Sacramento State’s Office for Equal Opportunity held a panel discussion Friday via Zoom in an effort to clarify the processes for reporting sexual misconduct. 

The Associate Director for the Office for Equal Opportunity, Alison Nygard, said that the office is still providing help to students virtually during COVID-19. 

Nygard said that students can report misconduct online, or call the office number at (916)278-5770.

Alison Nygard from the Associate Director for the office of equal opportunity speaks first and says that regarding the COVID-19 all their services remain available except in person. She mentions that the office still has the ability to respond to complaints or concerns remotely.

— Jesse Tapia (@JTapia_03) May 8, 2020

Assistant Director for University Housing Services, Mindy Rouillard, discussed some of the safety measures they take when a resident comes to them with a report, including moving rooms.

“If a student requests to move into a different room, whether it’s another residential student that they’re saying did something or even a third party and they just don’t feel safe in that building or room, that’s when we look at where we have space to move this student,” said Rouillard.

Rouillard said that if students don’t want to move the night a report is filed but have safety concerns that come up after, they can still request a room change at a future date.

Nikki Khamsouksay, director of Clery Compliance and Training that the Clery Report provides crime statistics from the last three calendar years that occur in on-campus housing, on campus or in an area affiliated with the campus such as: public property adjacent to the campus, or properties owned by campus organizations.

The report covers four types of crimes: criminal and sex offenses, Violence Against Women Act offenses, hate crimes and Clery arrests or disciplinary actions- usually made for drug or alcohol offenses. 

Nikki Khamsouksay, Clery Director says that the annual security report or Clery report is released in September per our chancellor’s office. She mentions the report provides a summary of information regarding how to contact sac state police along with how to report crimes.

— Jesse Tapia (@JTapia_03) May 8, 2020

Sac State Chief of Police, Mark Iwasa, was part of the panel representing the Sac State Police Department and helped differentiate between Clery Report related incidents and timely warnings that are sent out. 

“The Clery report is the standardized method throughout campuses in the United States to report incidents that occurred on or related to their campus,” Iwasa said. “Timely warnings, on the other hand, have more to do with immediate notification to the campus community of an at-risk situation that could affect the safety of campus persons.” 

Iwasa said an example of a timely warning would be a series of robberies near campus, which would result in a timely warning notification. 

“Information about the incident, as much as possible is included. The more information provided the better the reader is to recognize and avoid at risk situations.” said Sac State Police Chief Mark Iwasa in regards to what information they use for timely warning messages.

— Jesse Tapia (@JTapia_03) May 8, 2020

Sac State’s webpage  “We Care. We Will Help,” which provides information on Title IX guidelines and resources meant to help victims of sexual violence. 

WEAVE supplies confidential support for those who undergo sexual violence. Those in need can contact the on-campus confidential advocate at (916)278-5850 or [email protected]. WEAVE also offers 24/7 support at (916) 920-2952.