PROVO — After reviewing over 3,100 public comments and studying practices at more than 75 other universities, an advisory council is close to making recommendations to improve BYU's response to reports of sexual assaults.

The four-month-old BYU Advisory Council on Campus Response to Sexual Assault is nearing the conclusion of its in-depth study of the sexual assault reporting process at BYU and the university’s handling of sexual assault cases, according to a university news release issued Monday.

The council is preparing its final report. The university will share the council's recommendations this fall, the release said.

Last week, BYU President Kevin J. Worthen spoke about the issue in his annual speech to faculty and staff.

"We have also faced challenges in this past year, challenges that give us opportunities to improve," he said. "As I’m sure you are all aware, we are examining in depth the reporting process for our students, and other aspects of the way we handle sexual assault cases. It causes us deep sorrow to know that members of our community would be victimized in such a devastating way. We are anxious to help them.

"A group of faculty and administrators have worked tirelessly during the summer to help us know how best to do that," he added. "We anticipate that this fall, the advisory council will present their recommendations to the President’s Council. We will then address the topic with the campus community more in depth.

"In the meantime, let me emphasize that the top priority in this extensive effort is the safety and well-being of our students, especially those who have been the victims of sexual assault. Efforts will continue until sexual assault is eliminated from our campus environment."

The four-person advisory council also spoke with sexual assault survivors and their families.

Some sexual assault survivors had complained that when they reported their attacks to BYU's Title IX office as directed by federal law, information was shared with the school's Honor Code Office.

They said some survivors fear that reporting their sexual assault might prompt an honor code investigation that could lead to probation, suspension or expulsion for their actions around the time of the attack. That concern has had a chilling effect, stopping some women and men from reporting assaults, they say. They also said that attackers used their knowledge of BYU's practices to threaten survivors into silence.

Worthen acknowledged that concern and specifically instructed the council to review BYU's sexual assault reporting process and the structure of its Title IX office and Honor Code Office.

In addition to soliciting feedback and reviewing best practices at other campuses, the BYU advisory council also spent the summer consulting with experts who work with victims of sexual assault. National experts David Lisak and Lindsay Orchowski visited the campus and advised the council.

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Lisak consulted with the U.S. military and Department of Defense to improve the way the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines address sexual assault.

"These are problems that virtually every college campus is grappling with," Lisak said in an interview with BYU News.

He said he primarily presented the council with information about who commits sexual assaults on college campuses and under what circumstances. He also talked about the impact on victims and the importance of improving reporting rates.

He said the council asked him how to apply that information to improve BYU's structure, and how to do it in a way that the campus could measure whether changes are successful.

"Making change happen in reality on the ground is always complicated," Lisak said. "It requires really hard work from a whole lot of people."

BYU's advisory council consists of Student Life Vice President Jan Scharman, who is a psychologist; Julie Valentine, a sexual assault nurse examiner and BYU nursing professor; International Vice President Sandra Rogers, who is a former dean of the BYU College of Nursing; and Ben Ogles, dean of BYU’s College of Family, Home and Social Sciences.

Worthen's announcement that the council's report will be released this fall set aside questions whether the report would be delayed by a federal investigation of BYU's process and structure by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

BYU announced three weeks ago that the Office for Civil Rights is investigating the school. OCR will examine BYU's response to the off-campus sexual assault of Madi Barney, who filed a Title IX complaint, as well as the school's structure and policies.

OCR is investigating more than 200 schools. The U.S. Department of Education announced in 2011 that it would apply the federal-equity law known as Title IX to cases of sexual assault.

"What everybody is having to do," Lisak said, "is understand as best as possible the Department of Education’s new guidelines on policies and procedures in regard to responding to sexual assault, investigating sexual assault, adjudicating sexual assault and also putting on prevention and education programs."

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