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AAU Principles on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Academia

AAU and its member institutions are dedicated to supporting an environment in which students, staff, and faculty can fully participate in the campus community, while free from gender-based harassment, sexual harassment, and other sexual misconduct, and where the institution does not tolerate retaliation for reporting such misconduct or participating in the process to address it. These principles address sexual misconduct in all forms, including sexual and gender-based harassment and related retaliation.

As members of AAU, it is our responsibility to:

  1. Foster a climate and culture where sexual misconduct is unacceptable, and implement policies and practices aimed to support a harassment-free learning, living and working environment for all members of the campus community; 

  2. Educate our campus communities about, and elevate the importance of, institutional values, policies, and expectations of individual behavior, including how to report sexual misconduct and how to support fellow community members who have experienced sexual misconduct;

  3. Provide support and remove barriers for all of those who report, making certain to have resources directed toward those in groups who most often experience harassment and other forms of sexual misconduct;

  4. Address reports of sexual misconduct in a manner that is consistent with the institution’s process, respectful, ethical, appropriately thorough, and timely;

  5. Hold accountable, in a fair and equitable manner, those students, faculty, staff, and administrators at all levels who are found responsible for such violations;

  6. In making hiring decisions, request or require applicants to provide written consent to release personnel information from their prior employer of substantiated findings of sexual misconduct, consistent with applicable law;

  7. Share substantiated findings of sexual misconduct with prospective employers when requested, upon receipt of written authorization when necessary, and consistent with applicable law, and;

  8. To the extent possible, complete all investigations into sexual misconduct, notwithstanding the departure of the respondent from the institution.