June 30, 2026
2025‑050
The Governor of California
President pro Tempore of the Senate
Speaker of the Assembly
State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814
Dear Governor and Legislative Leaders:
As required by Education Code section 67382.1, my office conducted an audit of the efforts of the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) to address and prevent sexual harassment. In general, we determined that UC and CSU have improved their responses to sexual harassment but should take further action to protect their campus communities.
Our review included a selection of two campuses in each system—UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Sacramento State—and primarily focused on how these four campuses responded to reports that students or employees (respondents) had engaged in sexual harassment toward others (complainants). We reviewed 97 cases and found six with substantive issues. For example, in one case that a campus closed without taking formal action, it was unclear whether the campus had met with a complainant who was interested in pursuing a formal process and had requested a meeting. In another case, a complainant stated that she wanted the campus to investigate her report, but the campus appeared to have pressured her to pursue an alternative resolution agreement instead. We also observed inconsistencies in the discipline that campuses imposed on respondents following investigations.
Campuses could more consistently implement best practices to better prevent and address sexual harassment. For instance, the campuses closed several cases without taking formal action because complainants had not responded to email outreach, but the campuses did not document consideration of any other outreach methods, such as phone calls or text messages. Additionally, although investigators or hearing officers reached reasonable determinations in each investigation case we reviewed, some case reports contained analytical gaps or problematic language that may have reduced the involved parties’ confidence that the outcomes were fair.
The UC and CSU system offices oversee campuses’ efforts, and we make several recommendations to these offices to develop or update guidelines for their campuses, including to help improve campuses’ communication with complainants, ensure the quality of hearing officer reports, and increase consistency in disciplinary outcomes.
Respectfully submitted,
GRANT PARKS
California State Auditor
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Source: https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2025-050/.
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Full report at https://www.auditor.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2025-050-Report-WP.pdf.
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