St. Olaf Urged to Hire Case Manager to Handle Student Complaints

Back in April, St. Olaf College commissioned an investigation after they were accused of not properly handling cases of campus rape.

Thursday's report from the investigation involved faculty, staff, a group of students and outside experts. The lengthy report came to one conclusion: The school needs to have someone full time to manage complaints filed for and against students.

According to the Star Tribune, this past school year St. Olaf received 14 reports of sexual misconduct. St. Olaf President David Anderson did not comment on the report in the article but did say he has a planned a 10-day comment period before deciding whether to adopt the suggestions this fall.

The report also stated that the school needs to make reporting and investigating complaints more consistent and less confusing, and to rely on outside professionals rather than administrators to determine whether the evidence warrants disciplinary action. Colleges must investigate these cases or risk losing federal money.

Also recommended was an online reporting process for anonymous complaints, improve training about sexual assault for incoming freshmen and set up guiding principles for disciplinary action.

The full report can be found at stolaf.edu.