Cornell officials investigated fewer cases of campus misconduct but received significantly more allegations of sexual harassment in 1996-97 compared with the previous year.
University officials investigated 483 incidents of campus misconduct and received 34 allegations of sexual harassment in 1996-97, according to two reports issued recently.
The annual report from the Office of the Judicial Administrator showed that between July 1, 1996, and June 30, 1997, the office handled 483 new cases involving 586 potential defendants. That compares with 497 cases and 596 defendants in 1995-96, for a 2.8 percent decrease in cases and a 1.7 percent decrease in defendants. The number of cases reported in 1995-96 was the highest ever reported.
"Two categories showed significant increases during 1996-97: theft (an increase of 34 cases, from 96 to 130) and noncompliance (an increase of 32 cases, from 64 to 96)," the report noted. The categories showing the most significant decreases were fraud, down 29 cases, from 93 to 64, and alcohol/drug cases, down 32, from 90 to 58.
The office issued 381 written reprimands, with many of those including other penalties, such as community service.
Education is considered a top priority in the office, and in 152 of the 483 cases, or 31.5 percent, the penalty was an oral warning. These cases covered a broad range of offenses, such as minor violations of university dining hall policies and unauthorized switch of residence hall rooms. Seventy-nine alleged violations were resolved with no action being taken, for reasons such as lack of jurisdiction, insufficient evidence of a violation or a complainant's decision to drop the allegation.
"The number of cases reported to our office was down slightly during 1996-97, about 3 percent, and that is good," Judicial Administrator Barbara Krause said. "I hope that our office can continue to work with other offices on campus to provide educational information that might help avoid even more problems in the future. But I think Cornell, like other institutions of higher education, will continue to face the challenge of misconduct related to widespread computer use and misconduct associated with alcohol abuse."
Community service was the most frequently assessed penalty. The defendants were assessed 11,372 hours of community service. Of the total, 2,472 hours were suspended, leaving 8,900 hours to be completed.
Restitution of $3,269.93 was required to be paid.
The Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) reported that it received 34 allegations of sexual harassment in 1996-97, double the 17 cases reported the previous year but fewer than the 44 cases reported in 1994-95. The 34 allegations include 31 allegations of employment-related sexual harassment and three allegations of student-to-student sexual harassment.
"While this year marks an increase in the number of concerns heard and/or handled, readers must bear in mind that the 1995-96 fiscal year was an anomaly due to campuswide debates surrounding the sexual harassment procedures," the report noted. "The 34 concerns heard this fiscal year appear more in line with the overall five-year decline in sexual harassment concerns."
The conduct alleged in 1996-97 included sexual commentary and jokes, solicitous e-mail messages, sexual propositions and come-ons, unwelcome touching, unwelcome romantic attention and visual images displayed or dispersed in the work environment that are sexually explicit.
Of the 31 employment-related concerns heard by OEO, 14 were handled as consultations only, at the request of the concerned party. A consultation usually involves a meeting between an OEO staff member and the concerned party, during which the concerned party is asked to recount, as specifically as possible, the events surrounding his or her concern. After gaining a full understanding of the concerns, the staff member provides relevant information pertaining to laws, university policy, self-help strategies and institutional and community resources available to address the concerns. Self-help strategies, informal intervention and investigation are discussed as options.
It is up to the concerned party, based on the information received, to decide whether he or she wishes to pursue one or more of those options. Of the 31 employment-related concerns, the remaining 17 were
handled through informal intervention at the request of the concerned party. The types of intervention possible at an informal level are numerous and are determined on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the supervisor or department head. They can include a change in the reporting structure between the people involved or an oral or written warning. Education is the focus of most OEO intervention strategies.
The OEO reports it received no requests to investigate a sexual harassment complaint that would have required processing under University Policy 6.4, Sexual Harassment Procedures. The procedures were promulgated by the university in July 1996.
In addition to the 31 employment-related concerns of sexual harassment, OEO referred the three allegations of student-versus-student sexual harassment to the judicial administrator.
Summaries of some 1996-97 cases handled in the campus judicial system