Katie Meyer’s Law

In order to be eligible to receive funds under an applicable program, an institution of higher education shall adopt a policy relating to the provision of student advisers in accordance with paragraph (2).

The policy required under paragraph (1) shall include the following:

In the case of a student who attends an institution of higher education and who receives notification of an alleged violation by such student of the code of conduct of such institution, such institution shall provide such student with the option to be assisted by an adviser in accordance with clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (D).

The notification described in subparagraph (A) shall include information with respect to the option of the student to—

(i) select an outside adviser; or

(ii) request that the institution of higher education provide an independent adviser.

An institution may provide an independent adviser to a student through—

(i) a confidential respondent services coordinator;

(ii) an agreement with a student-based peer support program; and

(iii) an agreement with an alumni-based support program.

An outside adviser selected by a student pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph (B) or an independent adviser provided to a student pursuant to clause (ii) of such subparagraph, as applicable, shall—

(i) be trained by such institution on the adjudication procedures of such institution relating to the alleged violation;

(ii) with written permission from the student, receive bi-weekly updates throughout the adjudication process; and

(iii) participate in the adjudication process—

(I) as an advocate for the student; or

(II) as authorized by applicable State law and title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.).

In this subsection:

The term applicable program has the meaning given such term in section 400(c) of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221(c)).

The term institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

Section 485(f)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(g)) is amended—

(1) in clause (iii), by striking and at the end;

(2) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the end and inserting; and; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

(v) incidents of suicide that were reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies.