08/13/2021
By Lauren Turner
On Jan. 12, 2021, Governor Baker signed Massachusetts S.2979, An Act Relative to Sexual Violence on Higher Education Campuses (“Massachusetts Act or “The Act”). This Act is effective as of Aug. 1, 2021
The Massachusetts Act specifically focuses on campus response to sexual violence at public and private higher education institutions. UMass Lowell is committed to providing a living, learning and working environment that is free of sexual misconduct and violence and provides regular training to officials involved in response, investigation and disciplinary processes related to sexual misconduct, and is committed to ensuring a thorough review of and response to any concerns related to sexual misconduct that affect members of our campus community. The university has amended procedures related to institutional prevention and response to sexual misconduct to reflect requirements of the Act and Title IX regulations.
We ask all community members to become familiar with the new procedures:
- Nondiscrimination Guidelines,
- Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedure,
- Equal Opportunity Complaint Procedure and
- Student Code of Conduct.
Any questions about the implementation of these updated policies/procedures should be directed to Clara I. Reynolds, associate vice chancellor for Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion and Title IX Coordinator at clara_reynolds@uml.edu or 978-934-3565.