Did you know that that the UCSB Local Procedures for Responding to Reports of Sexual Harassment designate teaching assistants as mandated reporters of sexual harassment? This means you need to report all complaints to the appropriate campus official (either your supervisor or Paula Rudolph, the sexual harassment compliant resolution officer). Be sure to take the required training so you understand your obligations! Contact de.acker@sa.ucsb.edu for information on in-person training or take the on-line training available at http://apps.sa.ucsb.edu/tasexualharassment/.

As the authority figure in the classroom, what you say and how you say it conveys not only information but also attitudes and emotions. Comments that implicitly or explicitly devalue a student simply based on his or her gender can diminish a student's confidence or enthusiasm and could create long lasting impediments to academic, professional, and personal growth. As a teacher, you know that even small, repeated derogatory remarks can be significant because they can be part of a pervasive and cumulative pattern of social inequality.

A number of specific techniques are available for helping to eliminate sexual discrimination and harassment in the classroom:

• When making general statements involving gender, be sure they are accurate and based on reliable information. Universal generalizations about any social group, such as "Women don't think geographically," are likely to represent uncritical over simplifications of selected norms.



• Avoid "humor" or gratuitous remarks that demean or belittle a student's gender, just as you would avoid remarks that demean or belittle people because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical characteristics. Respect the dignity of all students.



• Avoid using the generic "he" or "man" to represent both men and women. Although the effort to do this may involve some initial discomfort, it may also result in more precise communication and training.



• Try to monitor your behavior or ask someone else to monitor your behavior toward men and women in the classroom.
  
  For example:
  
  
  • Do you tend to call directly on men but not on women?
  • Do you interrupt women students or allow them to be disproportionately interrupted by their peers?
  • Do you wait longer for men than for women to answer a question before going on to another student?

Discriminatory behavior is often not deliberate. Most teaching assistants intend to treat all students justly and fairly. You can effect change by carefully examining your own feelings and perceptions about the roles of women and men in society and by becoming alert to overt and subtle differences in your interactions with men and women in the classroom.

Does this mean I cannot even date a student?
What could be the harm in dating a student who is equally interested in dating you? Even a voluntary and welcome relationship with a student in your class may constitute sexual harassment. A romantic relationship with a student over whom you have direct grading authority may have negative consequences that you are not able to foresee. For example, if a student changes her or his mind about continuing the relationship, but feels pressured to do so, the situation may result in a sexual harassment claim. Also, other students may file a claim if they believe they are put at a disadvantage when they hear that a fellow student is dating their teaching assistant.

Many departments have policies against dating undergraduate students. Contact your department chair for more information.

Teaching Assistants may be Misusing their Power if they:

• Make personal jokes or negative comments about students or about them as men or women (this is called gender harassment).
• Pressure a student to spend time with them outside the academic setting, urging him or her to get romantically involved, or asking personal questions that make her or him uncomfortable.
• Touch a student when and where he or she does not want to be touched (touching can include hugging or grabbing, casually brushing against him or her, or requesting her or him to sit too close).
• Ask a student directly for sexual favors in exchange for a better or passing grade, assignment, or a favorable recommendation.

If you are approached by an undergraduate student or another graduate student who may be experiencing sexual harassment, please refer her or him to a designated campus sexual harassment advisor or the sexual harassment complaint resolution officer (SHO).

• The Women's Center, Bldg. 434, 893-3778
• Human Resources/Labor Relations, 3101 SAASB, 893-4263
• Sexual Harassment Complaint Resolution Office, 2121 Cheadle Hall, 893-2546.

WHY IS THIS ISSUE SO IMPORTANT?
The University of California is firmly committed to creating and maintaining a learning environment that is free from all forms of harassment and intimidation. Students come here to learn, not to be coerced and mistreated. As an employee of the university, you must insure that every student has equal access to a quality education.