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MSU's OIE and Title IX release first 2015-16 SARV report

September 29, 2016
<p>Hannah Administration Building on Aug. 29, 2015. Courtney Kendler/The State News</p>

Hannah Administration Building on Aug. 29, 2015. Courtney Kendler/The State News

Photo by Courtney Kendler | The State News

MSU's Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX Office released their first annual report that details sexual misconduct and relationship violence complaints MSU received during the 2015-16 academic year, according to a press release.

There were 461 incidents reported to OIE under MSU’s Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct Policy, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, relationship violence, stalking and retaliation.

“We believe the increase in reports is a result of efforts at MSU to raise awareness, rather than an increase in incidents,” Title IX Coordinator Jessica Norris said in the release. “This is consistent with data from the National College Health Assessment that shows MSU students have the highest level of awareness regarding sexual assault and relationship violence among all participating universities."

In the 2014-15 report — prior to the implementation of the OIE — there were 201 estimated incidents reported. The office was created in April 2015.

Of the 461 incidents, 66 were formally investigated and 378 were not investigated because of a variety of reasons — 289 were not investigated because the complainant either did not want to move forward or did not follow-up with investigators, 50 were cases MSU did not have jurisdiction over, 27 cases did not meet the standards set by the Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct Policy and 12 were resolved through administrative closure outside of the OIE. 

Average time to complete investigations reduced to 104 days from 153 days in 2014-15, according to the report.

Of the incidents, 177 were sexual assault, 72 were relationship violence, 132 were sexual harassment, 67 were stalking, four were multiple violations and seven were retaliation.

There were 31 sanctions with outcomes varying from probation to expulsion. Of those, 23 cases were students, four were university employees, three were faculty and one was not affiliated with the university.

Follow The State News for more updates within the report.

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