Hesston College’s Task Force on Sexual Misconduct and Interpersonal Safety wrapped up its work in October 2017, leaving the college with six major areas of recommendations to improve procedures and systems related to sexual misconduct at Hesston College.

The recommendations include:

• implementing modules to raise awareness of sexual misconduct and options for victims
• establishing a transparent reporting and investigating procedure for incidents of sexual misconduct
• developing a system in the institution including policy development and the hiring and assigning of personnel to manage issues of sexual misconduct
• creating a system which supports victims of sexual misconduct
• creating a system which holds offenders of sexual misconduct accountable for their action
• forming a system of institutional accountability which prioritizes transparency and proactively mitigates future incidents of sexual misconduct

Hesston College’s administrative council affirmed moving forward with the recommendations starting immediately.

In an email sent to Hesston College faculty and staff on Nov. 3, President Joe Manickam wrote, “Our plan is that all major areas of recommendation will see implementation begin before August 2018 with the majority of the recommendations being completed by December 2018.”

Each of the recommendations was accompanied by detailed ideas for implementation. President Manickam, Director of Human Resources Monica Miller and the four vice presidents who comprise the administrative council are leading the charge to evaluate and choose the best implementation processes for each major area of recommendation.

Hesston College’s Task Force was assembled in October 2016 and began its work of reviewing, researching and analyzing issues of sexual misconduct related to the college in December 2016. The group was independent of Hesston College board and administrative control or oversight. Over the 10 months, members conducted surveys, interviews and delved into the college’s policies and history to form their report and recommendations for improvement.