Proposals Ask Mass. Colleges To Take Surveys On Sexual Misconduct

A bill that would require colleges and universities in Massachusetts to conduct surveys on sexual misconduct at their institutions is coming before lawmakers for a public hearing.

The Legislature's Committee on Higher Education on Tuesday will take testimony on that and other bills dealing with sexual misconduct and disciplinary procedures on college campuses.

The legislation sponsored by Rep. Lori Ehrlich, of Marblehead, and Sen. William Brownsberger, of Belmont, calls on the state's higher education commissioner to approve a model sexual misconduct climate survey that would be conducted biennially by colleges and universities. The schools could ask permission to design and substitute their own campus-specific survey.

After completion, the institutions would have 120 days to submit a summary of the results to state officials and must also summarize the findings on their websites.