A lack of resources and qualified staff led to the mishandling of sexual assault cases at the University of Alaska Fairbanks between 2011 and 2014, according to an external review released by the University of Alaska system Friday.
"During that time frame, the record reflects a complete lapse in UAF's student discipline process based on its failure to impose major sanctions for sexual assault or other serious misconduct," the review found. Major sanctions include suspensions, expulsions and the revocation of degrees, said UA President Jim Johnsen.
Attorney Jeffrey Feldman of Summit Law Group wrote the 16-page review at the request of the UA president and Board of Regents.
It followed an earlier internal audit, which found in five sexual assault cases between 2011 and 2014, UAF investigators failed to suspend or expel students even after misconduct was discovered. In nine other cases, campus staff failed to document why they didn't take further action.
Roberta Graham, UA associate vice president of public affairs and federal relations, said in an email Friday the perpetrators were UAF students in the five sexual assault cases. One student was named the perpetrator in two cases. Not all of the victims were students, she said.
"In four of the five cases, criminal convictions resulted," she said.
Feldman's review found while UAF staff took immediate steps to make sure the victims were safe and offenders were removed from campus, they did not follow through with the student discipline process, as required under Title IX. Title IX is a federal law that guarantees gender equity in education and establishes the proper handling of sexual assault complaints.
"It is no longer adequate for a university to simply refer cases to the criminal process, which of course did occur in all of these cases," Johnsen said at a press conference Friday. Johnsen was appointed to serve as UA president in 2015. "Since 2011, we're obligated to investigate, adjudicate and discipline ourselves," he said.
In part, Feldman's review looked into why UAF staff failed to follow through with student discipline.
It found that the "discipline philosophy" of UAF's former dean of students did not comply with university regulations or regent policy.
"Once victim safety was ensured, the required disciplinary process was not engaged or completed as it was not perceived as necessary," the review said. "This practice did not comply with Regents' policy and university regulations, or with the expanding regulation of sexual misconduct on college campuses, and the increasing scrutiny of how universities were responding to sexual assault."
While the review did not name the dean of students, Donald Foley served in that position between 1999 and 2015, according to UAF spokeswoman Marmian Grimes. Feldman's review said Foley declined to be interviewed for the review. Efforts to reach Foley on Friday were unsuccessful.
The review also found UAF lacked "qualified and capable personnel" to respond to a 2011 letter from the U.S Department of Education that listed specific requirements and expectations under Title IX.
While the University of Alaska Anchorage quickly formed an implementation team in response to the letter, UAF was "less proactive," the review said. Even though UAF started to take initial steps toward Title IX compliance in 2012, there was a lack of coordination and communication among staff members, it said.
The third main cause found by the review: a lack of oversight and resources at UAF dedicated to student discipline and Title IX compliance.
"Top administrators at UAF incorrectly assumed that appropriate action had been taken or deferred to the Dean of Students' determinations," the review said.
Other "secondary" causes included the lack of a system that staff could use to monitor and track misconduct cases. Also, while UAA and the University of Alaska Southeast regularly contacted the general counsel about processing sexual misconduct cases, UAF did not.
"Had UAF sought direction from the general counsel's office regarding its handling of sexual assault cases between 2011 and 2013, there would have been an opportunity for UA system oversight of UAF's handling of these cases," the review said.
There was also a lack of early guidance and oversight at the statewide level, it said.
"These were organizational — institutional and systematic — failures; but they were not the result of an intentional disregard of legal requirements," the review said.
Feldman's review is part of an ongoing look at how the university is complying with Title IX. A federal investigation, looking at how sexual violence is handled within the UA system, is still pending.
UAF Interim Chancellor Michael Powers, who started in his position in September 2015, said UA is one of more than 150 universities under review by the federal government.
"We are not waiting for them to complete their report," Johnsen said of the federal government. "We're going to do the right thing — be transparent and proactive."
Feldman's review said in the months after the UA system found out about the federal audit, university officials learned of several student discipline cases "that raised significant concerns about how UAF had been responding to sexual misconduct allegations."
It conducted the internal audit and then contracted with Feldman for the external audit.
Feldman's review found UAF had made "significant progress" in addressing changes needed to ensure it complied with Title IX requirements, but there were periods of time where factors undermined its progress.
There were increasing tensions between the general counsel and the UAF administration, plus times UA and UAF staff had conflicting opinions on how to address Title IX issues. Also, the report found: "UAF upper leadership did not act swiftly to correct the problems with UAF's student discipline efforts once they were discovered."
Despite these issues, the report said, UAF was committed to Title IX compliance. Feldman listed ways UAF had changed, including updating its policies and procedures and conducting training for faculty, staff and students. It has established its own internal Title IX task force. Johnsen said he is requiring campuses to report all sexual assault cases directly to him.
The report said UA will need to make additional efforts to ensure Title IX compliance, including ensuring adequate staffing and funding for enforcement efforts.
Chancellor Powers said the five sexual assault cases from 2011 to 2014 had been reopened. Graham said major sanctions were imposed in two cases and the discipline process was ongoing in the three others.
"We have been working diligently, but we still have a ways to go," Johnsen said.