社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

How many employees at the California State University system were accused of some kind of unwanted sexual conduct in recent years? 

Surprisingly, it鈥檚 a question no one can answer with confidence even as Cal State, the nation鈥檚 largest four-year public university, grapples .

A key takeaway from two hard-hitting sets of reports released late last month is that the 23-campus system collects insufficient data.

In one of the reports, the  that Cal State lacks 鈥渕eaningful analysis鈥� to 鈥渋dentify and respond to concerning trends.鈥� The auditor鈥檚 report, which was requested by state lawmakers, found that the data on the number of unwanted sexual conduct reports 鈥� such as sexual harassment, misconduct, stalking, assault and violence 鈥� filed against employees is 鈥渦nreliable.鈥�

Cozen O鈥機onnor, a law firm the Cal State Chancellor鈥檚 Office  last year to publish more than two dozen reports, 鈥渢he current process for collecting data does not result in consistent, reliable data across the system.鈥� 

The two sets of reports revealed a huge discrepancy in how many Cal State employees at the 23 campuses were accused of some kind of improper sexual conduct 鈥� 1,246 across five years according to the audit and 452 in four academic years according to Cozen.

The reasons for the discrepancy range from imprecise data collection to the addition of new categories of unwanted sexual conduct in the most recent year. Both sets of reports also state campuses don鈥檛 use the same software to track improper sexual conduct and don鈥檛 log cases the same way.

Buying better software and training more staff to track these reports of unwanted conduct are some of the reasons Cal State estimates it鈥檒l spend  and unknown sums going forward to adopt all the reports鈥� recommendations.

鈥淲e agree with and will implement the recommendations provided in the audit report, as well as those identified in the Cozen assessment,鈥� wrote Jolene Koester, Cal State鈥檚 interim chancellor, .

The importance of good data

Collecting good data is a common watchword of victims鈥� advocates. Both sets of reports make clear why students and staff will be safer if campuses have a more accurate count of sexual harassment, misconduct, violence, stalking and assault cases. 

Complaints against employees , which may  additional training, a reprimand or disciplinary action all the way to dismissal for those found to have violated Cal State policy.

But the campuses lack 鈥渁 sufficient understanding of the volume鈥� of sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, the Cozen systemwide report said. Nor can campuses spot trends in specific locations or academic programs, or even whether a single individual is the source of multiple complaints, the  and  reports noted. Cozen  鈥渂ecause the CSU is not tracking data across campuses, an employee who engages in conduct of concern at one CSU university can often seek employment at another CSU without the new university being aware of the misconduct.鈥�

In multiple cases, the auditor鈥檚 report flagged issues with campuses that determined employees didn鈥檛 violate Cal State policy on unwanted sexual conduct. The auditor鈥檚 office wrote  鈥渄eficiencies that caused us to question the investigative determination about sexual harassment.鈥�

Across U.S. higher education, sexual harassment and assault are rampant. According to a , , more than 40% of all students reported experiencing a form of sexual harassment since entering college,  鈥渋nappropriate or offensive comments鈥� about their bodies or sexual activities. A quarter of undergraduate women said  鈥渘onconsensual sexual contact by physical force.鈥�

Competing numbers and data problems

There are multiple reasons why the two sets of numbers of how many employees were accused of unwanted sexual conduct 鈥� 1,246 and 452 鈥� are so different.

The first thing to know is that, according to Cozen and the state auditor, neither of their numbers is reliable. But they鈥檙e unreliable for different and overlapping reasons, ranging from the types of unwanted sexual conduct Cal State counted to which Cal State documents Cozen and the auditor relied on to finalize their tallies. 

One major reason the auditor鈥檚 count of 1,246 reports filed against employees is much higher than Cozen鈥檚 is because it included more types of unwanted sexual conduct over a longer period of time 鈥� 2018 to 2022.

Cozen based its numbers on the official reports campuses submitted to the Cal State鈥檚 Chancellor鈥檚 Office between 2018-19 and 2021-22. Campuses included the number of reports filed against employees that were limited to several types of unwanted sexual conduct 鈥� assault, stalking, misconduct and dating or domestic violence 鈥� for the first three academic years in the data set. 

Then, in 2021-22, the chancellor鈥檚 office  for instances of reports against employees 鈥� and students 鈥� that included two more categories: 鈥溾�� 鈥� a term that refers to sexual coercion, prostitution or recording sexual activity without consent 鈥� and a  of sexual harassment. That narrower definition includes 鈥渦nwelcome verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature鈥� and offering favors in exchange for sexual acts.

The Cozen reports published the same numbers that campuses sent to the chancellor鈥檚 office.
But campuses also maintained physical and digital files on many other types of reports filed against employees that weren鈥檛 reflected in the tallies sent to the chancellor鈥檚 office 鈥� and by extension 鈥� weren鈥檛 reflected in Cozen鈥檚 figures.

The auditor鈥檚 office took a different approach. It reviewed all those physical and digital files and identified cases that alleged sexual assault, stalking, violence, exploitation, sexual harassment, and other unwelcome sexual conduct. It did this for five calendar years.

That鈥檚 how the auditor got to a much higher count than the Cozen reports 鈥� it just did the additional work of reviewing the raw data.

But even the auditor鈥檚 review of digital and physical files didn鈥檛 paint the full picture. , multiple complaints filed against an employee were counted as a single report. Other times, multiple complaints against a single employee were counted as multiple reports. Some campuses , which may have affected the precision of the auditor鈥檚 counts.

鈥淏ecause of these inconsistencies, we found the data to be unreliable for our purposes,鈥� .

Importantly, the Cozen and auditor reports had different goals. For example, lawmakers  to count how many employees were accused of unwanted sexual conduct. By design, the Cozen reports focused on how Cal State addresses discrimination, harassment, and retaliation according to its own policies and federal rules, wrote the lawyers who shepherded the project, Leslie Gomez and Gina Maisto Smith, in a detailed email response to CalMatters. Cozen produced roughly 1,600 pages of analysis and recommendations for all 23 campuses and the system in the reports, 鈥渁n arduous task,鈥� Gomez and Smith wrote.

The latest data from the Cal State campuses also shows how the number of reports against employees can jump when the system tracks more unwanted sexual conduct. Since 2021-22 was the first year that the chancellor鈥檚 office sought data from campuses about sexual harassment and exploitation 鈥� not just violence, stalking and assault 鈥� the number increased in Cozen鈥檚 set of reports.

That year there were 255 reports against employees, according to a CalMatters review of Cozen data for all 23 campuses. The year before, Cozen counted 56 reports and about 70 each in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Cozen鈥檚 much higher count for 2021-22 is also similar to the auditor鈥檚 counts for the 2021 and 2022 calendar years 鈥� 193 and 285 reports alleging unwanted sexual conduct by employees, respectively.

鈥淚 think it obviously shows the need for the school to have been collecting this data all along,鈥� said Shiwali Patel, who leads policy and litigation on gender-based harassment at the Washington D.C.-based National Women鈥檚 Law Center.

More reports of mistreatment likely

The Biden administration  governing not just unwanted sexual conduct, but also gender-based discrimination. The predicted changes will expand the allegations colleges must respond to 鈥� which may increase the number of reports schools will eventually publish.

Gomez and Smith said that Cal State should compile annual reports that include all those data points.

The Biden rules will be the  since 2011 to federal rules about how colleges should handle violence and discrimination complaints on their campuses. The shifting rules amount to a legalistic whiplash for higher education that is also compounded by evolving state rules, including in California.

The Cozen report notes this constant change is , which must quickly adapt and hire or train more staff knowledgeable in the intricacies of discrimination and harassment prevention policies and enforcement. 

In an official statement, Cal State said its count of complaints against employees included violence and assault 鈥� and not harassment or exploitation 鈥� because federal guidance in 2011 and 2013 emphasized those types of unwanted sexual conduct and not others.

Adding harassment and exploitation to the data collection in 2021-22 鈥渨as important to better understanding the frequency and nature of sexual harassment reports, and due to sexual exploitation being newly added to the CSU Nondiscrimination Policy,鈥� wrote Amy Bentley-Smith, spokesperson for the Cal State Chancellor鈥檚 Office, in an email to CalMatters.

She provided other possible reasons for an increase in reports that year. One is that students and staff returned to campus as the pandemic subsided. Another is the set of  cases of unwanted sexual conduct at Cal State that prompted more people to come forward with their own complaints.

If Cozen鈥檚 鈥渞ecommendations are implemented with fidelity, we expect that campuses will have more effective practices and systems, and therefore, more reliable data,鈥� wrote the Cozen lawyers to CalMatters.

But better data can only capture what鈥檚 reported.

At colleges and universities, 鈥渕ost incidents are not reported,鈥� Patel said. And too often she hears of schools refusing to investigate a student鈥檚 or employee鈥檚 unwanted sexual conduct complaint. Or campuses might punish alleged victims because they violated school policy, such as drinking, disregarding the harassment or assault complaint.

A culture of intimidation may also prevent victims from filing complaints, especially if the alleged suspect holds considerable sway in a niche academic discipline. That鈥檚 according to Maha Ibrahim, a senior attorney who represents people alleging harassment, assault and gender-based discrimination at California-based Equal Rights Advocates.

If a student or employee is being abused by someone 鈥渨ho has power in that small space,鈥� then the student or employee can lose their ability to complete their research, Ibrahim said. 鈥淲e see that kind of reticence and under-reporting a lot.鈥�

Paradoxically, Patel thinks 鈥渨hen we see more numbers reported, that鈥檚 actually a good sign,鈥� because it shows more 鈥渧ictims feel comfortable coming forward.鈥� It also means the school may take the steps to educate or discipline someone who鈥檚 harming students or staff, she added.

Both the  and  reports proposed dozens of recommendations, including better data collection. The auditor wrote that Cal State鈥檚 central office should collect and analyze unwanted sexual conduct reports from all campuses no later than July 2024. The point is to 鈥渋dentify any concerning patterns or trends, such as those involving repeat subjects, particular academic departments, or specific student or employee populations,鈥� the auditor wrote. 

But other data overhauls may take more time. The audit said Cal State  every campus to use the same software to track unwanted sexual conduct and ensure all campuses are logging the cases the same way. The auditor states that should be done by July 2026.

This story was originally published at

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.