LAS VEGAS—The Nevada Board of Regents today voted to standardize its existing sexual harassment policies, replacing individual policies at each UCCSN institutions with a single System-wide policy.

"The issue of sexual harassment is one the entire Board takes seriously," said Board Chair Douglas Seastrand. "With the implementation of a single policy against sexual harassment and an effective complaint procedure, our System will be better equipped to handle these complaints and to ensure our faculty, students, and staff are protected."

The new policy will be in effect System-wide, and will standardize definitions, examples, and procedures regarding complaints of sexual harassment throughout the UCCSN. Prior to this change, each UCCSN campus had its own policy and procedures for handling complaints of sexual harassment.

Items discussed by the Board included the definition and forms sexual harassment can take, the procedure one must follow when making a complaint, the responsibilities of supervisors to prevent acts of sexual harassment, and the education of faculty, students, and staff on this topic.

The Nevada Board of Regents is the elected, 13-member governing body for the University and Community College System of Nevada. Comprising two doctoral granting universities, a state college, four comprehensive community colleges and one environmental research institute, the UCCSN serves the educational and job training needs of the nation's fastest growing state. As Nevada's only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to more than 93,000 students.

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