Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the implementation of a SUNY system-wide sexual assault policy on Tuesday, which standardizes a policy of affirmative consent across all state campuses.

The rule, which mimics the policy of the California state school system, states that sexual partners must actively agree to sexual intercourse in order for it to be considered consensual.

“Today, SUNY is taking a critical step toward combating the epidemic of sexual violence and misconduct on our college campuses,” Cuomo said. “By implementing a uniform sexual assault prevention policy, we are better protecting our students and our communities and setting an example for other states and schools to follow.”

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher worked with representatives from different universities since Cuomo’s original October announcement of the planned policy to prepare schools for the change. Binghamton University’s representative in the process was Brian Rose, the vice president for student affairs.

“We need to educate our student population on our definition of consent; you need everyone to understand it,” Rose said.

President Harvey Stenger said that the University will not have to make many changes to adapt to the new policy. According to him, updates to written resources and guidelines will constitute the largest difference.

“I believe that as cases are heard and have been heard, people know what ‘no’ means. We believe that that was something the student conduct boards always used as their definition,” Stenger said. “But to put it in writing makes it more clear. This is no longer a judgment call by the student conduct boards; they now have to follow this tight definition of consent.”

In addition to having a formal definition of consent, Stenger said that the University will work to more clearly outline the resources that are available for students.

“We have to make sure that we put things in writing for victims so that they know exactly where to go as quickly as possible, and that when they go there they will find very supportive people who will listen and help with the process,” Stenger said.

Stenger also addressed the importance of educating incoming students. With a turnover of between 3,000 and 4,000 students annually, the University constantly has to make sure that it has open communication with the student body.

Deirdre Sullivan, the Intercultural Awareness (ICA) representative for the Women’s Student Union (WSU) and a junior majoring in history, said that awareness of the new definition of consent will make it easier for victims to come forward and address sexual assault.

“I think it is remarkable that all first-year and transfer students are made aware of this policy,” Sullivan said. “I think it will contribute to a campus-wide understanding of what consent actually is and recognize that it can be withdrawn at any time.”

According to Rose, BU has been working to enhance its resources and outreach policies addressing sexual assault for almost four years. Additional staff hirings and training sessions have been part of that process, and the SUNY-wide policies align with the University’s mission.

“At the Binghamton campus level, we’ve been building a stronger infrastructure to really try and address this concern in a systematic way,” Rose said. “The issue of sexual violence isn’t unique to a college environment, but we have a specific responsibility to address it.”