March 2017 Progress Update

A few of the notable improvements completed or operationalized by functional areas, by March 2017 are:

• A Chief Compliance Officer with responsibility for Title IX and other federal and state regulatory standards has begun work.
• The staff of Baylor's Title IX Office has been expanded, including the hiring of a full-time training and prevention coordinator, and the office is now one of the largest in the Big 12.
• A new Title IX policy, informed by leading experts in the field, has been approved, implemented and distributed to all faculty, staff and students.
• An amnesty provision has been incorporated into the Title IX policy to break down potential barriers to reporting, and an online, confidential reporting tool has been launched.
• Mandatory training for faculty, staff and first-year students has been completed and additional training for upper-division students has been provided.
• A centralized database of student conduct information has been implemented across multiple departments.
• A mandatory drug-testing and education program has launched within the University's athletics programs ensuring compliance above Big 12 and NCAA standards.
• The staff of Baylor's Counseling Center has doubled in size to 21 professionals. Trauma-informed training and PTSD treatment training have been completed among the counseling center staff. Physical space for the counseling center has almost tripled and new specialists to assist with trauma recovery have been hired over the past year. Baylor's staff to student ratio of 1:750 is commensurate with top universities in the nation.
• A full-time Clery coordinator has been named and more than 600 employees designated as Campus Security Authorities (CSA) have been identified and trained to reinforce Clery reporting obligations.
• The University President meets monthly with the Director of Athletics, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, and University Chief Compliance Officer to monitor compliance in all areas of the University.
• New student-athlete transfer policies and recruitment policies have been implemented.
• Baylor police officers have each completed an average of 100 hours of training - more than twice the number of hours required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Included in BUPD training is 32 hours of in-service training to cover Title IX and the Clery Act. Investigators have completed the Texas Sexual Assault Family Violence Investigators Certification Course and the Victim-Centered Interviewing and Forensic Interviewing Course.
• A Victim Advocate has been hired to assist complainants throughout the investigative process, which includes helping the complainant navigate Title IX and criminal justice processes.
• Baylor police now video record all complainant, witness and suspect interviews to reduce the need for complainants to relay information more than once and aid investigators by allowing them to gather information firsthand.
• Baylor has strengthened its partnership with the Waco Advocacy Center and participates in McLennan County's Sexual Assault Response Team.
• A student-focused social climate survey is underway, the results of which will shape additional awareness and prevention training and communication strategies.
• Baylor's Board of Regents adopted more than 30 detailed best-practice recommendations for improvement to university governance that resulted from a comprehensive, independent task force review.