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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A proposed revision to the sexual misconduct policy at the University of Michigan would allow students to appeal the school's findings in sexual assault cases to an independent arbitrator.
The proposal unveiled this week states that such an arbitrator would be a lawyer with no connection to the university who would have the power to approve or set aside the findings, or send the case back to an investigator for more work.
"The external reviewer must also be impartial and free from bias or conflict of interest," the proposed policy states. "The external reviewer's determination is final."
The change would introduce a non-university employee into the process and address potential issues of fairness with the school's investigations, the Detroit Free Press reported. Forums are planned for comment before changes can be finalized by school President Mark Schlissel and others.
The decision to consider bringing in an outside party was made to provide fairness and transparency, school spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said.
The revision is one in a series of changes that the Ann Arbor school is proposing to how it handles campus sexual assault cases. The U.S. Education Department has been investigating how the University of Michigan and dozens of schools nationwide address sexual abuse allegations.
Last month, officials reported that more than 10 percent of students responding to a survey at Michigan State University in East Lansing and the University of Michigan said they've experienced unwanted sexual contact through force or incapacitation.
The results were released as part of a national survey of students at more than two dozen universities last spring.
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Online:
https://studentsexualmisconductpolicy.umich.edu
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