Senate panel advances bill requiring campus grievance procedures for postsecondary misconduct

A Minnesota Senate committee on higher education on a voice vote recommended that Senate File 10-35, as amended, be recommended to pass and be re-referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.

The bill, authored by Senator Port, would require postsecondary institutions to adopt a statutory grievance process for reports of misconduct under Minnesota statute 135A.15, whether or not the alleged perpetrator is a student at the institution. The measure sets specific procedural protections and remedies, including defined notice requirements, an opportunity to present and review evidence, a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard for student cases and a list of possible remedial actions an institution may impose.

The bill’s author, Senator Port, told the committee the subject is personal and longstanding. “This is an issue that I’ve been working on, and has been personal for me since 02/2001 when I was attending the University of Minnesota and was ******** assaulted,” Port said. She described difficulties navigating campus processes and said the bill would give reporting parties a stable process regardless of shifting federal regulations.

Nonpartisan staff summarized the as-amended bill and its fiscal note. The Office of Higher Education, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the…