Universities and colleges in England should require “personal relationships” between staff and students to be declared, with staff who keep relationships secret liable to be disciplined or dismissed, according to new proposals announced by the higher education regulator.
The Office for Students (OfS) also wants all students and staff in England to undergo mandatory training on sexual harassment and misconduct.
The new policy, published in a consultation document, would mean that staff would have to register details of relationships involving “isolated or repeated” physical or romantic intimacy, or financial dependency, with students whom they teach or oversee. Any staff member in an undeclared relationship “should be liable for dismissal”, the OfS said.
While a small number of institutions have banned staff-student relationships, the new policies would be a major shift for the sector and a victory for groups who have lobbied for universities and colleges to do more to fight sexual misconduct on campus.
The OfS said the creation of relationship registers was its preferred option, rather than outright bans, arguing that registers would effectively stop staff from establishing sexual relationships with students for whom they were responsible.
“This option would not prohibit relationships, but we consider that it would and should have the effect of providers expressly discouraging them,” the OfS said, adding that it was willing to consider outright bans as part of its consultation.
Susan Lapworth, the chief executive of the OfS, said the new policies were required because universities and colleges had failed to self-regulate despite the “profound and sometimes devastating” impact that sexual misconduct and harassment can have on students.
“Some universities are already doing excellent work in this area, but we know that progress across the sector has been too slow and too patchy,” Lapworth said.
The new rules would require each institution to publish a simple document explaining the steps it takes to protect students from harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as arrangements for handling incidents and the support it provided to those involved.
The use of non-disclosure agreements, which prohibit participants from making public comment as part of a legal settlement, would also be banned.
Institutions that failed to adopt the new policies would face a range of sanctions by the OfS as part of their conditions of registration, including being fined, stripped of access to loan funding for students, or ultimately being deregistered as a higher education provider.
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The National Union of Students (NUS) welcomed the move to ban non-disclosure agreements but said there was still not enough support for students who experienced sexual misconduct by staff.
“Students who experience misconduct from staff members may be reluctant to report for fear of retribution that could impact their grades,” the NUS said.
Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors in higher education, said its members took harassment and sexual misconduct “extremely seriously … However, we recognise that there is still work to be done.”
Lapworth said: “The majority of those working in higher education behave appropriately towards their students. But we recognise that there can be a power imbalance in personal relationships that could be exploited by unscrupulous staff to subject students to harassment or sexual misconduct.
“That’s why we’re proposing that certain types of personal relationships should be disclosed, with staff dismissed if they fail to do so.”
