To: University Community
From: Joel Seligman
Subject: Approval of Policy on Programs for Minors and Children
On the recommendation of the Policy Approval Committee, I have approved the Policy on Programs for Minors and Children effective September 1, 2013. Spencer Studwell, chair of the Child Safety Task Force, will be the contact person for questions about the policy’s implementation. He can be reached at spencer.studwell@rochester.edu or 758-7602. The policy and answers to frequently asked questions will be posted at http://www.rochester.edu/counsel/programs-for-minors.html together with other relevant information as it becomes available.
This policy is the result of work undertaken by the Child Safety Task Force I commissioned late last year to study issues related to hosting minors on campus. I commissioned the task force after the revelation of sexual abuse charges at Penn State and the July 2012 publication of a report following the investigation of FBI Director Louis Freeh. The Freeh Report identified numerous issues at Penn State related to the protection of minors on campus and provided an opportunity to compare what we are doing at the University to manage these risks.
The task force’s initial assessment confirmed that, while many at the University were cognizant of the risks related to minors, there were numerous approaches to managing those risks and risk management strategies were often specific to particular University departments or divisions.
The policy establishes University-wide standards for the operation of programs involving minors. It balances the need for a uniform set of program requirements to protect minors under our care with the flexibility for departments and divisions to implement these requirements in a way that suits the particular needs of each program. I have asked the deans and other division heads to designate one or more program administrator(s) for the programs for minors that occur within their school or divisions, as set forth in the policy. There will be some pilot testing of the policy and its new requirements over the summer. Materials developed during the pilot program testing will be disseminated to program administrators.
Let me thank the members of the Task Force for their efforts: Spencer Studwell, Rick Crummins, Deirdre Flynn, Walter Mauldin, Mark Cavanaugh, Matthew Burns, Laurel Contomanolis, George VanderZwaag, John Schoen, Ann Lenane, Pam Herendeen, Michele Gibson, Elizabeth Gosian, Kim Hallatt, Chuck Murphy, Kathy Miner, Jonathan Burdick, Andre McKenzie, Charles Puls, and Morgan Levy. Collectively they did an outstanding job in producing proposals, which, after review by a separate Provost’s Committee, will strengthen our ability to provide the safest practicable environment for minors on our campus.