Public Act 102-0325
 
SB1610 EnrolledLRB102 16432 CMG 21823 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher 
Education Act is amended  by adding Section 35 as follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 155/35 new)
    Sec. 35. Sexual misconduct climate survey.
    (a) As used in this Section:
    "Base survey" means a base set of common questions 
recommended by the Task Force on Campus Sexual Misconduct 
Climate Surveys and approved by the Executive Director of the 
Board of Higher Education. 
    "Student" means a person who is enrolled in a public or 
private degree-granting, post-secondary higher education 
institution, whether part-time, full-time, or as an extension 
student, including any person who has taken a leave of absence 
or who has withdrawn from the higher education institution due 
to being a victim of sexual misconduct.
    "Trauma informed" means an understanding of the 
complexities of sexual violence, domestic violence, dating 
violence, or stalking through training centered on the 
neurobiological impact of trauma, the influence of societal 
myths and stereotypes surrounding sexual violence, domestic 
violence, dating violence, or stalking, and understanding the 
behavior of perpetrators. 
    (b) Each higher education institution shall annually 
conduct a sexual misconduct climate survey of all students at 
the institution. Each higher education institution's sexual 
misconduct climate survey shall include the base survey, which 
the Board of Higher Education shall provide to the institution 
every 2 years. Each institution may append its own 
campus-specific questions to the base survey if questions do 
not require the disclosure of any personally identifying 
information by the students and are trauma informed. The Board 
of Higher Education, in consultation with the Office of the 
Attorney General, as necessary, shall review any complaints 
submitted by students who believe that questions included in 
the campus sexual misconduct climate survey are traumatizing. 
Within 120 days after completion of a sexual misconduct 
climate survey, but no later than one year after the Board of 
Higher Education issued the last base survey, each institution 
shall compile a summary of the results of the sexual 
misconduct climate survey, including, but not limited to, the 
complete aggregated results for each base survey question, and 
shall submit the summary to the Board of Higher Education,  as 
well as publish the summary on the institution's website in an 
easily accessible manner.
    (c) The Task Force on Campus Sexual Misconduct Climate 
Surveys is created. The Task Force shall consist of the 
following members:
        (1) the Executive Director of the Board of Higher 
    Education or a designee, who shall serve as chairperson;
        (2) the Governor or a designee;
        (3) one member of the Senate, appointed by the 
    President of the Senate;
        (4) one member of the House of Representatives, 
    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
        (5) one member of the Senate, appointed by the 
    Minority Leader of the Senate; 
        (6) one member of the House of Representatives, 
    appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of 
    Representatives;
        (7) the Attorney General or a designee;
        (8) the Director of Public Health or a designee; and
        (9) the following members appointed by the Governor: 
            (A) one member who is a student attending a public 
        higher education institution in Illinois;
            (B) one member who is a student attending a 
        private higher education institution in Illinois;
            (C) one member who is a student attending a 
        community college in Illinois;
            (D) one member who is a representative of the 
        University of Illinois recommended by the president of 
        the university;
            (E) one member who is a representative of the 
        Illinois Community College Board;
            (F) one member who is a representative of private 
        colleges and universities recommended by the 
        Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and 
        Universities;
            (G) 3 members who are representatives of survivors 
        of sexual assault recommended by the Illinois 
        Coalition Against Sexual Assault, with one 
        specifically representing survivors in rural 
        communities and one specifically representing 
        survivors in urban communities;
            (H) one member who is a representative of a 
        non-profit legal services organization that provides 
        legal representation to victims of campus sexual 
        assault in Illinois;
            (I) one member who is a representative recommended 
        by the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence;
            (J) one member who is a representative recommended 
        by Equality Illinois;
            (K) one member who is a representative of an 
        immigrant rights advocacy organization;
            (L) one member who is a representative recommended 
        by the Every Voice Coalition or any successor 
        organization of the Every Voice Coalition;
            (M) one member who is a researcher with experience 
        in the development and design of sexual misconduct 
        climate surveys; and
            (N) one member who is a researcher of statistics, 
        data analytics, or econometrics with experience in 
        higher education survey analysis. 
    The Task Force shall hold its first meeting as soon as 
practicable after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 
the 102nd General Assembly. Administrative and other support 
for the Task Force shall be provided by the Board of Higher 
Education. Members of the Task Force shall serve 2-year terms 
that commence on the date of appointment. Members shall 
continue to serve until their successors are appointed. Any 
vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Any 
vacancy occurring other than by expiration of the term shall 
be filled for the balance of the unexpired term. A majority of 
the Task Force shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of any business. 
    Members of the Task Force shall serve without compensation 
but shall be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in 
the performance of their duties if funds are available. 
However, the higher education institution in which a student 
member is enrolled may compensate that student for 
participating on the Task Force through a work-study program 
or by providing a stipend to support the work of the student 
member on the Task Force.
    (d) The Task Force shall develop and recommend to the 
Board of Higher Education the base survey for distribution to 
higher education institutions and provide the Board of Higher 
Education with any related recommendations regarding the 
content, timing, and application of the base survey. The Task 
Force shall deliver the base survey and related 
recommendations, including, but not limited to, 
recommendations on achieving statistically valid response 
rates, to the Board of Higher Education no less often than 
every 2 years and for the first time on or before July 31, 
2022. Thereafter, the Task Force shall meet  in the year 2024 
and in the year 2026 to review the results of the survey and to 
implement updates and improvements. The Task Force is 
dissolved after the completion of the 2026 base survey. After 
the dissolution of the Task Force, the Executive Director of 
the Board of Higher Education or a designee shall review the 
base survey every 2 years to consider any feedback that has 
been received and to implement improvements.
    (e) In developing the base survey, the Task Force shall: 
        (1) utilize best practices from peer-reviewed research

    and consult with individuals with expertise in the 
    development and use of sexual misconduct climate surveys 
    by higher education institutions;
        (2)  review sexual misconduct climate surveys that have 
    been developed and previously utilized by higher education 
    institutions in Illinois and by other states that mandate 
    campus climate surveys;
        (3) provide opportunities for written comment from 
    survivors and organizations that work directly with 
    survivors of sexual misconduct to ensure the adequacy and 
    appropriateness of the proposed content;
        (4) consult with institutions on strategies for 
    optimizing the effectiveness of the survey;
        (5) account for the diverse needs and differences of 
    higher education institutions; and
        (6) review the base survey to ensure that the strategy 
    for gathering information is trauma informed. 
    (f) The base survey shall gather information on topics, 
including, but not limited to:
        (1) the number and type of incidents, both reported to 
    the higher education institution and unreported to the 
    higher education institution, of sexual misconduct at the 
    higher education institution;
        (2) when and where incidents of sexual misconduct 
    occurred, such as on campus, off campus, abroad, or 
    online;
        (3) student awareness of institutional policies and 
    procedures related to campus sexual misconduct;
        (4) whether a student reported the sexual misconduct 
    to the higher education institution and, if so, to which 
    campus resource such report was made and, if not, the 
    reason for the student's decision not to report;
        (5) whether a student reported the sexual misconduct 
    to law enforcement and, if so, to which law enforcement 
    agency such report was made;
        (6) whether a student was informed of or referred to 
    local, State, campus, or other resources or victim support 
    services, including appropriate medical care, advocacy, 
    counseling, and legal services;
        (7) whether a student was provided information 
    regarding his or her right to protection from retaliation, 
    access to school-based accommodations, and criminal 
    justice remedies;
        (8) contextual factors, such as the involvement of 
    force, incapacitation, coercion, or drug or alcohol 
    facilitation;
        (9) demographic information that could be used to 
    identify at-risk groups, including, but not limited to, 
    gender, race, immigration status, national origin, 
    ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, and 
    gender identity;
        (10) perceptions of campus safety among members of the 
    campus community and confidence in the institution's 
    ability to protect against and respond to incidents of 
    sexual misconduct;
        (11) whether the student has chosen to withdraw or has 
    taken a leave of absence from the institution or 
    transferred to another institution;
        (12) whether the student has withdrawn from any 
    classes or has been placed on academic probation as a 
    result of the incident; and
        (13) other questions as determined by the Task Force.
All questions on the base survey shall be optional or shall 
offer the student the option to select "I prefer not to answer" 
as a response on the survey. 
    (g) The sexual misconduct climate survey shall collect

anonymous responses and shall not provide for the public 
disclosure of any personally identifying information. No 
institution may use or attempt to use information collected 
through the sexual misconduct climate survey to identify or 
contact any individual student on campus, nor shall the 
results of the survey be used as the basis for any type of 
investigation or disciplinary or legal proceeding.
    (h) There shall be established within the Office of the 
Board of Higher Education a data repository for all summaries 
of sexual misconduct climate surveys submitted by higher 
education institutions to the Board of Higher Education in 
accordance with subsection (b). The Board of Higher Education 
shall ensure that the sexual misconduct climate survey data 
submitted by all institutions is available to the public in an 
easily accessible manner on the Board of Higher Education's  
website.
    (i) Each higher education institution shall publish on the 
institution's website in an easily accessible manner:
        (1) the campus level results of the survey;
        (2) the annual security report required under the 
    federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy 
    and Campus Crime Statistics Act;
        (3) the reports required under Section 9.21 of the 
    Board of Higher Education Act; and
        (4) a link to the Board of Higher Education's 
    statewide data on sexual misconduct climate survey data as 
    set forth in subsection (h).
    (j) The Board of Higher Education shall establish rules 
and procedures, including deadlines for dissemination and 
collection of survey information, consistent with the purposes 
of this Section and shall promote  effective solicitation to 
achieve the highest practical response rate, collection, and 
publication of statistical information gathered from higher 
education institutions.
    (k) Upon determination, after reasonable notice and 
opportunity for a hearing, that a higher education institution 
has violated or failed to carry out any provision of this 
Section or any rule adopted under this Section, the Board of 
Higher Education may impose a civil penalty upon such 
institution not to exceed $50,000, which shall be adjusted for 
inflation annually, for each violation. The Board of Higher 
Education shall use any such civil penalty funds to provide 
oversight of this Section and to provide funding to community 
organizations that provide services to sexual assault victims. 
The Attorney General may bring an action in the circuit court 
to enforce the collection of any monetary penalty imposed 
under this subsection (k). 
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law. 
  


Effective Date:  8/6/2021