidelines carefully,” he wrote.
The measures fall short of student demands, but SSMU representative Connor Spencer told the Montreal Gazette the students’ union sees these actions by the administration as important progress. The SSMU had asked the university to appoint an external investigator, completely independent from the university administration, to examine how the dean of arts had handled informal and formal complaints against faculty members over the past five years.
“We do see this as a win,” Spencer said. “Although it is not an external investigation, it is a special investigator position. This is an important step because it will stop complaints from being mishandled in the future and avoid some of the perceived biases in the current complaints structures.”
Spencer said it is not clear whether the university will have its special investigator look into complaints that have already been filed, but students will continue to demand that the handling of past complaints be re-examined.
She said the SSMU plans to insist the special investigator be someone not associated with McGill’s administration. So far, Manfredi has only indicated that the investigator will not be the relevant authority in the case. So for example, the dean of the Faculty of Arts will no longer be the person to investigate a sexual misconduct complaint launched against a professor in that faculty.
Students at McGill and Concordia have been pushing hard, particularly in recent months, to get their universities to do more to combat sexual violence, particularly the issue of professors sexually harassing or engaging in inappropriate relationships with their students.
The SSMU sent an open letter to McGill principal Suzanne Fortier on April 4 claiming that at least five professors who have been the subject of chronic complaints of misconduct by students continue to teach in the Faculty of Arts. On April 11, more than 700 faculty members and students from Concordia and McGill walked out of classes for a rally at McGill’s downtown campus to draw attention to the issue.
And on April 16, 148 McGill faculty members sided with the students, signing a letter to the administration demanding a third-party investigation into what they also characterized as the mismanagement of sexual misconduct allegations against professors in the Faculty of Arts.
We do see this as a win. Although it is not an external investigation, it is a special investigator position.